Building a nationwide Network of Integrity Officers with participants from all federal ministries, regions, municipalities, universities, state-affiliated enterprises, etc. in order to reduce corruption and bribery in all their forms (Goal 16.5)
Description
The Network of Integrity Officers (NIO) was introduced by the Federal Bureau of Anti-Corruption (BAK) in 2016<br />
to further enhance the concept of integrity in Austria. In five basic training programs 105 staff members from<br />
all walks of civil service life in Austria were trained to become Integrity Officers: experts in issues of promotion<br />
of integrity, corruption prevention and compliance. They are now multipliers in the awareness-raising process<br />
and serving as contacts for inquiries regarding promotion of integrity, corruption prevention and compliance,<br />
for staff including senior officials.
The main goal of the BAK was reducing and preventing corruption by promoting integrity. The majority of<br />
public officers working in Austria are doing a great job and have an upstanding attitude concerning their<br />
duties. This fact also needed to be pointed out.<br />
At the Federal Bureau of Anti-Corruption about 15 persons are working in the field of prevention; not every<br />
single corruption prevention project in Austria can be organized by them – a network of experts, of Integrity<br />
Officers, was necessary.<br />
To this end, the BAK trained 105 staff members from all walks of civil service life in Austria in five basic training<br />
programs. Currently, participants in the Network are from all federal ministries, regions, municipalities, various<br />
different universities, state-affiliated enterprises, the Austrian Association of Cities and Towns, and the Court<br />
of Audit.<br />
Two further basic training programs are planned in 2019, and two basic trainings are already scheduled for the<br />
two years thereafter. All training courses are now cofinanced by the EU’s Internal Security Fund (ISF), however,<br />
this financial support will end in 2020. This means that there might be an upcoming challenge concerning<br />
funding.<br />
To handle this challenge, NIO was included in the National Anti-Corruption Strategy that was enacted by the<br />
Austrian government. <br />
Another challenge will be to cover the demand for basic training programs by all Austrian public institutions<br />
and to handle the Network which is still in the expansion phase. To cope with that issue a website has been<br />
created and annual meetings continue to take place.<br />
To keep all the partners interested, in 2018, an Integrity Award was granted to the institution with the most<br />
innovative efforts in their fight for integrity.
universities, state-affiliated enterprises, the Austrian Association of Cities and Towns, and the Court of Audit.
As mentioned, the Network has become part of the Austrian Anti-Corruption Strategy. All federal ministries
are partners in the NIO.
The Network is still growing and the aim is to have partners in all public institutions in Austria.
The BAK trained 105 staff members from all walks of civil service life in Austria in five basic training programs.
Currently, participants in the Network are from all federal ministries, regions, municipalities, various different
universities, state-affiliated enterprises, the Austrian Association of Cities and Towns, and the Court of Audit.
Basic training programs provide participants with knowledge and networking opportunities; the NIO follow-up
meetings organized by the BAK feature different contents every time and provide NIO members with
important opportunities to exchange experiences and best practices. Therefore, the BAK arranges follow-up
events e.g. on risk management in the field of compliance or value management with the focus on the creation
and implementation of a value-based corporate culture through targeted value management measures.
In order to exchange knowledge and experience and to meet in person and increase readiness to cooperate in
the Network, the NIO annual meetings are designed as get-togethers of all Integrity Officers who attended
basic training programs at some point in time.
Almost half of the total number of Integrity Officers gathered at the BAK’s invitation at the last NIO annual
meeting in 2018.
The Network of Integrity Officers has an appealing website. Its objective is to provide interested members of
civil society and other stakeholders with current information on the Network‘s activities, and to feed public
discourse by placing messages, e.g. in social networks.
In 2018 the first Austrian Integrity Award was granted. Award competitions will now take place every year.
partner in the NOI so that the exchange of knowledge and the identification of challenges can take place even
faster.
The institutions concerned benefit as well, since they have at least one well-trained contact person.
Integrity Officers’ tasks include:
- serving as contact for inquiries regarding promotion of integrity, corruption prevention and compliance, for
staff including senior officials;
- advising senior officials regarding the development and implementation of specific measures for corruption
prevention (such as compliance programs, codes of conduct, ethics guidelines, specific training and advanced
training programs, development and implementation of corruption risk analysis);
- contributing to surveillance and assessment of indicators pointing to corruption and risk factors;
- functioning as multipliers in the awareness-raising process within authorities and departments – this includes
seminars and anti-corruption trainings and other awareness-raising measures (such as contributing to training
and advanced training measures for corruption prevention and integrity promotion, drawing up information
notes and entire information campaigns), and
- providing information and advice to staff.
all basic trainings, follow-up trainings and annual meetings
were installed in every partner institution. Also, this meant that every partner institution now has a welltrained contact person for their staff. If a question is raised that cannot be answered within the respective institution, they can contact the BAK or exchange experiences on the website.
The goal is to connect Integrity Officers from almost all areas of civil service. It aims to create the opportunity<br />
to exchange experiences and best practices in the area of corruption prevention.
Deliverables & Timeline
Resources mobilized
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Entity
SDGs
Region
- Europe
Geographical coverage
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Contact Information
Isabella Palla, Mag.