Skip to content
NCBNational Capability Benchmark
Navigate with โ†‘ โ†“Enter to openEsc to close

Challenge the benchmark

Choose a score and give the benchmark a specific reason to reconsider it.

When you submit, the form attaches the current score and confidence for the country and capability you chose.

Submissions are public and start as awaiting review. A maintainer can add a response and signature after review.

Documented examples

Each record describes something a country built that the indicators do not capture. The source provides the published number; the mechanism is our interpretation.

Scores describe outcomes. These records describe how a country acted, what it needed and what happened. 742 of 742 records include a mechanism. They do not affect scores.

Narrow the list

7 of 742 deliveries

Coordination

1 delivery linked to Public-private collaboration.

Colombiasince 2015still operatingbears on Public-private collaboration

SECOP II, a transaction platform for public procurement

Since March 2015, Colombia Compra Eficiente has used SECOP II to move public contracting from publication to online transactions; in 2024 the platform managed COP117.642 trillion, 84.4% of the value managed across the three SECOP platforms.

117,642,419,358,639 Colombian pesos, value managed through secop ii, 2024. 84.4 % of value managed, secop ii share of value managed across secop platforms, 2024. Colombia Compra Eficiente, 2024 institutional management report, retrieved 2026-08-31.

The move, and what it needed

The procurement agency supplied common transaction rules and a shared digital workflow so public buyers and private suppliers could publish, bid, award and manage contracts in one auditable space rather than exchanging documents through disconnected systems.

Preconditions

  • A central procurement authority able to mandate common fields, procedures and platform use
  • Reliable digital identity, supplier registration and data standards for buyers and bidders
  • Public and private users willing to shift from paper or publication-only processes to a transaction system

Where else it has been used: Transaction platforms can travel across procurement systems, but the Colombian lesson is that digitising the workflow is only the shared infrastructure; competition, integrity and supplier inclusion need their own tests.

Limits: The managed-value totals show the reach of a transaction platform, not whether procurement is cheaper, more competitive, more innovative or less corrupt. Colombia Compra Eficiente reports the figures and combines different contract types and platforms; value managed is not the same as payments or delivered outputs. Open contracting data still require supplier capacity, audit and citizen scrutiny to change outcomes.

Learning

1 delivery linked to Adult learning participation.

Colombiasince 1957still operatingbears on Adult learning participation

SENA complementary training (formaciรณn complementaria)

Colombia's Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje, created by decree in 1957, recorded 5,469,951 learners in short complementary training courses in 2023 (7,035,749 course places), and certified 3,661,218 completions in that strand the same year.

5,469,951 learners, learners (aprendices) in sena complementary training, 2023-12. 3,661,218 certifications, complementary training certifications, 2023-12. Servicio Nacional de Aprendizaje (SENA), Direcciรณn de Planeaciรณn, Informe Estadรญstico Diciembre 2023, retrieved 2026-10-01.

The move, and what it needed

The state funds a national training agency from a payroll levy on employers and lets it run short, free, open-enrolment courses, in person and online, alongside its longer technical programmes, so any working adult can take a module without a qualification track.

Preconditions

  • A dedicated payroll contribution that funds the agency outside annual budget fights.
  • A national network of training centres in every region plus a virtual platform to reach rural learners.
  • Employers and unions on the governing board, which keeps course content close to jobs.

Where else it has been used: The levy-funded national training agency model is shared with Brazil's SENAI and SENAC, which predate SENA and were a reference for its design.

Limits: The indicator asks for the share of adults trained in the last 12 months; SENA reports learner counts from its own enrolment system (Sofia Plus), not a population share, and they cannot be turned into one: the count includes young people below adult age, enrolments through coverage-extension agreements with third parties, and short virtual and bilingualism courses, and a person enrolled in several courses during the year may be counted more than once. Completion is weak: the same table reports 47.29% dropout in complementary training. The started year is the creating decree, not the first course. The www.sena.edu.co copy of the report now serves an empty web app; the figure was read from SENA's own historico mirror, and the December 2024 edition was not found at the same path.

