In March, the European Commission launched an open source platform that allows users to access a database of EU-funded projects – Kohesio. On this platform, EU citizens can search and intuitively understand which projects have been implemented with EU cohesion policy funds.

Through an interactive map, it is possible to perceive the location of the projects and identify the projects considered as examples of best practices, which are highlighted with red circles. The Kohesio platform thus provides a complete picture and seeks to improve policy making while combating disinformation.

Cohesion policy funds are the financial instruments intended to support implementation of EU cohesion policy or regional policy, which in turn were created to reduce regional economic disparities in Europe. The funding strand of the political program represents almost 4% of the EU budget, totaling €42.6 billion for the period 2021-2027. Kohesio supports more than 500.000 beneficiaries, supported by the Cohesion Fund (CF), the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the European Social Fund (ESF).

The Kohesio platform started with a pilot project involving 6 member states, managed by DG CNECT, DG DIGIT and DG REGIO. Last year, after being considered a useful instrument, it was extended to cover all EU Member States.

"The big added value is to have easy access to funded projects in other countries without having to search lists. If I want to know what type of projects Ireland or Malta are funding, I get the result with a few clicks. If a journalist wants to know what projects are funded in, let’s say, Salzburg, I could just point him or her to Kohesio," explains Ms Anreiter to Joinup.

Focused on transparency, sharing experience and knowledge to provide sustained positive evolution, this open source platform uses Wikidata and WikiBase. technology. Developed by Wikimedia Deutschland, this technology allows linking human- and machine-readable data, in which to do so, it uses artificial intelligence, machine learning and semantic search to facilitate data access.

image of joinup.