About sociedad.info
Why do we exist?
On 28 November 2023, Guatemala woke up without Guatecompras: a supposed cyberattack wiped out the official portal, leaving citizens and watchdogs in the dark about public spending. That same day, from the office of Abrimos.info, we restored the backup we'd downloaded a week earlier and put it online under a new name: sociedad.info. That's how our permanent commitment was born: If the State's data goes down, we'll get it back up.
We saw how popular the Guatemalan portal was and how much traffic it was getting, so we decided to go one step further and make public procurement data available in all countries where databases are publicly available. We think transparency should be borderless, and that good practices can be copied to make accountability stronger across the world.
Institutional objectives:
- Mission🧭: Facilitate access to public procurement data and involved actors for interested individuals and companies.
- Vision🌄: Contribute to building more efficient and less corrupt societies, where information about public procurement is truly public and accessible to those who need it.
Recognition that validates us
- Best civic technology tool 2023 for infoactivism according to SocialTIC.
- Recommended in the Contracts, Data & Investigations #74 newsletter from the Open Contracting Partnership.
- Coverage of the birth of sociedad.info in Agencia Ocote, Ojo con mi Pisto, and Plaza Pública.
- Cited as a source in investigations about forest fires and public spending.
Incorporation of QuiénEsQuién.Wiki
Starting in December 2025, Sociedad.info assumes the preservation and management of the digital legacy of QuiénEsQuién.Wiki, following an agreement with the PODER organization. This alliance ensures that years of data journalism and transparency tools remain accessible to citizens. We preserve four emblematic projects that have marked milestones in open data in the region:
QuiénEsQuién.Wiki: The flagship platform that for more than a decade documented the economic and political elites of Latin America. The homepage and static content will be maintained exactly as they were transferred, and the data will be incorporated into sociedad.info.
TodosLosContratos.mx: Pioneering tool in the analysis of public procurement in Mexico.
🏆 Winner of the Sigma Award 2020 (Open Data)
🏅 Nominated for the Gabo Award 2020 (Innovation)
Salud, Dinero y Corrupción: Investigation into the purchase of medicines and health supplies by the Mexican Social Security Institute (IMSS).
🏅 Honorable Mention in the 2022 SIP Excellence in Journalism Contest (Data Journalism)
Mujeres en la Bolsa: Regional collaborative project (2019 and 2020) analyzing gender equity in business elites that coordinated journalists from 15 Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries to highlight the presence of women on boards of directors.
The team
| Name | Role | Experience |
|---|---|---|
| Eduard Martín-Borregón | Content Manager | Data journalist with 10 years of experience analyzing public procurement. |
| Fernando Matzdorf | Data Manager | Computer engineer specialized in scraping and data management. |
| Martín Szyszlican | Technology Manager | Digital product designer used by millions in Latin America. |
(Complete profiles on Abrimos.info and author profiles.)
How we work: Technology at the service of transparency
At the heart of our operation, we use TeseoETL, a specialized data extraction and processing tool developed by our team at Abrimos.info. This system ensures that information about public procurement is always available and easy to consult.
The process in simple terms:
- Automatic daily backup: Every 24 hours, we run algorithms that capture and import info from official sources. While a lot of these sources update less often, our system keeps the data in sync and generates reliable backups whenever changes happen.
- Authenticity verification: We apply validation methods that guarantee the information has not been altered, maintaining a digital record (SHA-256 hash) that functions as a "digital fingerprint" of each document.
- Data organization: We convert information to optimized formats that facilitate quick searches and detailed analysis, never altering the original content.
- Accessible publication: All information is made available through our web platform and a programming interface (API) for developers or researchers who need massive access to the data.
Fundamental principle: We never modify the original data. If we find errors, we point them out, but we maintain the information as it appears in the official source, thus preserving the integrity of public records.
Our editorial and content policies
At Sociedad.info, we are committed to the highest standards of informational quality and journalistic ethics:
- Veracity: We publish only verifiable information backed by official data.
- Transparency: We clearly indicate the origin of all data and distinguish between factual information and analysis.
- Privacy: We protect personal data in accordance with current legislation.
- Neutrality: We do not alter data to favor political positions or particular interests.
- Corrections: If we detect errors in our processing, we correct them with transparency and public notification.
To learn about our complete policies in detail, consult our Terms and Conditions.
Sustainability and transparency
| Source | Commitment |
|---|---|
| Advertising on pages | Ads do not influence the presentation of data. |
| Consultancies / training | Open procurement analysis services for Government. |
| Subscriptions | Business lines under development. |
The domain maintains a public ads.txt file with our Publisher ID to shield advertising transparency.
Privacy commitment
We show our own consent banner, integrated with Google Tag Manager, complying with the EU User Consent Policy. Consult the Privacy & Cookies Policy to learn how to disable personalized ads.
Contact us
Complete our contact form and we will respond as soon as possible.
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Next step
Do you want to see why a contract in your community cost what it cost? 👉 Explore the most recent contracts or review our data sources.
We will continue here —line by line, contract by contract— until transparency stops being news.