Financial Transparency in Public Works
Kwen-Tas: Tracing Every Peso
Introduction
In 2024 the Corruption Perception Index placed Latin America at an average score of just 34, far below the 50-point mark for effective anti-corruption controls (Gilbert, 2019). A stark illustration is the Odebrecht scandal, where a construction giant paid roughly US $788 million in bribes over 15 years to secure contracts in nine countries, including Colombia igniting mass protests and a demand for reform. Corruption’s toll is also evident in Mexico City’s metro overpass collapse, where investigators and citizens alleged that sub-standard materials and lax oversight, enabled by corrupt practices, contributed to the disaster. As Kofi Annan warned,
“Corruption debases democracy, undermines the rule of law, distorts markets, stifles economic growth, and denies many their rightful share of economic resources or life-saving aid.”
The Problem
Colombia’s infrastructure sector is persistently undermined by systemic corruption that channels public contracts into political financing and private enrichment.
Despite major reforms including the 1991 Constitution, the creation of SECOP electronic bidding (2006), and the 2011 Anti-Corruption Statute (Law 1474) grand and political corruption remain deeply embedded. Under these laws, procurement officials involved in bid-rigging are subject to dismissal and permanent bans from office, while companies and individuals convicted of collusion may be barred from government contracting for up to eight years. The authority to enforce these disqualifications rests with the Attorney General, as enshrined in Article 410-A of Law 99 of 2000 .
Yet the persistence of scandals shows how limited these measures have been. A striking example is Bogotá’s “Carrousel of Corruption” (2008–2010), which diverted an estimated US $300–400 million and delayed major projects such as the TransMilenio BRT by two years, eroding public trust and worsening strain on the city’s transport network. These entrenched practices are reinforced by five interlocking factors:
- Political–contractor alliances that link public contracts to campaign finance.
- Oversight bodies lacking independence and effective enforcement capacity.
- Tailor-made procurement processes that enable bid rigging and inflated costs.
- Fragmented financial data systems that obscure the true flow of funds.
- Clientelist political culture that allows corrupt networks to endure across administrations.
This landscape undermines economic growth, distorts markets, and makes achieving Sustainable Development Goal 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions) especially Target 16.5 on reducing corruption and bribery an urgent priority.
Unmasking the challenge
To craft an effective solution, the team first had to dig beneath the surface of Colombia’s construction sector mapping how public works are planned, financed, and executed, and examining what previous reforms have achieved.
While the structural drivers of corruption are well known, the critical operational gap lies in real-time financial traceability. Efforts to promote transparency are frequently weakened by fragmented data systems scattered across multiple oversight bodies. This lack of integration creates disconnects between policy intentions and day-to-day operations, leaving financial flows in large public-works projects opaque and governance exposed to persistent accountability failures.
Existing tools including CoST, Bogotá Cómo Vamos, IDECA, SIGOT, and SECOP bring valuable contract-level transparency but cannot follow every peso from budget approval to the final payment. Key records such as conflict-of-interest declarations or lobbying disclosures remain unlinked, allowing corruption to thrive out of sight.
Currently, Bogotá’s construction data remain scattered across platforms; even CoST cannot deliver full life-cycle financial traceability, leaving major projects such as TransMiCable with opaque money flows, persistent delays, and unclear lines of accountability.
Kwen-Tas is designed to close this gap by embedding accountability into every financial transaction:
- Immutable Hyperledger Fabric blockchain ledger provides a tamper-proof single source of truth for all project funds.
- Smart-contract milestones ensure that payments are released only when verifiable evidence of completion is uploaded and approved inside the app.
- A citizen-facing dashboard enables residents, journalists, and auditors to monitor projects and spending in real time.
By turning each financial step into an unalterable, publicly auditable record, Kwen-Tas moves transparency from paper promises to operational reality directly advancing Sustainable Development Goal 16 (Peace, Justice and Strong Institutions) and Target 16.5, which call for a substantial reduction in corruption and bribery.
TransMicable
Value chain
Public-works delivery in Bogotá follows six linked stages plan, prepare, procure, implement, commission and operate, and finally maintain and audit. Each construction step has a matching financial stream where corruption risk can surface.
Planning begins with demand analysis and route alignment by agencies such as the Secretaría de Movilidad and IDU, while the City Council and Finance Secretariat approve budgets. Here political pressure and inflated cost forecasts often appear. Preparation then moves to engineering studies and detailed cost estimates; treasury releases the funds, but insider-drafted designs and weak cost controls can inflate prices.
Procurement, run through the IDU procurement unit and the SECOP platform, involves tendering and contract awards. At this point bid-rigging, collusion, and campaign-finance kickbacks are common threats. Implementation by contractors and suppliers brings further exposure to over-billing, fake progress certificates, and sub-standard materials as progress payments are released. Commissioning and operation require safety checks, training, and final acceptance, yet late-stage diversions and unjustified change orders frequently occur. Over the long term, maintenance and public audits can be undermined by inflated O&M contracts, revenue leakage, and weak regulatory follow-up.
Kwen-Tas integrates each of these phases with its financial safeguards. An immutable Hyperledger Fabric ledger locks every approved budget and disbursement. Smart-contract triggers linked to SECOP ensure payments occur only when milestones are certified, while AI verification confirms on-site progress. Finally, a citizen-facing dashboard provides real-time oversight. By matching every construction activity with a secure financial checkpoint, Kwen-Tas converts transparency from a formality into a continuous, verifiable process that blocks the leakages historically seen in Bogotá’s public-works projects.
