On October 15, 2021, the Institute for Development of Freedom of Information (IDFI) conducted training on effective oversight and data extraction methods for investigative/data journalists.

Over the past years, journalists and watchdogs have played a crucial role in detecting the corruption chains and the prevention of elite corruption. The urgency of the issue has grown due to outstanding interest from journalists and activists themselves.

The training held in the framework of the project “Empowered Civil Society and Enhanced Beneficial Ownership Transparency Standards for Good Governance“ aimed to build capacity for effective oversight by journalists, civil rights activists, and civil society representatives.

The participants had the opportunity to obtain comprehensive information on vital issues in the context of the transparency of Beneficial ownership, as well as familiarize themselves with international platforms for investigative/data journalists and watchdogs. Furthermore, the training included practical tips and recommendations – detection of public procurement fraud, budget spending and oversight, extraction of knowledge from open government data, and more.

The training was conducted by the Local Government/Internet and Innovations Directions head of IDFI, Teona Turashvili, and, IDFI analysts Mariam Gogiashvili and Gvantsa Nikuradze; the training was held with the financial support of the Visegrad Fund.