Unlocking civic monitoring: Italy’s unique approach to linking publicly-funded projects and tenders

This article stems from our collaboration with the initiative Dati Bene Comune. A previous version was published in Italian in their newsletter. Dati Bene Comune is a civic campaign that works to unlock and make usable public interest datasets—especially those that are unpublished, hard to access, or poorly documented. By transforming these data resources, the initiative helps fill key information gaps and supports more effective, community-driven civic action.

Italy has developed a distinctive system allowing citizens to track (at least to some extent) the lifecycle of publicly funded projects—from initial planning and funding approval to project implementation—through a clear link between project codes (CUP – Codice Unico Progetto) and tender identifiers (CIG – Codice Identificativo Gara). While procurement data from all over the EU are openly published and well-organized in portals such as OpenTender, the explicit connection between individual tenders and their related projects, including those funded by the EU, is not commonly provided. Italy’s CUP-CIG system thus offers an additional layer of transparency that could inspire transparency advocates and public administrations across Europe.

Two years ago, when we at Monithon first started exploring open procurement data published by Italy’s Anti-Corruption Authority (ANAC), it felt like discovering a goldmine hidden beneath layers of bureaucracy. Our goal was clear: enable any citizen to understand exactly how public funds (such as the EU Recovery funds – PNRR in Italy) are spent in their own cities.

Each publicly funded project in Italy is assigned a unique CUP. Each tender linked to that project carries a CIG. Although seemingly straightforward, this important CUP-CIG link often remains inaccessible, buried within datasets requiring advanced technical skills to navigate.

For over two years, Monithon has been dedicated to surfacing these hidden datasets, significantly easing the task of civic monitoring of PNRR-funded projects. Civic monitoring empowers citizens to directly assess project progress, quality, and effectiveness. Among nearly 1,400 civic monitoring initiatives carried out in recent years, over 30 specifically target PNRR projects.

How we use CUP-CIG data: Easily identifying the Responsible Project Officers (RUPs)

A common challenge for civic monitors is pinpointing the exact institutional contact for project details. ANAC’s procurement data reveals precisely who the RUP is, including their names and institutional affiliation, streamlining direct contacts and access to key project information.

For instance, during a civic monitoring course led by Prof. Carmela Barbera and myself at the University of Bergamo (April 2025), students selected several PNRR-funded projects from the Italia Domani portal. They targeted projects already significantly advanced in terms of payments (at least 20-30%), ensuring actual implementation had begun. Examples included:

• Reducing water losses in Bergamo’s water networks;
• Renovation of Bergamo’s former Maddalena Convent into judicial offices;
• Restoration of Monza Park;
• Construction of a Reuse Centre in Crema.

Thanks to a simplified CUP-CIG dataset provided by Andrea Borruso from Ondata association (see the GitHub repo), students quickly located the relevant tender identifiers. They then identified the RUPs via ANAC’s analytics portal, enabling targeted interviews currently underway.

Direct and detailed civic monitoring of individual tenders

A more comprehensive approach was successfully piloted through the European iMonitor project (2024-2025). Using a specially developed monitoring template available on the Monithon.eu platform, citizens examined individual tenders, assessing factors like implementation timelines, procedural transparency, and the quality of completed works.

One notable example: Fabio Farag, an intern at Monithon Europe, conducted an in-depth monitoring of the refurbishment of Falcone-Borsellino and Paradiso parks in Grugliasco, near Turin, thanks to his participation in a civic monitoring laboratory at the University of Turin. His monitoring highlighted strengths such as environmental sustainability and accessibility through recycled materials, alongside critical issues like bureaucratic complexity and inadequate citizen engagement. The findings were presented to national and European authorities in June 2024.

ANAC’s “Analytics” section of the website shows all public tenders (CIGs) associated with a given project (CUP)

During 2025, Farag’s work leveraged CUP-CIG data to pinpoint the main tender, the primary contractor, and potential subcontractors. He interviewed the RUP and the local councilor responsible, assessing ongoing project alignment with original contractual specifications—a process particularly critical at more advanced stages of project implementation.

It’s not just an experiment: this year, the iMonitor monitoring activity covered 96 public contracts across 4 European countries, leading to some interesting findings.

Why this matters

While procurement data alone can’t cover all civic monitoring needs—especially evaluating concrete project impacts, which require further citizen-generated data—it provides a foundational resource, improving dialogue between citizens and public administrations.

Making this data fully accessible isn’t simply about transparency; it empowers citizens to actively contribute to improving the quality of local public projects and services. Italy’s approach, linking CUP and CIG identifiers, offers a model of transparency and accountability that other European countries might beneficially adopt.

Public administrations must continue efforts to simplify data access and enhance usability through clearer communication and user-friendly portals like OpenCoesione—an essential step still missing for PNRR investments. Encouraging active citizen oversight is crucial to ensuring projects funded by public resources achieve maximum efficiency, effectiveness, and legality.

Image courtesy of Prof. Raul-Pacheco Vega