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CorpWatch - Government Data on Corporations
The Idea:
What will change in the world because this Project happens?
UPDATE: See here for more details... Corporations often escape scrutiny of the most eggregious offenses because their actions are not easliy trackable by average citizens. Parent company/subsidiary relationships are often unknown, save to those with access to expensive and proprietary databases. By adapting visualization software such as Prefuse into a Drupal module, a large database of unwieldy government information can be made accessible and intuitive for activists and citizens to interact with.
The visualization would illustrate the relationships of who-owns-who in the global corporate landscape and shed light on the often dizzying maze of shell companies used to displace liability and avoid corporate accountability.
This is an important project to take on as a mashup, because it needs to pull live data as opposed to a static dataset or a well written report. The pace of buy-ins and sell-outs is so high that only a live feed of data could aggregate and track the voluminous sources from regulatory institutions and keep this information up to date.
Because we would devlop this module as part of the popular open source content management system, Drupal, it would be freely available and adaptable to not only CorpWatch, but anyone who wanted to use the software for their Drupal website.
We would also publish our data in a format that allows other organizations to build an API on top of it.
What information will people interact with to make this change?
Information sources such as the Securities and Exchange Commission's EDGAR database (see, even the names are inaccessible) are excellent sources of raw data, but because they are created by government departments they often do not do much to contextualize the data they collect.
Traditionally making sense of this information has been the territory of investigative journalists, academics, computer scientists and other "experts." Though the NetSquared Mashup Challenge, CorpWatch hopes to build an application that will provide context to the vast amount of information available and make it open and accessible to everyone.
What else have you done in this Cause Area?
CorpWatch has a long history in the area of corporate accountability, from war contractors to sweatshops, CorpWatch has written hard-hitting exposes on the world's most powerful corporations.
Cause Area:
Cause Area Tags:
Project URL:
http://www.crocodyl.org/Supporting Organization:
CorpWatchSupporting Organization URL:
http://www.corpwatch.orgFinancial support?:
YesCity:
OaklandState/Region:
CACountry:
USA
The Assessment
What kind of help or resources do you need to turn your project idea into a completed mashup?
Update: The folks at the Google Hackathon suggested that we focus specifically on the SEC Database. We are editing the proposal to narrow our scope. They also suggested that we create a more detailed technical specification of this project for developers. Please see our blog for more details:
http://www.netsquared.org/blog/ian-elwood/technical-specifications-corpwatch-mashup
Mashup Data Sources
The Team
Host
Comments
This is a winner for sure
We've submitted our own mashup (Ushahidi), but I can tell you that this one has won me over too. I'm voting for you guys too, if they'll let me!
What I'd like to know is how easy/hard the data can be to find? How do you plan on dealing with duplicate data, or is that not a major issue? Is it possible to aggregate global data, or is mainly US-based data?
Yes you can!
So it looks like there will be 20 winners selected, and everyone must vote for at least 5 winners. I think that this contest strikes a good balance of harnessing the power of competition and collaboration. Cheers!
Great idea!
Great idea!
crocodyl
I do the news at KILLRADIO.org. I have great difficulty doing my own business stories because of lack of source material. I desperatly need this. I listen to other news stations. I hear stories that are taken out of context or are flat wrong. I don't have the resources to gain facts to refute them. My only concern is: can software extract/vet/collate info or do we need a human for that. As you say in your proposal most of the information is in leglese.
Curtis
I feel this programme would
I feel this programme would allow people to see how the world around them fits together. As more people are switching on to 'ethical consumerism' and the need for corporate governance this kind of initiative is even more vital. It will allow those without the time to research the background of every tin, packet, company or brand to feel like they truely have an informed choice on how their purchases can help to build a better global community. Democracy itself rests on the awareness of the facts behind our dailey choices, and this idea will add clarity and power to those seeking to raise awareness of exploitation and wrongdoing.
"Ethical consumerism" will
"Ethical consumerism" will not work for this project. Any exposed or boycotted corporation will have corporate competitors who would raise their own prices in response to the concerted action against the targeted corporation. In other words, the usefulness of this project will be swallowed-up by the laws of Economics.
eh?
"Any exposed or boycotted corporation will have corporate competitors who would raise their own prices in response to the concerted action against the targeted corporation."
