Aidspan launches its open data platform

The Aidspan Portal Workbench is a web tool that will be useful to all persons interested in Global Fund grant data

Aidspan has made public its data platform, the Aidspan Portal Workbench (APW). The APW is a flexible and powerful web-based application which retrieves grant portfolio data from the web services provided by the Global Fund and then makes the data available in a user-friendly way. Instructions on how to access the APW are provided at the end of this article.

The APW platform allows for advanced searching and filtering of data using various fields. The results can then be sorted, and reports produced and exported to popular formats such as Excel, CSV, XML, PDF and HTML for sharing or external analysis.

Below is a partial list of the datasets included in the platform:

• Grants details and grant agreements
• Grant budgets
• Disbursement
• Grant expenditures
• Grant ratings
• Performance indicators
• NFM allocations to implementing countries

The APW allows users to look up information by principal recipient, disease, regions, countries, etc.

Transparency is one of the cornerstones of the Global Fund. One of the ways the Fund demonstrates its commitment to transparency is by providing a broad range of information on its website. The Fund also provides this information (and additional information) through its web services platform.

For several years, Aidspan has been retrieving this information and re-organizing it for easy retrieval on its own website. The APW represents a significant expansion of the information Aidspan is able to make available and of the ways visitors to its site can make use of the data.

Accessing APW

APW is hosted on Aidspan's cloud servers and is accessible to everyone who has an Internet connection. To access the application, follow these steps:

1. Open a new tab on the browser.
2. Enter the following URL: http://data.aidspan.org
3. If you are a GFO or OFM subscriber, enter the email address you use to subscribe, and then click on the “Get/Forgot password” button to request a password for accessing the application. (We have enabled all GFO and OFM subscribers to access the platform.)
4. If you are not a GFO or OFM subscriber, click on the “Register” button, enter an email address and select a password.
5. Once the application completely loads, click on the “Video tutorial” button at the top right-hand side to view a 3-minute quick walkthrough on how to use the application.

If you encounter any problems or have any inquiries, please write to the webmaster at [email protected]. Requests will be answered promptly.

Source: Aidspan