Latin America & Caribbean · edition 2021

Costa Rica 2021: strong disclosure, weak rules

Costa Rica's strongest dimension is data publication; its weakest is enabling environment. The framework is not yet translating evenly into practice.

93 indicators 30 procuring entities 4 dimensions

Overall ITI score

47.5/100

Global average: 44.2

First edition

The ITI score

Costa Rica enters the index at 47.5 of 100

3.3 points above the global average. Data publication carries the score; enabling environment holds it back.

National ITI score by edition

47.5202152.82023 66.92025

View as table

Edition	Overall ITI score
2021	47.5
2023	52.8
2025	66.9

Score by dimension, 2021

Enabling environment30.4

Capacities and processes41.8

Citizen participation37.4

Data publication67.2

Dashed marks show the global average. Click a year to open that edition.

Inside the four dimensions

Where the score comes from

Enabling environment

30.4/100

Strongest area:Proactive publication of information on public procurement processes100

Weakest area:Sanctions over non-compliance with access to public information mandates · Organisation guaranteeing the sanctions +3 more0

Explore 3 sub-areas

1.1Legal framework and digital tools30.4

1.1.1Access to public information regulatory framework20

1.1.2Transparency standards in the public infrastructure sector32

1.1.3National digital information tools40

Capacities and processes

41.8/100

Strongest area:Computer equipment77.3

Weakest area:Level of investment represented by disclosed infrastructure projects9.3

Explore 5 sub-areas

2.1Institutional capacities50.4

2.1.1Basic knowledge34.5

2.1.2Digital capacities66.3

2.2Institutional processes36.1

2.2.1Procedures to disclose information36.9

2.2.2Enablers and barriers to disclose information34.7

2.2.3Control over infrastructure projects disclosure36.7

Citizen participation

37.4/100

Strongest area:Institutional response capacity53.3

Weakest area:Requests and responses of access to information20

Explore 2 sub-areas

3.1Participation practices37.4

3.1.1Participation opportunities39.1

3.1.2Use of information by citizens36

Data publication

67.2/100

Strongest area:Project owner · Project name100

Weakest area:Land and settlement impact14

Explore 6 sub-areas

4.1Disclosure practices67.2

4.1.1Project identification80.3

4.1.2Project preparation42.9

4.1.3Execution contract procurement70.8

4.1.4Supervision contract procurement68.8

4.1.5Execution contract implementation71.4

4.1.6Supervision contract implementation70

Procuring entities

How 30 procuring entities compare

Scores run from 77.4 to 10.8, with a median of 51.9.

0Leading80 to 100

10Strong60 to 79

12Developing40 to 59

8Weak0 to 39

#
1	Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes (MOPT)	77.4	63	81.3	87.6
2	Municipalidad de Pérez Zeledón	75.7	81.3	95	58.7
3	Instituto Nacional de Seguros	72	67.2	50.2	89.9
4	Refinadora Costarricense de Petróleo (RECOPE)	69.6	57.6	67.1	81.7
5	Poder Judicial	63.7	56.3	49.8	78.8
6	Instituto Costarricense de Acueductos y Alcantarillado (AyA)	63.6	69.1	83.4	46.4
7	Caja Costarricense del Seguro Social (CCSS)	63.1	66.9	19.2	87.1
8	Comision Nacional de Prevencion de Riesgos y Atencion de Emergencias (CNE)	61.8	43	46.6	87.7
9	Consejo Nacional de Vialidad	61.7	49.3	45.9	82.4
10	Servicio Nacional de Aguas Subterráneas Riego y Avenamiento (Senara)	60.8	36.6	34.5	98.5
11	Municipalidad de San José	60	48.4	39.5	82.9
12	Instituto Nacional de Aprendizaje (INA)	58	43.4	56.3	71.9
13	Municipalidad de Cartago	57	38.5	51	77.1
14	Dirección General de Aviación Civil (DGAC)	56.6	35.8	36.6	87.2
15	Universidad Nacional (UNA)	52.3	74.8	51.2	33.3
16	Ministerio de Seguridad Pública	51.9	21.9	18.5	99
17	Universidad de Costa Rica (UCR)	50.8	39.4	13.8	84
18	Municipalidad de San Carlos	50.6	73.9	56.3	26.7
19	Instituto de Puertos al Pacífico (INCOP)	50.2	43.8	55.1	52.7
20	Ministerio de Justicia y Paz	47.6	34.9	3.3	86.4
21	Instituto Costarricense de Ferrocarriles (INCOFER)	45.7	50	64.8	30.1
22	Patronato de Construcciones, Instalaciones y Adquisición de Bienes del Ministerio de Justicia y Paz (PCIAB)	42.8	32.9	0	78.2
23	Municipalidad de Heredia	38.7	41.6	63.5	20.8
24	Instituto Tecnológico de Costa Rica (ITCR)	37.5	51.7	7.7	43.6
25	Consejo de Seguridad Vial (COSEVI)	32.9	0	0	82.3
26	Instituto de Desarrollo Rural (INDER)	32.2	32.5	30.8	32.8
27	Municipalidad de Alajuela	27.8	0	0	69.5
28	Banco de Costa Rica (BCR)	26.7	0	0	66.6
29	Instituto Costarricense de Turismo (ICT)	25.5	0	0	63.8
30	Empresa de Servicios Públicos de Heredia (ESPH)	10.8	0	0	27.1

