The spending data handbook
Open Knowledge, (2015)Abstract
The Spending Data Handbook is an introduction to spending data—what it is, where to find it, and how to use it to change the world.
Anyone who wants to understand spending and budget data can use this handbook. This includes government oversight and accountability groups, issue-oriented advocacy organisations, journalists covering the latest round of budget cuts or austerity measures, and citizens who just want to get informed about what their government is spending.
All of these people have one thing in common: they need to manipulate, analyse, and interpret spending data in order to scrutinise the bombardment of statistics and figures from their governments and to produce alternative models and solutions. Data on government budgets and spending has never been easier to access—but once you've got the data, making sense of it can be daunting.
This book covers principles of data-driven research which apply universally to working with government financial data. It aims to highlight areas where citizens, Civil Society Organisations (henceforth CSOs), and civil servants working in the field of government transparency can combine forces to achieve common aims. Like the Open Data Handbook, it will be available as a continually evolving and open educational resource.