Financial Transparency in Public Works – KOREA

How can the city government track the entire flow of public finance — from budget approval to final contractor — using digital tools like blockchain?

In Colombia, corruption in public finance — particularly in administrative budgeting and public procurement — remains a major issue.
- In 2024, Colombia scored 39/100 in the Corruption Perceptions Index and ranks in the 44.81% for control of corruption (World Bank, 2023). From 2016–2020, over 22% of corruption cases were in public procurement, with major losses in infrastructure spending.
- In Bogota context, it is hard to see how public money is used because of its unclear transaction paths, time delays in visualization (updates are too slow), and limited public understanding, neither Bogota’s citizens nor public officials currently have a reliable way to continuously monitor and trust the flow of public finances in real time.
(PROBLEM) Despite multiple reforms, public funds are still difficult to trace, leading to major economic losses and distrust in public services.

To solve this, It is important to create a system that enables full traceability of financial flows across public works contracts.
Without end-to-end traceability of how money flows from approval to execution, it’s difficult to prevent:
- Misallocation of funds
- Unjustified delays or cost overruns
- A widening trust gap between government and citizens

Blockchain technology offers a promising foundation for this system.
Rather than storing data in fragmented silos across departments, blockchain can record every financial action — like approval, verification, and payment — as an immutable, time-stamped record.

By combining blockchain technology with clear and accessible visual interfaces, Bogota can be able to move toward a new era of public finance transparency.

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