Our Proposal
Source: (Authors construct,2025)
Kwen-Tas
Kwen-Tas is an end-to-end financial traceability app built to make every Bogotá public-works peso visible. At its core, an Infra-Trace module uses Hyperledger Fabric blockchain to create an unalterable ledger, while smart contracts automatically release funds only when digital proof of milestone completion is verified. A Transparency Window then opens that ledger to everyone: citizens, journalists, and auditors can follow every transaction, and even report irregularities through an integrated whistle-blower channel. Finally, Infrastructure Operations & Maintenance provides real-time progress and financial tracking for each project stage, accessible as both a mobile and web app. By fusing these layers, Kwen-Tas transforms public infrastructure from a black box into a living, accountable system that anyone can inspect.
Source: (Authors construct,2025)
key Product Features
Source: (Authors construct,2025)
System Architecture
Source: (Authors construct,2025)
User Adoption and Inclusivity
Kwen-Tas will reach citizens and government staff through a multi-channel rollout campaign. Public launch events in partnership with city authorities, civil society organizations, and local media will introduce the platform. Social media outreach, radio explainers in local languages, and demonstration booths in markets, schools, and community centers will invite users to try the tool firsthand. Early adopters particularly teachers, student volunteers, and civic tech advocates will be recruited as “Kwen-Tas Champions” to drive neighborhood-level awareness and onboarding.
Inclusivity and User Adoption Plan – UTAUT Framework
Performance Expectancy (Does it help me?)
Kwen-Tas shows citizens exactly how each peso is spent through real-time dashboards and clear local impact visuals (e.g., “COP lost = schools not built”). Government staff benefit from AI that flags irregularities early, speeding audits and corrective action.
Effort Expectancy (Is it easy to use?)
The app is mobile-first, multilingual (Spanish/English), and WCAG-compliant for accessibility. A lightweight interface supports users with low digital literacy, ensuring that everyone, from city accountants to first-time smartphone users, can participate.
Social Influence (Do people like me use it?)
Community ambassadors, schools, and NGOs promote the platform, while gamified neighborhood project trackers and visible impact stories drive peer engagement. Endorsements by the Mayor and civil society groups reinforce trust and uptake.
Facilitating Conditions (Do I have support?)
Hands-on training, workshops, and offline report kiosks in schools and libraries provide practical support. A helpline and in-app chatbot give on-demand help, while integration with CoST, SECOP, and IDU ensures seamless data flow for both tech-savvy and offline users.
This plan ensures that Kwen-Tas is inclusive, intuitive, and community-anchored, maximizing citizen adoption and long-term impact.
How our Solution Works
Every project starts with Budget & Project On-boarding, where approved budgets and milestones are registered and locked on an immutable Hyperledger Fabric ledger. Next, Data Ingestion & Verification automatically pulls tender files, conflict-of-interest declarations and other records from CoST, SECOP and city accounting systems into a single auditable source. A Smart-Contract Layer then encodes payment conditions so that disbursements are triggered only when milestone evidence photos, sensor data or inspection reports is uploaded and verified. Each fund release is captured under Secure Treasury & Disbursement Tracking, producing a cryptographically hashed trail from council approval to the private contractor. Real-time Monitoring & Analytics dashboards flag anomalies like cost spikes or unusual timing, while the Public Transparency Portal lets citizens, journalists and auditors follow every peso live. Finally, Audit & Continuous Feedback closes the loop, giving regulators and civic groups a permanent, tamper-proof record that feeds lessons into the next project.
Value proposition
Kwen-Tas delivers full financial transparency for Bogotá’s public works. Every peso is logged on an immutable Hyperledger blockchain, while smart contracts release funds only after verified on-site milestones. By unifying finance, procurement, and construction data in one auditable platform, the system closes the gaps that allow bid-rigging and hidden transfers. A public dashboard and whistle-blower interface empower citizens and journalists to track spending in real time, while AI analytics flag anomalies before they become losses. Kwen-Tas turns transparency from a paper promise into a daily, verifiable reality.
Source: (Authors construct,2025)
Product Implications
Source: (Authors construct,2025)
Business Strategy
Source: (Authors construct,2025)
Product Roadmap
Source: (Authors construct,2025)
Team
References
Daheshpour, K. and Herbert, S., 2018. Infrastructure project failures in Colombia. The Institute of Development Studies and Partner Organisations.[Online] Available at: hdl. handle. net/20.500, 12413, p.14073.
Carbone, C., Calderoni, F. and Jofre, M., 2024. Bid-rigging in public procurement: cartel strategies and bidding patterns. Crime, Law and Social Change, 82(2), pp.249-281.
Rios, M.C. and Lozano, J.S., 2017. Unfinished projects in Bogotá (Colombia). Tekhnê, 14(2), pp.13-22.
Gilbert, A., 2019. Corruption in urban Latin America: the case of Bogotá. International Journal of Regional and Local History, 14(2), pp.126-141.
https://www.bnamericas.com/en/project-profile/san-cristobal-cable-car
BRIGARD, O., CARLOS URRUTIA, JR.