The research project on public procurement began with a memorandum of understanding between the Avina Foundation through ILDA, the OAS Secretary-General through the Inter-American Government Procurement Network (IGPN), Open Contracting Partnership and Hivos HubLA in 2018. The objective of this alliance was the implementation of actions for the improvement of public procurement in Latin America and the Caribbean through open contracting. The specific goals of this alliance were to develop a set of products to encourage open contracting in Latin America, to establish a coordination mechanism for the open contracting agenda, and to promote and document the use of the Open Contracting Data Standard (OCDS) in the region. This agreement specifically led to the creation of the OCDS Helpdesk for Latin America and the Inter-American Open Contracting Policy.

Outside of the initial agreement but with continued interest in promoting open contracting at the regional level, ILDA is working with Hivos to study the impact of contracting policies on diversity and inclusion in the region, as well as promoting the Local Open Contracting Initiative (LOCI).