Bogotá and Cali were recognised under the Open Government Partnership’s Open Gov Challenge 2025 for reforms to improve public infrastructure. Their experience shows how using the CoST approach to publish infrastructure data can rebuild trust, strengthen oversight and improve how projects are delivered.
Bogotá: building a city-wide system for open infrastructure data
In Bogotá, strengthening a city-wide open data system for infrastructure has been central to addressing the coordination challenges created by 62 public bodies involved in contracting major works. Rather than leaving data fragmented across institutions, the city was prompted to bring major investments into a single public platform.
This work evolved into the launch of Infraestructura Transparente in May 2025 under the Mayor’s Office of Bogotá, which in its first year published data on 184 strategic infrastructure projects worth approximately USD 5 billion using international data standards.
Alongside this digital transformation, the city has prioritised a cultural shift in how transparency is practiced, bringing together public entities, contractors, and civil society through workshops with key infrastructure actors to strengthen shared accountability and data use. Their oversight and multi-stakeholder approach is being applied to major investments like Bogotá Metro Line 2 (USD 7–8 billion).
Cali: turning transparency into citizen action
In Cali, infrastructure transparency has been driven by the need to rebuild public trust while managing the largest public loan in the city’s 500-year history. With 35 major regeneration projects planned between 2025 and 2027, city leaders recognised that technical reporting alone would not secure legitimacy for such a large investment programme.
Joining CoST allowed Cali to strengthen and expand its platform to open up infrastructure information developing practical ways for residents to engage with data — including a public feedback system for reporting problems through geolocated photos, and a maintenance map showing where crews are working in real time.
Opening up data has also begun to reshape market behaviour, prompting reforms that increased the number of bidders per tender and strengthened confidence in the integrity of the system.
A new roadmap for infrastructure transparency
Together, Bogotá and Cali show how infrastructure transparency can move beyond isolated pilots towards lasting institutional change. By embedding openness into everyday infrastructure management and creating tools that citizens can use, both cities are helping build a more transparent, accountable and participatory model for public investment — with lessons for Colombia and beyond.