I don't think I follow. Is this some sort of version of rational consumer argument? Like morality is simply mesured by laws of supply in demand? Why would having information about how products we consume are produced not be useful?
Anything we can do to tie the asthetics of consumption to the means of production is a good project in my book.
I read the description and
I read the description and think this would be a very valuable project, I'll vote for it come 17 March.
Corporate accountability is an incredibly important issue and work like this will help illustrate to people the links between well-known "friendly" brand-names and the malpractice / dodgy practice that is so often going on behind the PR mask.
Despite consumer apathy, it's surely a good thing to allow people to see behind this mask, to see a company "warts and all" and, for some, this may mean they're shocked to action.
(... and it's a simple action to boycott a brand, to avoid the products and/or services of a company whose codes of practice you question...)
Great idea,
This would be extremely useful, There is already a project attempting to be a corporate watch search engine which you may be able to get inspiration from
http://knowmore.org
i was just going to suggest
i was just going to suggest taking a look at knowmore.org as well.
Knowmore
Thanks! I found out about knowmore after starting work here at CorpWatch on our Crocodyl project. It is a really great effort, up there with SourceWatch, WiserEarth and a whole set of corporate/social accountability projects. Perhaps next year we should all collaborate on a NetSquared entry to somehow federate all of this great data. Archivists and Librarians are working on all sorts of great software that creates meta-indexes of thematically tied information using standardized meta-data. It makes collaboration a part of the normal work flow using the proper technology, and reduces duplication of effort extremely well.
Knowmore.org...Hey, that's like me!?
As a developer working on the Knowmore.org Firefox extension, also a featured project, I have to say this idea makes me rather excited. Though, I have to wonder, why wait until next year?
We have a BETA build of the API up, and I wrote an intro post to it in my blog. If you're interested, check it out.
This is a great project. You
This is a great project. You are right that, among us, is hard to dig deep into those hidden (on purpose) information. This planet belongs to everyone equally, so we do need to keep an eye on for our decendants.
Great idea. I have been
Great idea. I have been having trouble consolidating data for analysis. With megaconglomorate corporations infultrating our lives in so many ways it will feel good to have somewhere to go to clearly identify the crimes corporations commit and the depth of their assult on people.
I agree that this is a
I agree that this is a fantastic idea!
corporate accountability
I would use this information to spotlight corporations that build partnerships with high profile humanitarian service organizations like the United Nations for commercial gain (free PR, access to emerging markets, lucrative infrastrucutre development contracts, etc.) while violating human rights, product safety regulations and other international codes of conduct.
As an American lawyer
As an American lawyer working at a Brazilian human rights organization, I am constantly looking for free corporate research resources. Many of the human rights violations we see here are caused by US or Europe-based corporations and their Brazilian subsidiaries. We try to take legal action both here and in the corporations' home countries, but it is extremely difficult to find the corporate information we need, especially with respect to uncovering parent-subsidiary relationships and figuring out where company decisions are made. Our organization has few resources, and I no longer have access to the libraries and expensive research databases that I had in law school. Trying to find specific information on EDGAR takes forever and I generally can't find what I need on there.
I have used Crocodyl before and would love to see it be expanded, so I hope you guys get the financial help you need.
Check this amazing TED talk
Check this amazing TED talk by Hans Rosling to be convinced immediately of the value of such software for understanding data:
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/140
Rosling "shows us the next generation of his Trendalyzer software -- which analyzes and displays data in amazingly accessible ways, allowing people to see patterns previously hidden behind mountains of stats."
Crocodyl.org
It is tragic that a small non-profit like Corpwatch has to raise funds to undertake such an invaluable project vital to a democratic nation and an informed citizenry because the taxpayer-funded federal government has shirked its responsibility for disseminating this critical public information. Their motivation for obfuscation is precisely why this project is so necessary: the Washington bureaucrats are too busy taking their marching orders from the corporate masters they serve.
Corp Watch mash up
While I basically like the idea, it seems a bit incomplete to me, if I understand it correctly. For example, while it would be nice to see which major corp has purchased which tiny corp, how could I, or a small group of activists REALLY use the info to do anything. The system would have to have query and report facilities built in (yes I'm a database programmer). Then, since you want people who share a common interest linking up, they'd have to be able to find one another. So some sort of social networking and email capabilities would have to be built into the system. These are siginficant efforts. Unless this mashup is stricly for the use of CorpWatch, its a half-baked idea, and even then I don't think the system is complete. I'd like to read a better system description.
