Since the beginning of the project, ChainReact achieved the following results:
- Technical integration of the WikiRate and OpenCorporates platforms, allowing data to flow between the two
- Development of new data models to systematically integrate national and regional industry codes.
- Development of a tool that enables the semi-automated extraction of data from tables in PDF files.
- Collected and imported more than 100,000 corporate relationships and more than 280,000 corporate performance data points to the WikiRate platform.
- Gathered information on 19,199 brand-level companies, 13,120 suppliers, and 137 investors.
- Development of a reporting platform (The Whistle) consisting of reporting front-end and NGO dashboard for those running campaigns.
- Development of production-ready reporting forms for two active campaigns and two which will begin in 2019.
- Contributed to the launch of two reporting campaigns (Rape is a Crime and End Everyday Racism) and amended reporting form and dashboard in response to user feedback.
- Developed a flexible reporting-form generation specification.
- Developed data aggregation and publication features to facilitate the export of data from the Whistle in the appropriate format for import on WikiRate.
- Conducted research (survey, interviews, and workshops) and engaged in dialogue with over 50 corporations to better understand both the barriers and incentives for companies to engage with their stakeholder communities and disclose more about their operations.
- Development of a company account feature on WikiRate.org to lower the barrier to engage with stakeholders in an official capacity.
- Development of analytical features on WikiRate.org that enable benchmarking and company performance assessments across corporate networks to allow meaningful conclusions to be drawn and increase the incentives for companies to disclose.
- Development of a company comparison dashboard, to further incentivize disclosure.
- Collaborated with the Walk Free Foundation to monitor the effects of the UK Modern Slavery Act on corporate reporting. Insights from the study fed into policy advice, which helped shape the new Australian Modern Slavery Act (passed in November 2018).
- Advocacy around the topic of open data has resulted in the adoption of an Open Data Standard for Supplier Disclosures by the influential Transparency Pledge Coalition.
- Advised 42 corporations on best practices for disclosing on activities in line with the UN SDGs, through participation in the Corporate Action Group, organized by UN Global Compact and the Global Reporting Initiative.
- Published 5 academic articles, covering topics such as peer production of knowledge, tools for data extraction, and the need for human rights reporting systems to accommodate slow/low tech users
- Representatives from the consortium spoke at 33 international events and conferences about the project’s activities and results.
NGO, and academic partners engaged to share and generate research that could then be used in analysis, advocacy campaigns and reports. Around 3,000 students contributed research, and more than 40 NGO and academic partners took part in projects. Project results were disseminated through multiple channels including participation conferences and events, as well as in multi-stakeholder coalitions to raise awareness and drive engagement. Coalitions and events served as productive settings for communicating insights to company and government stakeholders, among others.