Adaptability

3 deliveries linked to Institutional responsiveness, Disaster preparedness and recovery.

Colombiasince 2022still operatingbears on Institutional responsiveness

Cรฉdula digital, an identity service upgraded for mobile use

In 2024 Colombia's Registradurรญa deployed version 2.0 of its digital ID app and sent 2,642,775 polycarbonate digital identity cards to offices nationwide while continuing a pilot to refine digital services.

2,642,775 cards, polycarbonate digital identity cards sent to offices, 2024. 2,644,783 cards, polycarbonate digital identity cards produced, 2024. Registradurรญa Nacional del Estado Civil, 2024 institutional management report, retrieved 2026-08-31.

The move, and what it needed

The national identity authority coupled a secure physical credential with a mobile app, biometric records and staged pilots, using real election and citizen-service needs to test new functions before widening the digital service.

Preconditions

  • A trusted civil registry and biometric infrastructure that can issue and verify one identity
  • A public operator able to maintain both a physical credential and a mobile service during transition
  • Pilot users, service partners and support channels that can expose problems before a national feature becomes mandatory

Where else it has been used: Digital identity upgrades travel when a country has a reliable foundational register, but the Colombian case underlines the need to measure activation, assisted access and privacy alongside issuance.

Limits: Cards sent and produced measure administrative throughput, not possession, activation, usage or protection against fraud. The Registradurรญa describes the app as still under pilot review and does not provide an independent assessment of accessibility, privacy, exclusion or whether digital services reduce the burden of proving identity. A production count is evidence of a national rollout, not proof of a complete digital identity system.

Colombiasince 2011still operatingbears on Institutional responsiveness

Victims' reparations, a long-running administrative response to conflict

In 2024 Colombia's Unidad para las Vรญctimas ordered 307,619 administrative indemnifications benefiting 285,537 victims, approved 79 collective reparation plans and closed three plans for communities affected by the armed conflict.

307,619 indemnifications, administrative indemnifications ordered, 2024. 285,537 victims, victims benefiting from administrative indemnifications, 2024. Unidad para las Vรญctimas, 2024 accountability report, retrieved 2026-08-31.

The move, and what it needed

Colombia built a standing administrative route from a national victims register to individual payments, collective plans and territorial support, allowing the state to process a very large caseload while adding differentiated treatment for communities, ethnic groups and vulnerable people.

Preconditions

  • A legal entitlement and registry that make victims visible to a national administrative system
  • Budget, local offices and fiduciary processes able to deliver payments and plans over many years
  • Coordination with municipalities, community representatives and other social services so compensation is not the only response

Where else it has been used: Post-conflict reparations systems travel as legal and administrative ideas, but Colombia shows the scale challenge: a durable process can institutionalise recognition while still leaving a long queue and unresolved security conditions.

Limits: Administrative orders and collective-plan closures show the reach of a reparations bureaucracy, not whether victims received money promptly, were made whole, felt safe or regained livelihoods. The Unit reports its own outputs and the eligible population is much larger than the annual caseload. A payment or plan milestone cannot resolve the justice, security and territorial conditions that produced the harm.

Colombiasince 2011still operatingbears on Disaster preparedness and recovery

Fondo Adaptaciรณn, recovery and safer resettlement after La Niรฑa

After the 2010โ€“11 La Niรฑa floods, Colombia's Fondo Adaptaciรณn had advanced resettlement, reconstruction and improvement for more than 39,000 households by its 2021โ€“23 evaluation, presenting the work as reducing climate exposure and fiscal risk.

39,000 households, households reached by fondo adaptaciรณn recovery and resettlement, 2023. Unidad Nacional para la Gestiรณn del Riesgo de Desastres, La Niรฑa damage and impact evaluation, retrieved 2026-08-31.

The move, and what it needed

After a nationwide flood emergency, Colombia created a dedicated recovery fund that combined housing reconstruction with resettlement and risk-reduction works, using the recovery pipeline to move some households away from recurring hazards rather than simply replacing what was lost in place.

