This document discusses converting IATI (International Aid Transparency Initiative) data to linked open data. It proposes a linked data model for IATI that uses HTTP URIs, meaningful links, standard vocabularies and ontologies. An example of the model links an IATI activity to its transaction and tied status. Provenance is tracked using named graphs. Standard vocabularies could enrich the data. The IATI data was loaded into a triple store with over 36 million triples, taking 30 minutes. Potential linking of IATI data to other datasets is discussed to answer questions about aid amounts by country, aid vs human development, project locations, effects of conflict on aid, and comparing IATI and World Bank data. Applications and evaluation of

1. Linked Data for
Kasper Brandt
Victor de Boer
KnowEscape workshop
19-9-2013

2. Introduction - IATI
“IATI is a voluntary, multi-stakeholder initiative that
seeks to improve the transparency of aid in order to
increase its effectiveness in tackling poverty.”

3. Introduction - IATI users
• Funders
o Where is the money of my organisation spent?
o Where do other organisations spend their money?
• Governments
o How much money is spent in my country?
o What are the budgets or planned disbursements for my country?
• Locals
o What organisations are working in my area?
o What projects are currently going on in my area?
• Public
o Where is my tax money going?
o What are the organisations doing with my donations?

4. Introduction - IATI model
Activities
Organisations

5. Introduction - IATI model
Codelists
• Aid Type
• Country
• Currency
• Geographical precision
• Language
• Location type
• Organisation role
• Policy marker
• Region
• Sector
• Transaction type
• Vocabulary

6. Introduction - Linked Data
1. HTTP URIs to name things
2. Create meaningful links to other datasets
3. No more data silos
4. Standardized vocabularies and
ontologies
5. Query datasets through SPARQL

7. Introduction - Why IATI Linked
Data?
1. Reusable vocabularies
o Extract information automatically from the IATI data by
making use of applications which are able to interpret
standard vocabularies
2. Enrich IATI data
o Link IATI data to external datasets in order to enrich the
IATI data with additional information or metadata.
3. Donors can use their own Linked Data specification.
o @Linked-data-uri attribute already exists in the IATI
model.

8. Linked Data model
1. How can the IATI model best be converted to a
Linked Data model?
a. How can we create the Linked Data model in a
structured manner?
b. How can we keep track of provenance on the
IATI data?
c. What standard vocabularies can be reused for
enriching the Linked Data model?

9. Model and links based on
requirements elicitated from experts
Iterative Requirements Engineering Process Model by Loucopoulos and Karakostas

10. Linked Data model - Example
iati:activity/GB-CHC-285776-CHA024
iati:activity-transaction
iati:activity/GB-CHC-285776-CHA024/transaction/42737 .
iati:activity/GB-CHC-285776-CHA024/transaction/42737
iati:transaction-tied-status
iati:codelist/TiedStatus/5 .

11. Linked Data model - Provenance
• On file level
o Not on activity level
• A named graph per file,
e.g.:iati:graph/dataset/World
bank

12. Linked Data model - Vocabularies

13. Linked Data model - Triple store
• Triples loaded into a ClioPatria triple store:
o http://eculture.cs.vu.nl:1987/iati/home
o Sparql endpoint
o Dereferenceable URIs
(http://purl.org/collections/iati/codelist/Sector/11
420)
• Total number of triples: 36,629,017
• Total number of named graphs: 4,790
o Largest activities graph is UNOPS containing
1,231,896 triples
• Takes approximately 30 minutes to load all data
into the triple store.
RDFLibPython RDF/Turtle

14. Linking datasets - Approach
1. In total, how much does a given country receive in aid?
2. A comparative index of aid versus the Human Development Index.
3. What is the geographic location of a project? How much aid went to a
given province, constituency or village?
o Is the aid spent in places where the need is highest? Is it well
distributed across the country?
o Can we attribute sub-national breakdowns for aid so we can see how
much goes to different parts of recipient countries?
4. How does violent conflict in recipient countries affect aid activities?
5. How does aid spending as registered in the IATI standard compare to
World Bank indicators?

15. Linking datasets - Evaluation

16. Linking Data applications - Approach
1. In total, how much does a given country receive in aid?
2. A comparative index of aid versus the Human Development Index.
3. What is the geographic location of a project? How much aid went to a
given province, constituency or village?
o Is the aid spent in places where the need is highest? Is it well
distributed across the country?
o Can we attribute sub-national breakdowns for aid so we can see how
much goes to different parts of recipient countries?
4. How does violent conflict in recipient countries affect aid activities?
5. How does aid spending as registered in the IATI standard compare to
World Bank indicators?

17. http://iati2lod.appspot.com/
1. In total, how much does a given country receive in aid?

18. 2. A comparative index of aid versus the Human Development Index.
http://iati2lod.appspot.com/

19. http://iati2lod.appspot.com/
4. How does violent conflict in recipient countries affect aid activities?
5. How does aid spending as registered in the IATI standard compare to
World Bank indicators?

20. Questions?
http://iati2lod.appspot.com/
http://eculture.cs.vu.nl:1987/iati/
http://eculture.cs.vu.nl:1987/iati/sparql
http://purl.org/collections/iati/codelist/Sector/11420
https://github.com/KasperBrandt/IATI2LOD
v.de.boer@vu.nl