Open Contracting Data Standard
free, non-proprietary open data standard for public contracting
The Open Contracting Data Standard is a standards development initiative issued by the Omidyar Network and the World Bank which commenced in November 2014. It sets out the key documents and data which should be published at each stage of the process of letting a contract for the procurement of goods and services for the public sector. Adoption of the standard requires publishers to release data under an open license, because "publishing data under an open license is an important part of open contracting. Without this, restrictions on re-use can prevent many of the important use cases for open contracting information being realized." Publishers are encouraged to use a scale of publishing complexity, from basic which features just tender notices, to advanced and extended data, which features contract award notices, contract details and persistent URIs.
The Open Contracting Partnership, a not for profit organisation promoting openness in contracting, argues that the use of the standard will reduce costs, create more competitive contracting, and prevent fraud and corruption.
Origins
An early version 1.0 was released in July 2015 and version 1.1 was being developed in Q 3 and 4 2015. OCDS was designed with a focus on public procurement of goods, works and services, but it can be extended for use in other contexts. Extensions for Public Private Partnerships (PPP) and Extractives concessions are under development.
Implementation
Pilot implementations are underway in the following countries:
Canada
United Kingdom - see UK Open Government National Action Plan 2016-18 The UK Government initially committed to using the standard for contracts administered by the Crown Commercial Service and for High Speed Rail 2.
Mexico
Romania
Moldova
Ukraine - public e-procurement system Prozorro
Colombia, Costa Rica and Paraguay have also expressed interest in adopting the standard.
This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Open Contracting Data Standard” as free, non-proprietary open data standard for public contracting. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.
Why this record matters
The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as free, non-proprietary open data standard for public contracting. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.
Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 4, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q24534540. None of the 0 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 2014, 2015 and 2016.
Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.
- Subject orientation
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The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Open Contracting Data Standard”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Open Contracting Data Standard primary sources, Open Contracting Data Standard archive and Contracting research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
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This entry incorporates text from “Open Contracting Data Standard” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.