Many professionals such as lawyers, journalists, government officials and medical professionals can dramatically impact on the lives of societies' poorest. By equipping them with the right information, tools and know-how, they are better able to defend their rights, expose bad practice and improve public services. In the long term, this will contribute towards poverty reduction.
Open Corporates, a database containing crucial information on over 60 million companies, enables journalists to expose corporate corruption more efficiently. And as more government data gets released and parliamentary monitoring sites spring up online, they are better able to scrutinize government and spur on citizens to demand improved services.