General : Guidance on timeliness

Firstly we need to include, somehow, guidance on the timeliness and frequency of publication as a more formal part of the standard.

Secondly, guidance on timeliness should be:

  • Minimum requirement for all activities - quarterly updates
  • Best practice for development activities - monthly updates
  • Best practice for humanitarian emergencies - daily updates

This issue was originally added and originally discussed on the previous version IATI Standard Upgrade forum. However that forum has now itself moved to the IATI Discuss platform so this topic has been created in order that discussions can continue here.

I think this a great idea, and I agree that it belongs in the core standard.

During the Nepal Earthquake, the consolidated 3W was coming out every 3 days at first, then weekly. It’s harder to do better than every 3 days if the report involves consolidating data from multiple activities at some central location, because work on data generally happens only in the evenings (responders are out working or meeting during the day).

In a future where operations on the ground report directly and automatically (rather than via their cluster leads, country teams, etc.), I could see daily becoming a possibility.

D