Steve
Why this is important
Steve, perhaps you should join the software team and make sure this is as usage a tool as possible? Your work would certainly be appreciated.
On a relate note - I just wanted to voice my support of this, and highlight some recent events that remonstrate not only why this information would be useful to activists, but also to the general public/consumers.
In today's increasingly globalized world, the supply-chain connections are often hidden and mired in a game of 'who's on first'...the story of the poisoned dumplings in Japan, childrens toys coated in lead paint over the past 2 years, killer pet food. We are talking about multiple deaths, and children now in comas - as 80% of certain categories of goods are produced far away from the corporations that promote them as safe & profit from their sale. Magically, the names of which corporations are involved (Mattel, Procter & Gamble, and dozens of others) are often omitted from these stories, as the mainstream media lamely point their collective finger at the nation of origin.
I look forward to seeing this database become a reality, and offer my support.
Join Us
If you have time to hash this out I would love to get some specific advice from you about the project scope and implementation. Here is a link to our email list:
https://lists.riseup.net/www/info/crocodyl
The SEC now uses tagging for the proxy statements of each company.
http://216.241.101.197/viewer
http://216.12.130.224/
This might be useful to the project as well.
Good luck
Good luck
CorpWatch contest entry
This is information is vital to insure corporate accountability. Please consider awarding CorpWatch.
Congrats
Great work, guys. People like you give people like us hope!! Thankyou.
Nadia, a concerned mom living in Paris.
Proposal
Great idea! Information is absolutely key to motivating change; just like Crocodyl, this will be such a help to concerned laypeople.
Net2 Staff Members can't be in the Project Teams
Hi there,
I'm very happy that you consider me part of your team! :) The staff of Net2 are always happy to help all the project teams. I won't be able to be part of your Project Team as it's a conflict of interest. Can you remove me from the Team area please?
Anyone else out there in the NetSquared Community interested in being part of this Team?
Have a great day! Looking forward to seeing all this progress.
~ Erin
-------------------------------------------------
Erin Denny aka "Handy"
href="mailto:erin@techsoup.org">erin@techsoup.org
Sorry :)
Ah, my bad. I saw the the description of the netsqared membername and associated it with employees not team members. Took the name off the list.
Hello! I think this is a
Hello!
I think this is a really cool idea. I have been thinking of something similar for awhile ... but also including Associated Press feed w/ some sort of citizen journalist / editor tagging intervention (unless that stream has built in tags / taxonomy that could be mapped to). This would link in relevent / current journalist efforts.
Also, I think I'm hearing you talk about having some sort of way to tie what you're thinking of above to "products" would be really powerful. So, having your data match up w/ the actual consumer deliverable ... tires, deoderant, pens, etc. so a user could see the real impact of their choices.
This would answer the question of "What are you going to do tomorrow?" and give the user alternatives to the choices they are about to make w/ their purchases. I wonder if you could use bar code data here? UPC labels?
Having a mobile or "smart mob" functionality built in w/ the social web component is where you could really start to leverage the network.
Just a few thoughts on a great Mashup Project idea.
~ Erin
-------------------------------------------------
Erin Denny aka "Handy"
erin@techsoup.org
Internet UPC Database
Might the Internet UPC Database be a source for integrating some sort of smart mob functionality? Idea still gestating...
here here
I'd like to echo one of Erin's comments. I think that linking these companies to their consumer products (and in many cases affiliated companies that provide services or own media) is incredibly important. Most folks are frustrated with corporations but don't make the connection with they pick a product up off the shelf.
Allowing the user to begin with products they know and then tracing where they come from to explore their makers' behavior would be very interesting.
cool idea! i don't know much
cool idea! i don't know much about the tech side of this project, but i really like the idea of making it easier for corporations to be held accountable for their actions.
good luck!
Thanks!
Good points. Thanks! Naming the consumer products brings in the "brand association" and can help move the company towards better practices. If people associate a brand name and company name with the more dense information (such as toxic chemicals used in consumer products) it will go a long way toward pressuring the company to change its ways.
Editing submission text...