Preconditions

  • A national disaster fund with authority to coordinate housing, infrastructure and land decisions across departments
  • Damage and exposure information that can identify safer sites and prioritise households
  • Long-term finance and local implementation capacity beyond the first emergency-relief phase

Where else it has been used: Recovery funds and safer-resettlement programmes travel after major floods, but the Colombian case shows that recovery becomes preparedness only when the post-disaster pipeline changes exposure and land-use decisions rather than rebuilding the same vulnerability.

Limits: The evaluation's household count and exposure claims are public-administration figures, not an independent test of construction quality, long-term safety or whether the households remain out of harm's way. It combines resettlement, reconstruction and improvement across different projects and years, so it cannot be read as a single completion rate. Reduced exposure also depends on land-use control, maintenance and future climate conditions outside this record.

Building

2 deliveries linked to Large project delivery.

Colombiasince 2013still operatingbears on Large project delivery

4G road concessions, a national infrastructure portfolio

By September 2024, Colombia's 4G road programme comprised 30 concessions at 86.99% aggregate progress, with 14 in operation, 13 under construction, two in pre-construction and one in early termination.

30 concessions, 4g road concessions in the national portfolio, 2024-09. 86.99 % aggregate progress, aggregate progress of 4g road programme, 2024-09. Agencia Nacional de Infraestructura (ANI), 2024 accountability report, retrieved 2026-08-31.

The move, and what it needed

Colombia bundled road building and rehabilitation into a portfolio of public-private concessions, using a national infrastructure agency to standardise contracts, sequence projects and track construction while private concessionaires supplied capital and delivery capacity.

Preconditions

  • A central agency with authority to structure, procure and renegotiate long-term road concessions
  • A pipeline of bankable projects and a legal framework for public-private partnerships
  • Transparent progress reporting and a route to terminate or restructure concessions that cannot meet their obligations

Where else it has been used: Large concession portfolios travel well as a financing and delivery pattern, but the Colombian case shows why a headline completion percentage must sit beside stage, termination, cost and service measures rather than stand in for them.

Limits: ANI's aggregate progress and stage counts are agency-reported and combine projects with different scopes, concession structures and baselines. They do not establish on-time or on-budget delivery, road quality, travel-time gains or equitable regional benefits; one project had already entered early termination. The portfolio is evidence of sustained delivery capacity and correction inside a large programme, not proof that every concession met its original promise.

Colombiasince 2007operating below its peakbears on Large project delivery

Reficar, a refinery modernization with a fiscal-liability finding

A 2021 Contralorรญa fiscal-responsibility ruling on Colombia's Reficar modernization held COP2.945 trillion in damage after finding USD997 million in additional investments that added no value to the project.

2,945,410,000,000 Colombian pesos, fiscal damage upheld in the reficar modernization case, 2021. 997,000,000 US dollars, additional investments found not to add project value, 2021. Contralorรญa General de la Repรบblica, fiscal-responsibility finding (reported in the Cรกmara de Representantes accountability report), retrieved 2026-08-31.

The move, and what it needed

The state-owned refinery modernization expanded through weak cost, contracting and supervision controls; after the project entered service, Colombia's supreme audit institution traced losses, assigned fiscal responsibility and used the finding to make a failed delivery visible rather than treating the asset's operation as proof of success.

Preconditions

  • A public audit institution with access to contracts, transactions and project records after delivery
  • Baseline scope, cost and schedule data that allow later investigators to distinguish justified change from value-destroying additions
  • Legal recovery and accountability mechanisms that can impose responsibility on officials and contractors

Where else it has been used: Reficar travels as a warning for state-led megaprojects: an operating asset can still represent poor delivery if governance cannot control scope, productivity and contract changes, and if the state lacks an independent route to learn from the loss.

Limits: A fiscal-responsibility ruling is an oversight finding about quantified damage, not a complete account of every cost increase, engineering decision or criminal question; the refinery itself continues operating. The two figures come from a later accountability summary and mix a peso liability with a dollar project finding, so they should not be added. The case demonstrates failed governance and correction through audit, not that large state-led industrial projects are impossible.