The iMonitor project empowers citizens to actively engage in monitoring public contracts, contributing to transparency, accountability, and anti-corruption efforts at the local level. The project combines data-driven risk assessment with on-the-ground civic monitoring, allowing trained volunteers to select, analyze, and report on high-risk public contracts that directly affect their communities.

In doing so, iMonitor supports the creation of stronger civil society networks and more informed relationships with public institutions. The initiative is currently implemented in four countries and regions: Catalonia (Spain), Italy, Lithuania, and Romania.

Public contracts determine how essential goods, services, and infrastructure are delivered — schools, roads, digital services, urban spaces. However, they can be vulnerable to mismanagement and corruption. Civic monitoring ensures that public funds are spent properly, and that public projects are implemented as promised.

When citizens get involved, they help increase transparency, foster trust, and support public institutions in identifying and solving issues early.

Civic monitors act as local watchdogs — but also as partners in improvement. With the right tools and support, they can:

• Detect and document issues in the implementation of public contracts
• Engage in dialogue with public administrations
• Submit access-to-information requests
• Raise public awareness
• Contribute to systemic improvement in how public funds are used

iMonitor equips citizens with training, tools, mentoring, and legal guidance so they can participate meaningfully — regardless of their prior experience.

✅ Data-driven risk assessment of contracts: We use opentender.eu (maintained by the Government Transparency Institute) to assess the integrity of millions of contracts and select those that are more prone to corruption and irregularities. This helps to direct the focus of our civic monitoring to contracts where the potential preventive impact is higher.

✅ Data-Driven Contract Selection: Contracts are selected using OpenTender.eu, a platform maintained by the Government Transparency Institute. It provides real-time integrity scores for millions of contracts. Civic monitors use these scores — alongside criteria like contract relevance, feasibility, and value — to choose which tenders to analyze. In Italy, for example, open data from ANAC (the national anti-corruption authority) enabled monitors to connect funding information (CUP codes) with tenders (CIG codes), making in-depth tracking possible.

✅ Network Building: Each country involved in iMonitor fosters lasting civic monitoring networks. In Italy, over 80 individuals and organizations were contacted, and 13 groups completed the full monitoring process — from training to final report. The approach emphasizes collaboration over confrontation, helping to establish constructive dialogue with public authorities.

✅ Skill Development: A modular training programme is offered to all participants, covering the basics of public procurement, corruption risks, and how to conduct civic monitoring. National partners adapted the content to local contexts and languages, combining webinars with hands-on activities and ongoing support throughout the monitoring process.

✅ Reporting Tool: Monitors use a structured, user-friendly reporting template hosted on monithon.eu. Reports are made public, shared with relevant stakeholders, and — where appropriate — forwarded to public authorities for follow-up.

To date, iMonitor has produced a common monitoring reporting template in Spain, Italy, Lithuania, and Romania, and a methodology to engage civic communities in this delicate activity. The new template has been integrated into Monithon’s civic monitoring platform and is now usable.

In three of the four countries, training activities have been completed, with dozens of participants from civil society organizations, students, and individual citizens.

Field monitoring activities started in July 2024 and will continue until the end of the year. Stay tuned!