Inspiration
Kenya, one of the most promising republics not only in SubSahara Africa, but the global south at large, is severely afflicted by the menace that is corruption. So ingrained has the vice become, that beyond fighting back, corruption is also now fighting forward in the form of budgeted corruption. This novel practice has elevated the scourge to increasingly fatal levels that now threaten not only the livelihoods of citizens, but also their future. While past regimes stole the country's wealth, the current regimes are now preying on its future. The government is effectively robbing the nation of its future. Our platform aims to address this scourge by addressing the practice of budgeted corruption.
What it does
Our application analyzes budget policy statements to determine the feasibility and viability of the projects the government plans to undertake within the budgetary window. The aim is to determine whether the stated projects are viable, beneficial, and whether the costs indicated provide realistic estimates and are not exaggerated. It works by taking government budget policy documents, and assessing them against key metrics to determine whether the provided estimates deliver the best value for money.
How we built it
We began by analyzing the objectives of our platform to determine the data we would require. We then divided the work load amongst team members. Part of the team focused on finding financial data around which we would model our site, while the rest set out to design and build the application. We then converged on developing the application, which includes a website and a chatbot to query the files database. The technologies used were React and Nodejs.
Challenges we ran into
- Time
- Finding information and government reports
- Using AI models to analyze the data.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
- Connected and networked with new developers
- Learnt new skills and platforms
What we learned
It would appear that the government deliberately makes it difficult for the public to find and access information related to government activities.
What's next for Budget Tracker
Next, we plan to build and develop models to process and analyze financial data from government sources. The idea is to have a system to assess whether the government is being fiscally responsible in its utilization of funds for development purposes.
Log in or sign up for Devpost to join the conversation.