Analysis

2016 Crime Data and Access to Information in Georgia

The incompleteness and inconsistency with which the Ministry of Internal Affairs has been publishing crime data raises questions that the Ministry is purposefully trying to keep the public in the dark about the actual levels of crime in the country. In addition, the data that is published has often been contradictory, which damages public trust towards official statistics on crime.

Open Contracting Data Standard - Data Disclosure at Its Best

Disclosing procurement-related documents is the first step towards building a transparent public procurement system. However, making the data included in these documents machine-readable is equally, if not more, important, since otherwise it is nearly impossible to process procurement related data on a large scale. 

2013 Bonuses and Salary Supplements in the Ministry of Internal Affairs

Public officials in the MIA central office had received bonuses of GEL 2,325,789 in January-October 2013. The Minister of Internal Affairs had received a bonus of GEL 4,335 only once in February. However, most other public officials received monthly bonuses that were much higher than their monthly salary on a monthly basis.

Freedom House: Georgia’s Score in Internet Freedom Ranking has Decreased

Georgia in the 2016 Global Innovation Index

According to the 2016 Global Innovation Index, Georgia has received a score of 33.9 (out of a 100), increasing its result insignificantly compared to the previous year (33.8). In terms of ranking, Georgia gained 9 positions compared to 2015 and currently holds the 64th place among 128 countries. The country scored high in institutional structure and regulatory policies but low on government and private sector support of education and research, and limited use of innovations by business.

Georgia in the UN E-Government Survey – Results and Recommendations

2016 UN report on e-Governance shows that the situation on e-Participation has worsened and on e-Governance has insignificantly improved in Georgia. Therefore, Georgia dropped of 5 places in the world’s ranking.

Administrative Expenses of the Chief Prosecutor’s Office (2011-2015)

Since 2012 expenses of Georgia's General Prosecutor's Office has significantly raised in accordance with the number of people employees at the structure.

Georgia in World Development Report 2016

On May 17, 2016 World Bank published a World Development Report. IDFI presents a detailed overview of the sections of the report that discusses various indicators of Georgia.

Overpriced Tickets for Teach and Learn with Georgia

IDFI has recently conducted an investigation into the National Center for Teacher Professional Development’s procurement of flights for volunteers participating in its Teach and Learn with Georgia program. Our findings indicate that that there were several irregularities in nine electronic tenders dating back to 2013 and totaling GEL 571,714. As a result, the government may have been significantly overcharged for these flight tickets.

State Awards Issued by Georgian Presidents in 2003-2015

IDFI requested public information from the President’s Administration on state awards and found that the Georgian Presidents had issued 11,595 awards in 2003-2015, including 5,525 Orders of Honor, 2,541 - Medals of Honor, and 1,160 Medals of Military Courage. The largest number of awards was issued in the final years of Mikheil Saakashvili’s presidency, 2,681 in 2012 and 1,926 in 2013.