United States Foreign Assistance

Opening Aid Data for Better Development

ForeignAssistance.gov
October 19, 2011

Agenda
The Dashboard: ForeignAssistance.gov How the Dashboard can be used: Visualizing Data How the Dashboard can improve aid effectiveness

United States Foreign Assistance

About ForeignAssistance.gov
Created in response to the principles of the Paris Declaration on Aid Effectiveness and President Obamas Open Government Directive.
Transparency is a hallmark of this Administration. Commitment to sharing aid information is part of a long-standing U.S. effort to enhance aid effectiveness, consistent with the Paris Declaration and the Accra Agenda for Action.

United States Foreign Assistance

About ForeignAssistance.gov
Visually represents U.S. Government foreign assistance data through:
Bar graphs Pie charts HEAT map color coded to show foreign assistance funding levels

Data mapped according to country or region, sector, initiative as well as agency Users have the option to download complete data set for further analysis Users can also query data according to defined, user-selected parameters

United States Foreign Assistance

About ForeignAssistance.gov
Target audiences U.S. citizens Civil society (NGOs and Non-profits) U.S. Congress and U.S. Government Agencies Foreign Assistance Recipient Countries Other Donors Dashboard Data

All USG agencies which manage or implement foreign assistance, humanitarian, and/or development funds, will eventually have their assistance featured on the Dashboard.

United States Foreign Assistance

Visualizing Data
The current visualizations are designed to help users better understand foreign assistance data.

United States Foreign Assistance

Visualizing Data
The Dashboard features a map that uses a color-coded schema to visualize foreign assistance budget levels.

Users can hover over a country or region to display information. United States Foreign Assistance

Visualizing Data
Pre-defined charts do not satisfy all users. Therefore, raw data is available for users to download to create their own charts, tables, or analyses.

Users are able to filter data by different data elements. United States Foreign Assistance

Future Visualizations
Intend to increase the sophistication of visual tools as more complex data becomes available.
Expanding the data set with more detail (financial data, project, performance reporting). Integrating data from across the U.S. Government.

Future Visualization Goals:

Sub-national data
Mapping project data on high-resolution maps Enable users to filter map by agency, sector, and other data elements Enable users to create animated visualizations based on their interests

User-driven, interactive charts

United States Foreign Assistance

Improving Aid Effectiveness

By improving the transparency of U.S. foreign assistance flows, the Dashboard will:
Make foreign aid more useful for development by assisting other donors to better understand and coordinate with U.S. Government assistance programming and by helping recipient governments to better manage their aid flows.

Improve American understanding of foreign assistance priorities by assisting the U.S. Congress and public to better see the ways in which U.S. foreign assistance is used throughout the world to respond to American interests in fostering development, improving security, and responding to humanitarian needs.
Increase international accountability by helping make clear the intended purposes of U.S. Government assistance and holding the U.S. Government accountable for the quantity and quality of its aid flows.

United States Foreign Assistance

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Questions?
http://www.foreignassistance.gov

United States Foreign Assistance

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