The Anti-Fraud Office reaffirms its commitment to civic oversight in public procurement at the close of the iMonitor project
The Deputy Director of Anti-Fraud affirms that citizen participation is a key element for a more just and transparent society, and an essential ally in the fight against corruption.
10th april 2025. Yesterday, Barcelona's Casa Golferichs Civic Center hosted the closing ceremony of the first phase of the European iMonitor project, an initiative funded by the European Commission that aims to combat corruption and fraud in public procurement through the active involvement of citizens. The project, launched on May 1, 2023, involves various organizations from five countries, including the Anti-Fraud Office of Catalonia.
The closing session highlighted the results achieved so far, particularly with regard to the deployment of the civic oversight model for public contracts, implemented through a participatory and innovative methodology.
The opening remarks for the event were given by the Dean of the College of Political Science and Sociology Professionals of Catalonia (COLPIS), Dr. Jordi Pacheco, and by the Deputy Director of Anti-Fraud, Olinda Anía, who thanked all the collaborating individuals and organizations for their involvement. In her remarks, Anía emphasized that citizen participation is a key element for a more just and transparent society and an essential ally in the fight against corruption.
Pilar Rodríguez, project manager, presented the program's main progress, followed by a witness session where several civic supervisors shared their experience in the real-world monitoring of public procurement.
In the second part of the session, a roundtable discussion was held on improving public administration through citizen oversight of contracts. The speakers included Bruno González, Head of the Anti-Fraud Data Analysis Team; Feliu Madaula, Vice President of the Citizen Observatory Against Corruption (O3C); and Dr. Jordi Pacheco, moderated by Marc Vilanova, a consultant and expert in public procurement. Bruno González highlighted the importance of data intelligence tools and partnerships with civil society to ensure more honest and efficient public procurement.
Bruno González during his speech
at the round table
During the event, it was also announced that the project will continue from May 2025, thanks to a new grant from the European Commission, with the aim of consolidating civic oversight as a tool for democratic control in this key area of government.
The iMonitor project seeks to establish citizen monitoring structures for specific public contracts or categories of contracts, selected based on risk indicators developed using the Opentender tool. These contracts are monitored by specifically trained volunteers, coordinated by civic entities. This initiative promotes collaborative and networked work between civil society and oversight authorities to detect fraud and corruption risks, supported by the European Union's Internal Security Fund (ISF) program.
Antifrau's participation has taken shape of various actions:
- —In 2023, through the Data Analytics Team's collaboration with the Government Transparency Institute to develop new indicators for detecting dysfunctions and introduce improvements to the Opentender platform.
- —In 2024, in the training of volunteers and the selection of contracts to be audited, in collaboration with COLPIS.
Once the voluntary supervisors' work is completed, and in cases where possible irregularities are detected, the corresponding reports are forwarded to Anti-Fraud for its analysis and, where appropriate, the initiation of appropriate actions.
For more information about the project and to sign the iMonitor Manifesto against corruption in public procurement, please visit the following links:
