To increase transparency, all 245 public institutions in Prague are now releasing their budgets, with one-fifth even disclosing individual invoices. The city aims to make public funds more transparent, fulfilling another goal of its anti-corruption strategy.
The Prague City Hall announced a press release stating that all the city’s public institutions were now publishing clickable budgets in the Cityvizor application. The budgets are categorized and searchable by name.
These public institutions provide services to Prague’s residents, especially in education, environmental protection, healthcare, culture, social services, leisure, and urban planning. This year, they have a budget of almost CZK 18.2 billion.
“Given the scope and importance of the services and resources expended, the public must have control over the management of public institutions,” said Prague Councilor for Property, Transparency, and Legislation Adam Zábranský of the Pirate Party. “Thanks to the Cityvizor application, it is easy to monitor what these resources are being used for. The clickable budget allows citizens, councilors, journalists, and others to control public institutions’ management from their desk.”
Prague has been striving to increase transparency in its financial management for a long time. It started in 2001 by introducing a register of published data on public procurement, followed by opening tenders for more minor contracts. The city is trying to fulfill the goals of its 2022-2027 Anti-Corruption Strategy.
The Cityvizor application provides detailed information on individual items in the budgets of public institutions and the ongoing fulfillment of the budget plan. The data comes directly from their accounting systems. The operator of the application for Prague and its districts is the ICT Operator company.
In addition to a general overview of costs and revenues, including plans and actual figures, the application also offers users a specific view of individual categories in clear graphs. Specific invoices are also available for about one-fifth of the organizations, sorted by month.
The city council’s efforts to increase transparency and combat corruption have gained commendation from the public. By making public funds more transparent, Prague is setting an example for other cities to follow.