The Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency highlights the value of prevention and integrity training at the NovaGob Public Innovation Congress

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València, october 25, 2024. The XI NovaGob Public Innovation Congress 2024 brought together over 900 people at Las Naves, creating a meeting space for professionals, experts, and leaders in the public sector who discussed the challenges and opportunities of innovation in public administration, with around fifty sessions and over 180 speakers.

 

Pilar Moreno García, a technician from the Department of Prevention, Training, and Documentation of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency (AVAF), participated as a speaker in the roundtable “Public Trust through Good Governance in Public Administrations,” which brought together public employees from all over Spain interested in the topic.

 

Public trust is one of the most relevant assets for any public administration, and findings from the OECD’s trust survey on “2024 Anti-Corruption and Integrity Outlook” indicate a high positive correlation between the proportion of people who consider it likely that an official would reject a bribe and trust in the national civil service.

 

For this reason, the OECD highlights that countries should ensure the existence and full implementation of public integrity frameworks. Consequently, AVAF presented its strategic lines focused on prevention, integrity training, and communication:
– Implementation of organizational integrity plans.
– Development of participatory ethical codes.
– Training experiences with public employees and young people.
– Establishment of collaboration agreements.

 

Joaquín Meseguer, coordinator of the transparency group of the FEMP; Borja Colón, head of the innovation service of the Castellón Provincial Council; and Gonzalo Jorge, secretary of the Betxí Town Hall, completed the roundtable moderated by Nieves Escorza, head of Municipal Innovation and Transparency at the Pinto Town Hall.

 

During two intense days, key topics were addressed such as digital transformation, artificial intelligence, the green transition, and talent management in the public sector. One of the conference highlights was the keynote speech by Carmen Cabanillas, General Director of Public Governance at the Ministry of Digital Transformation and Public Function, discussing the vision and leadership needed to transform the public sector in the digital era.

 

Francisco Rojas-Martín, president of the NovaGob Foundation, expressed his sincere gratitude to the Valencia City Council through Valencia Innovation Capital and the Generalitat Valenciana for their “commendable work as co-organizers of the event.” He also highlighted the fundamental role of the more than 30 entities that, as sponsors and co-creators, contributed to the success of the Congress, such as the Government and Local Democracy Foundation and the Castellón Provincial Council.

 

If you wish to have specialized training in ethics and public integrity in your administration, do not hesitate to contact formacion@antifraucv.es

 

*Photos courtesy of the NovaGob Foundation

 

#DocuforumAVAF debuts in the 24 – 25 university year at the University of Valencia

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València. October 17, 2024. Students from the “Instruments and Learning Techniques” course in the first year of the Economics degree at the University of Valencia (UV) were the first university participants in the #DocuforumAVAF activity of the 2024 – 2025 academic year, organized by the Training Service of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency (AVAF).

 

The most requested and agile training activity from AVAF brought together 129 students to debate the public perception of corruption and the justice delivered in cases of fraud investigated in public administration.

 

Anselm Bodoque, Acting Director of Prevention, Training, and Documentation and Head of the AVAF Training Service, led the two docuforums held on Thursday, October 17, from 8:30 to 10:30 a.m. and from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. at the UV. The goal was to debate and reflect with the students on the realities of fraud and corruption in public administration and the existing prevention tools.

 

The learning experience offered in #DocuforumAVAF consists of two parts. The first part involves the screening of the documentary “The Price of Whistleblowing” in the university classroom, followed by questions and discussions on the topic.

 

In the second part, AVAF staff, on a different day, present the main goals and functions of the institution in relation to the fight against fraud and corruption in the Valencian Community and engage in a debate with students about the importance of controls and civil society’s involvement.

 

AVAF’s participation in this training activity at the UV was made possible thanks to the collaboration, once again, of Loles Añon, course coordinator, along with Vicente Zamorano, Jorge Luis Latorre, and Vicente Baldoví, professors of the different groups.

 

AVAF continues its commitment to holding public debates with university students, as part of their training to take on future professional roles that contribute to civil society. For this reason, training actions that reinforce public ethics and the culture of prevention and fight against any conduct that fosters fraud and corruption are considered of great importance.

 

If you are a university, high school, or 4th-year ESO teacher in the Valencian Community and are interested in having the #DocuforumAVAF training activity take place in your classroom, do not hesitate to contact the Training Service of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency at formacion@antifraucv.es

The State of Transparency and Public Integrity in Local Entities of Valencia in 2024 Under Review at UJI

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Castelló de la Plana – October 15, 2024. The Public Transparency Chair of the Universitat Jaume I de Castelló (UJI), together with the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency (AVAF), organized a conference focused on analyzing the transparency and public integrity of the transparency portals and websites of the municipalities in the Valencian Community in 2024.

 

On October 15, the auditorium of the Doctoral School and Social Council building at UJI hosted the two-hour event, with 160 people attending in person and online.

 

The event was opened by Marta Oller, a representative of the UJI Public Transparency Chair, and Anselm Bodoque, Acting Director of Prevention, Training, and Documentation and Head of the Training Service of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency. The Chair emphasized the importance of evaluations in strengthening public integrity in Valencia.

 

Anselm Bodoque, Head of the Training Service at AVAF, presented an in-depth analysis of the integrity system of local entities in the Valencian Community.

 

The core topic of the roundtable and subsequent colloquium was the reality of compliance with transparency and public integrity in Valencian local entities in 2024, which was discussed by several invited speakers:

 

– Jaime Clemente, Professor of Constitutional Law at UJI, presented the results of a 2024 study on the compliance with transparency and public integrity by local entities in the Valencian Community.

 

– Isaac Lara, local development agent at the Torreblanca City Council, addressed the challenges faced by small and medium-sized local entities (PYMEL) in meeting transparency and public integrity obligations.

 

– Pilar Moreno, a technician from AVAF’s Training Service, reflected on best practice strategies and recommendations for improving the integrity system’s visibility among local entities. Among the recommendations were the inclusion of outreach actions in the Anti-Fraud Measures Plan (PMA), involvement of all staff, incorporation of a communication plan in the code of ethics, and easier access to reporting information systems.

 

The event provided an opportunity to analyze the challenges faced by municipalities in terms of transparency and allowed for the identification of areas for improvement and concrete actions to advance the integrity and good governance of local administrations in the Valencian Community.

 

The Training Service of the Valencian Anti-Fraud Agency thanks the ongoing collaboration with the Universitat Jaume I de Castelló and their support in promoting public debate on transparency, integrity, anti-corruption prevention, and raising awareness of public ethics and a culture of rejection of fraud in the public sector, starting from the university classrooms.

 

If you wish to provide specialized training on public integrity and ethics for your public entity, feel free to write to formacion@antifraucv.es.

 

*See UJI’s press release here.

* Photos courtesy of Universitat Jaume I de Castelló.