About
Public spending, in public.
OpenBudget TT is an independent civic-tech platform that consolidates Trinidad and Tobago's public finance data into one searchable registry — the national budget, contract awards, the Heritage and Stabilisation Fund and live macro indicators. We exist to operationalise the transparency obligations of the Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act, 2015.
Mission
Why we built this
T&T’s public finance data is technically public, but practically inaccessible. It lives in PDFs, scattered ministry websites, and reports released long after the decisions they describe. OpenBudget TT exists to close that gap: every budget line, every public contract, every dollar — in one searchable, machine-readable registry, free for citizens, journalists, MPs and honest contractors to use.
What we do
Six modules, one registry
Budget 2027
The FY2027 budget in numbers, with all 35 fiscal measures and page references.
Contract Registry
Verified public contract awards by ministry, supplier, value, scope and year.
Ministry Dashboards
Head allocations, top contractors and tracked awards per ministry.
HSF Tracker
Audited balances, deposits and withdrawals for the sovereign wealth fund.
Economy
Live World Bank indicators alongside official Ministry of Finance figures.
Open Data Portal
Bulk CSV/JSON downloads. CC BY 4.0 licence. Free forever.
Data sources
Where the data comes from
All records cite a public source. Where original PDFs or ministry web pages go offline, we mirror the document in the platform.
| Source | Type | Update frequency | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ministry of Finance — Budget Statement 2027 | Fiscal totals, sector allocations, 35 fiscal measures, macro figures | Annual (October) | Appropriation Act (annual) |
| Parliament of T&T — Budget Guides 2027 (Standing Finance Committee) | Head-by-Head allocations, FY2027 | Annual | Exchequer and Audit Act, Chap. 69:01 |
| NIDCO / OPR contract-award notices | Published Notices of Contracts Awarded | As published | PPA s.36, s.37 |
| Ministry of Finance — HSF reports | Audited financial statements; quarterly investment reports | Quarterly + annual | HSF Act 2007, ss.16, 20–21 |
| Parliament of T&T — Guide to the Budget 2026 | FY2026 Appropriation by Head (used where no FY2027 guide exists) | Annual | Exchequer and Audit Act, Chap. 69:01 |
| World Bank Open Data | Macro-fiscal indicators (live API) | Live | CC BY 4.0 |
Team & governance
Who runs OpenBudget TT
The platform is operated by ByteCraft Solutions LTD., an independent civic-tech firm based in Trinidad. The roles below guide editorial, engineering, and outreach decisions.
| Role | Purpose |
|---|---|
| Programme Lead / CEO | Sets editorial direction, manages stakeholder relationships with OPR, MoF, civil society, and donors. |
| Chief Technology Officer | Owns platform architecture, data pipelines, security, and the Open Data API roadmap. |
| Data Engineering Lead | Designs ingest jobs from OPR notices, MoF estimates, and Auditor General reports. Maintains data quality. |
| Editorial & Verification Lead | Reviews ingested records, resolves entity-matching ambiguities, publishes data-quality flags. |
| Civic Outreach & Partnerships | Coordinates with media, MPs, parliamentary committees, and CSOs. Runs training for journalists. |
| Legal & Compliance Counsel | Advises on PPA obligations, defamation risk, data protection, and Independent Editorial Board governance. |
Statutory basis
The law behind each dataset
OpenBudget TT does not create new obligations; it makes existing statutory disclosures usable.
Act No. 1 of 2015
Public Procurement and Disposal of Public Property Act
s.26 establishes the procurement depository; s.36 requires public notice of contract awards; s.37 requires procuring entities to report quarterly. The Contract Registry is built on those notices.
Act No. 6 of 2007
Heritage and Stabilisation Fund Act
ss.13–14 govern deposits, s.15 and s.15A withdrawals, s.16 the annual audit by the Auditor General, s.20 the Board’s quarterly and annual investment reports, and s.21 the laying of audited statements in Parliament. The HSF tracker uses those documents.
Chap. 69:01
Exchequer and Audit Act & the annual Appropriation Act
The Estimates of Expenditure and the Appropriation Act set each Head’s allocation; Parliament’s Budget Guides summarise them. The Ministries registry and Budget 2027 module draw on these.
Editorial independence
Independent Editorial Board
OpenBudget TT’s editorial decisions — including which data is published, how findings are framed, and how disputes are resolved — are governed by an Independent Editorial Board. The Board comprises civic-tech practitioners, procurement-law scholars, journalists, and a citizen representative. The Board operates at arm’s length from any single funder, contractor, or government entity.
Every record cites its public source. Every correction is logged. Where a supplier or ministry disputes a record, we publish the dispute alongside the record.
Contact
Get in touch
Corrections, dataset requests, partnerships, and journalist queries.