Entity dashboard

Inspect one entity in depth

Choose an entity

Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Transportes (MOPT)

Ranked #1 of 30 entities

77.4PE ITI score

Capacities and processes21.2 above average63

Citizen participation43.9 above average81.3

Information disclosure20.4 above average87.6

Ticks mark the average across all 30 entities.

Full detail The complete 93-indicator breakdown

National ITI ScoreScore47.5

1Enabling environmentDimension30.4

1.1Legal framework and digital toolsVariable30.4

1.1.1Access to public information regulatory frameworkSub-variable20

1.1.1.1Access-to-public information lawIndicator40

1.1.1.2Right to request public informationIndicator40

1.1.1.3Sanctions over non-compliance with access to public information mandatesIndicator0

1.1.1.4Organisation guaranteeing the sanctionsIndicator0

1.1.2Transparency standards in the public infrastructure sectorSub-variable32

1.1.2.1Proactive publication of information on public procurement processesIndicator100

1.1.2.2Proactive publication of information on public infrastructure projectsIndicator60

1.1.2.3Infrastructure data disclosure standardIndicator0

1.1.2.4Infrastructure data disclosure standard proactively published as open dataIndicator0

1.1.2.5Organisation responsible for the infrastructure data disclosure standardIndicator0

1.1.3National digital information toolsSub-variable40

1.1.3.1Centralised digital information platformsIndicator40

1.1.3.2Easy access to information in digital information platformsIndicator40

1.1.3.3Infrastructure projects geographic information system (GIS) platformIndicator40

2Capacities and processesDimension41.8

2.1Institutional capacitiesVariable50.4

2.1.1Basic knowledgeSub-variable34.5

2.1.1.1Knowledge about the access-to-information lawIndicator44

2.1.1.2Knowledge about transparency initiatives in the infrastructure sectorIndicator24

2.1.1.3Knowledge about the transparency data standard in the infrastructure sectorIndicator12

2.1.1.4Knowledge about sanctions due to non-compliance on the access-to-public-information lawIndicator30

2.1.1.5Knowledge about different data categoriesIndicator62.7

2.1.2Digital capacitiesSub-variable66.3

2.1.2.1Computer equipmentIndicator77.3

2.1.2.2Connectivity to the internetIndicator76

2.1.2.3Institutional websiteIndicator76.7

2.1.2.4Information systems for infrastructure projectsIndicator59.3

2.1.2.5Use of digital information systemsIndicator58

2.1.2.6Infrastructure open data publicationIndicator35.3

2.1.2.7Visualisations based on infrastructure projects dataIndicator50

2.2Institutional processesVariable36.1

2.2.1Procedures to disclose informationSub-variable36.9

2.2.1.1Procedures for the publication of informationIndicator21.3

2.2.1.2Responsibilities for disclosureIndicator27.3

2.2.1.3Information officer profileIndicator30.7

2.2.1.4Information officerIndicator42.7

2.2.1.5Follow-up mechanisms on information requestsIndicator62.7

2.2.2Enablers and barriers to disclose informationSub-variable34.7

2.2.2.1Internal policy for information publicationIndicator39.3

2.2.2.2Disclosure training programmeIndicator14

2.2.2.3Identification of limitations for publishing informationIndicator50

2.2.2.4Plan to mitigate limitations for publishing informationIndicator18.7

2.2.2.5Bureaucratic barriers to publish informationIndicator53.3

2.2.2.6Documentation of non-compliance and sanctionsIndicator38

2.2.3Control over infrastructure projects disclosureSub-variable36.7

2.2.3.1Level of disclosed infrastructure projectsIndicator64

2.2.3.2Level of investment represented by disclosed infrastructure projectsIndicator9.3

