A year of progress and reflection
This year’s UN International Anti-Corruption Day (IACD), recognized worldwide on December 9th, signifies the twentieth anniversary of the UN Convention against Corruption. It also marks another year of progress for the Microsoft ACTS (Advanced Cloud Transparency Services) initiative. Much like how IACD spotlights the link between anti-corruption and peace, ACTS highlights the value of transparency in curbing corruption and promoting government for the greater good. Today, we take this opportunity to recognize ACTS’s progress and, even more important, where we are going in the year ahead.
Since launch, we’ve seen great growth in our approach to offering technology and resources as a way for governments to achieve their goals. We realize that corruption never stops evolving. Cyberattacks get more and more sophisticated, while avenues of misconduct continue to spread. ACTS is at its most effective when we collaboratively build custom solutions that anticipate threat exposure.
Our vision spotlights transparency. To get from there to here we’ve remained, at our core, curious. We ask lots of questions, test ideas, and track results that incorporate the power of data and modern technology to assist governments in accelerating transparency. As Microsoft President Brad Smith states, “The power of data and technology together can create a new foundation to empower us all to make a difference.”
Video: Becky Lenaburg, VP & Deputy General Counsel, introduces the Microsoft ACTS initiative.
A powerful partnership
This year’s IACD theme is “Uniting the world against corruption.” To accomplish that goal requires a communal effort of countries, leaders, citizens, and ideas. ACTS believes strengthening the bond between the public and private sectors builds a foundation for the success of these efforts. As separate sectors, government and business can only progress so far, whereas cumulatively the opportunities are limitless. By sharing their ideas and separate strengths in business and technology, they pave the way to substantive change.
The value of insight
Around the world, governments collect and store vast quantities of data. Inside that data resides valuable insight that improves decision making. Detailed data analysis, however, has often proven challenging. We’ve made a concerted effort to help governments break down silos of data and use ACTS technology to flag potential corruption and build more trust with citizens. It also bridges the gap between where a government is and where it wants to be in terms of transparency and building community.
One area we’ve paid particular attention to is data visualization. It’s a whole different way to consume information and reveal patterns of behavior. Data visualization has helped expose risk signals and spot suspicious patterns of behavior that would otherwise be impossible to uncover if solely presented in written reports or manually monitored.
Connecting data points
Our innovations come from a foundation of Microsoft products and services. Similar to all technology companies, Microsoft has seen a surge in demand for solutions that incorporate AI and machine learning. We integrate this technology into ACTS solutions. “Using artificial intelligence helps connect the dots between various pieces of data that wouldn’t be obvious by just scanning a spreadsheet,” says Norm Hodne, Director of Program management for ACTS. “It provides better transparency because it helps you spot quickly where there’s potential problems.”
What people can do with machine learning in analyzing data is truly remarkable. We’ve used it with great success in the development of solutions in areas like taxes and beneficial ownership. “With technologies like machine learning,” says Hodne, “we enable governments to consolidate and analyze information, so the data they’re using is more accurate, secure, and easy to analyze.”
The agencies we work with also benefit from the Microsoft Partner ecosystem, one of the largest in the world. Immersing themselves within a community, these partners come with a unique local vantage point, which has proven invaluable when we place strategies into motion.
Determining need
The ACTS initiative succeeds through listening and learning. Our evolution has led us to develop a set of general solutions that serves as a foundation to build on and customize with each government agency and the overall public sector. Moving forward, we will continue to adapt our solutions to address a government’s unique needs. This approach offers governments seeking better transparency the potential to save valuable time and offer similar positive results. We enlist local Partners and subject matter experts to customize and maintain these innovations.
Looking ahead
Much as Microsoft’s mission is to empower every person and organization on the planet to achieve more, our goal remains to empower governments and citizens. To that end, we always have some idea in motion, some proactive process we believe can help governments improve transparency and stay out in front of corruption. We plan to continue to keep our ears open to local Partners and experts so that we can address trends before they become threats, and threats before they become issues. We will also remain diligent in knowledge transfer so that Partners can provide continued support after governments deploy ACTS solutions.
We intend to continue evaluating the potential of our solutions, and building on ideas that help governments overcome unique issues or drive broad sweeping reforms. In the coming months, we look forward to sharing more about some of these ideas, which we base on the discovery of proactive and responsive solutions that profoundly impact transparency. We also look forward to incorporating other core principles of our work that relate to areas like the private-public partnership and rule of law. All these principles serve as steppingstones that help improve how government works by the people, for the people, and with people’s best interests at heart. We look forward to what lies ahead and the ideas we develop to increase government effectiveness and increase public trust.