3.11.3. Increasing access to COI 

There were extensive efforts in 2023 to make COI more accessible. To reach more users, several countries invested in new technologies. For example, the COI unit in Demark invested in new channels of communicating information and developed new products, such as podcasts, newsletters and webinars. 

Poland introduced small changes to the functioning of its internal electronic COI system, while simultaneously working on establishing a publicly accessible COI portal (accessible since early 2024). Throughout 2023, Poland shared short thematic COI reports with the public through the EUAA COI Portal. As part of a realignment of their product portfolio, Germany’s enhanced networking with various stakeholders led to an increase in publicly-accessible products, such as country reports and fact sheets. In this context, endnotes were added to the externally distributed briefing notes. 

In an effort to make COI more available to EU+ countries, Austria’s Country of Origin Information–Content Management System (COI-CMS) now offers the possibility of translating COI reports into 24 different languages through the translation tool “DeepL”. Additionally, Austria’s COI Unit (Staatendokumentation) established a socio-economic survey panel in North Africa and the Middle East. Quantitative surveys are conducted on an annual basis to assess the socio-economic situation of households. These reports are publicly available.

In upholding its commitment to foster knowledge and expertise in COI research, Asylos developed a Thematic COI Sources Toolkit for COI researchers. This free resource contains a wealth of relevant sources organised by topic and assists researchers to select relevant sources.801 In addition, Asylos launched a new initiative to make their research publicly available. The aim is to contribute to fair and evidence-based decision-making in as many asylum cases as possible.802 In cases when this was not possible, civil society organisations that offer legal assistance and representation to applicants advocated to have access to COI cited in decisions concerning their clients.803