Tirana, Albania – October 27, 2025
On October 25–26, 2025, AIS – promoter of Open Data Albania – successfully organized the annual Open Data Marathon, DataThon Albania 2025, bringing together journalists, activists, students, and civil society representatives to work collaboratively with open public data. This year’s theme focused on one of the most sensitive areas of public governance:
Public Procurement and Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs)
DataThon Albania is an annual event designed to strengthen transparency, accountability, and data-driven oversight of public institutions. Participants engage in hands-on research, data collection, verification, and analysis using AIS’s open databases, such as Open Procurement Albania and Spending Data Albania.
Participants and Objectives
The 2025 edition gathered 28 participants, mainly investigative journalists, alongside:
- Fellows of the Open Data Fellowship – Youth Empowerment Against Corruption program
- Representatives from civil society organizations
- Long-time collaborators and supporters of AIS/Open Data Albania
The goal of the DataThon was to facilitate access to open data, support the analysis of public procurement practices, and assess cases that may present integrity risks among high-level public officials. Participants tracked companies owned by Members of Parliament elected after the Spring 2025 general elections, as well as businesses linked to them through family relations, to identify eventual public tenders or contracts awarded to these entities.
Outputs and Findings
Over the two-day marathon, participants developed a new dataset related to Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs) and entities covered by the Law on the Declaration and Audit of Assets of High-Level Officials.
Supporting documentation produced during the event includes:
- The official DataThon 2025 Agenda (25–26 October)
- Working Excel dataset titled Analysis and Tracking of Public Procurement Data and Businesses Owned by Politically Exposed Persons
- List of Participants – 25/10/2025.
- List of Participants – 26/10/2025.
About DataThon Albania
DataThons are open, creative, and collaborative marathons that empower participants through the use of open data and accountability tools. The term DataThon comes from Data + Marathon, reflecting the format of intensive teamwork and analytical focus.
The first DataThon in Albania was held in December 2011, organized by AIS. Since then, AIS has continued to promote open data through annual marathons such as DiploHack, DataThon, and Hackathon.
Open Call and Participation
The 2025 participants were selected through an open call:
“Call for Participation in DataThon Albania 2025 – Politically Exposed Persons and Public Procurement in the Pre-Election Year 2025”
Contact
For further information, please contact: [email protected]The event is organized by AIS as part of the project “Promoting Transparency in Public Spending,” financially supported by the National Endowment for Democracy NED.
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