3Citizen participationDimension37.4

3.1Participation practicesVariable37.4

3.1.1Participation opportunitiesSub-variable39.1

3.1.1.1Institutionalised citizen participationIndicator38

3.1.1.2Permanent and inclusive citizen participationIndicator45.3

3.1.1.3Citizen participation in infrastructure projectsIndicator23.3

3.1.1.4Citizen attention officeIndicator51.3

3.1.1.5Online form for consultation or requestsIndicator44.7

3.1.1.6Awareness of participation opportunitiesIndicator44.7

3.1.2Use of information by citizensSub-variable36

3.1.2.1Centralised citizen complaintsIndicator45.3

3.3.2.2Requests and responses of access to informationIndicator20

3.3.2.3Institutional response capacityIndicator53.3

3.3.2.4Institutional use evidenceIndicator44.7

3.3.2.5Citizens use evidenceIndicator23.3

3.3.2.6Evidence of joint projectsIndicator36.7

3.3.2.7Improvements as a response to citizen participationIndicator28.7

4Information disclosureDimension67.2

4.1Disclosure practicesVariable67.2

4.1.1Project identificationSub-variable80.3

4.1.1.1Project reference numberIndicator99.3

4.1.1.2Project ownerIndicator100

4.1.1.3Sector and sub-sectorIndicator50.7

4.1.1.4Project nameIndicator100

4.1.1.5Project locationIndicator98.3

4.1.1.6Project descriptionIndicator77

4.1.1.7PurposeIndicator65

4.1.2Project preparationSub-variable42.9

4.1.2.1Environmental impactIndicator21

4.1.2.2Land and settlement impactIndicator14

4.1.2.3Contact detailsIndicator54.7

4.1.2.4Project budget and date of approvalIndicator94

4.1.2.5Funding sourcesIndicator81.7

4.1.3Execution contract procurementSub-variable70.8

4.1.3.1Procuring entity and contact detailsIndicator73.3

4.1.3.2Procurement processIndicator98.3

4.1.3.3Number of firms biddingIndicator56.7

4.1.3.4Contract typeIndicator71.7

4.1.3.5Contract titleIndicator60

4.1.3.6Contract priceIndicator95

4.1.3.7Contract start dateIndicator38.3

4.1.3.8Contract durationIndicator68.3

4.1.3.9Contractor(s)Indicator75

4.1.3.10Contract scope of workIndicator71

4.1.4Supervision contract procurementSub-variable68.8

4.1.4.1Procuring entity and contact detailsIndicator57.7

4.1.4.2Procurement processIndicator70

4.1.4.3Number of firms/individuals biddingIndicator70

4.1.4.4Contract typeIndicator70

4.1.4.5Contract titleIndicator70

4.1.4.6Contract priceIndicator70

4.1.4.7Contract start dateIndicator70

4.1.4.8Contract durationIndicator70

4.1.4.9Contract firm/individualIndicator70

4.1.4.10Contract scope of workIndicator70

4.1.5Execution contract implementationSub-variable71.4

4.1.5.1Variation to contract priceIndicator96.7

4.1.5.2Reasons for price changesIndicator96

4.1.5.3Variation to contract durationIndicator28.3

4.1.5.4Reasons for contract duration changesIndicator25

4.1.5.5Variation to contract scopeIndicator93.3

4.1.5.6Reasons for scope changesIndicator96.7

4.1.6Supervision contract implementationSub-variable70

4.1.6.1Variation to contract priceIndicator70

4.1.6.2Reasons for price changesIndicator70

4.1.6.3Variation to contract durationIndicator70

4.1.6.4Reasons for duration changesIndicator70

4.1.6.5Variation to contract scopeIndicator70

4.1.6.6Reasons for scope changesIndicator70

Costa Rica 2021: strong disclosure, weak rules

Costa Rica enters the index at 47.5 of 100

Where the score comes from

How 30 procuring entities compare

Inspect one entity in depth

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