2.3 Staying one step ahead: horizon scanning and iterative approaches

Limiting the reach and severity of corrupt practices will likely need an approach that can cut off opportunities for corruption as they develop: closing off one loophole being used for corrupt schemes does not mean that subsequent ones won’t open up. This necessitates a design that can continually scan for new risks and threats in order to evolve, able to focus on issues as they emerge and to include new actors as they become relevant. As missions go through the planning cycles or move from one stage to another (for example, into the transition or re-deployment stage), lessons identified in previous phases should be utilised to identify risks and design anti-corruption measures in the next stages.

“These are not once-and-for-all solutions; rather, they are meant to keep [us] one step ahead of fraudsters. Someone will come up with a way to mess with the new system too, but then you come up with another way of making it more difficult – it’s an iterative system.”

Interview with World Bank official, September 2017