Build an in-house system to create your IATI data files

It’s possible to build a bespoke, in-house system that can generate your data in the format you need for IATI. Large organisations that report a high number of activities often choose to do this, as it can be more cost effective than using a third-party tool or system to report to IATI.

Most organisations that take this route have internal technical expertise and capacity; others bring in consultants to help them develop a bespoke package.

Essentially, you need to develop internal systems and processes so that data is pulled together from your management and finance systems to create IATI XML data. This requires technical knowledge of XML, the IATI Standard and your organisation’s internal systems to create a system for creating and publishing your data files.

The UK Department for International Development (DFID), for example, has created a bespoke publishing system called SQL-to-IATI.

DFID’s in-house system

DFID’s SQL-to-IATI tool generates IATI XML data from activity data stored in a SQL database – this is among the most common database types. DFID uses its enterprise-grade tool to publish its full set of 13,000 activities to IATI each month. The core of the tool is a set of tables that mirror the IATI 2.01, standard XML schema in a relational database. The data held in these tables can be output as valid IATI XML files directly from a SQL function.

DFID shares the codebase with organisations that want to publish more data to the IATI Standard, and the code is freely available on GitHub. They are working on updating their SQL-to-IATI tool to mirror version 2.03 of the IATI standard. DFID is also keen to partner with others interested in developing this further as an open source tool for the IATI community. Contact DFID’s Technical Transparency Team for more information.

Integrated solutions

See publishing tools and services for details on external tools and services that are designed to be implemented within your internal system. Rather than being a stand-alone tool they interact with your internal software and allow for more automated IATI file creation and updating of data.

Please note, that each tool or service will require a level of set up to connect to your internal system.