ODEAC: from basic knowledge to practical use of open data — interim project results

Since March 2026, the NGO “Open Data Association” has been implementing the ODEAC project — Open Data Education Against Corruption & Fraud — with financial support from the European Union under the EU Anti-Fraud Programme.

The project aims to strengthen the capacity of Ukrainian public, law enforcement and anti-corruption institutions to use open data to prevent, detect and analyse fraud, corruption and the misuse of public and international financial assistance.

At this stage, ODEAC has gone from its launch and the assessment of target audiences’ needs to two basic training programmes and an advanced practical course.

From international dialogue to a training programme

The project began with an inaugural online meeting that brought together representatives of Ukraine and five EU Member States. Participants included representatives of financial intelligence, law enforcement and anti-corruption bodies, tax and customs services, public procurement oversight bodies and civil society organisations.

One of the key messages from the very start was that open data is not only a transparency tool. For law enforcement officers, analysts and oversight bodies, it can be a practical resource for vetting counterparties, finding related companies, analysing financial and corporate links and identifying risks.

Basic Course 1: a foundation for systematic counterparty checks

The first training stage was a due diligence course for civil servants.

401 participants completed the training, with an average satisfaction score of 4.87 out of 5. About 92% of respondents said the course expanded their knowledge of preventing fraud and corruption risks when working with EU financial assistance.

The course covered basic counterparty verification algorithms, analysis of open registers, sanctions screening, financial analysis, procurement checks and international links.

Participants’ feedback showed particular demand for practical cases, written materials and in-depth work with international sources. These requests were taken into account when developing the next training stages.

Basic Course 2: demand exceeded the plan more than twofold

The second online course — “Open Data for Fraud Detection: Tools for Law Enforcement” — was aimed at investigators, analysts and other specialists who detect and investigate corruption, fraud, money laundering, procurement abuse and other financial offences.

The project planned to involve about 400 participants. Instead, the course received 916 registrations, exceeding the target more than twofold.

As of the reporting cut-off:

• 506 participants opened the course;
• 354 completed all required learning components and the final assessment;
• 347 met the requirements for certificates;
• 144 participants were still studying;
• 141 and 288 participants respectively joined two live sessions with experts.

The evaluation results also showed a high level of satisfaction: the course’s average score was 4.77 out of 5, and 98% of respondents gave it 4 or 5 points.

Participants highlighted the practical relevance of the materials, clear explanations of complex topics, the ability to learn at their own pace and the demonstration of how open-source data can be turned into structured analytical conclusions.

A separate signal for the next stage was that 86 respondents expressed interest in taking the Advanced Course.

Advanced Course: moving from training to practical analytics

The Advanced Course became the third and most practical stage of ODEAC.

Its methodology is built around small-group work on practical cases. Participants use YouControl, YC World and open registers to vet individuals and legal entities and to analyse beneficial ownership, corporate and international links, sanctions and other risks.

The course also places particular emphasis on the quality of the analytical process: participants must distinguish confirmed facts, risk indicators and preliminary hypotheses, record the sources used and their limitations, and prepare a structured output — for example, a relationship map, a risk summary or a short analytical note.

What ODEAC has already shown

The project’s interim results allow several important conclusions.

First, there is significant demand among Ukrainian public and law enforcement specialists for practical training in using open data for anti-fraud and anti-corruption work. This is best demonstrated by 916 registrations for Basic Course 2 against a planned target of about 400 participants.

Second, participants need not only an introduction to individual tools, but a structured methodology for working with data: how to frame an analytical question, choose sources, verify links, assess red flags and properly document conclusions.

Third, participants’ feedback consistently shows demand for more practical cases, international sources, OSINT approaches and live discussion with experts. That is why ODEAC is moving from large-scale online courses to small practical groups and case-based learning.

Finally, working with open data increasingly requires combining Ukrainian practice with European anti-fraud mechanisms and international exchange of experience.

What’s next

The next stages of ODEAC will focus on consolidating the experience gained, professional exchange between Ukrainian and European institutions and preparing methodological materials that will allow the developed approaches to be used after individual training events end.

[note] In this way, ODEAC is gradually moving from training individual specialists to building a practical methodology for using open data to protect public and European financial interests.