Today, anyone working with public funds is experiencing it first-hand: programmes are increasing, deadlines are multiplying, and responsibilities are growing. It is within this context that we decided to evolve OpenRep into Sonar, while keeping its core principles firmly in place—specialisation, transparency and reliability—and expanding its scope: from a reporting platform to a solution for the integrated management of the entire public funding lifecycle, serving public administrations and large organisations.
Public funding: growing risks and opportunities
Managing public funds today means dealing simultaneously with rules, deadlines, documents, controls and decisions. The National Recovery and Resilience Plan (PNRR) has accelerated this awareness, imposing an unprecedented level of information discipline. And this pressure does not end with the Plan: alongside the 2021–2027 programming period, the horizon of the next cycle—2028–2034—is already emerging, with an approach set to resemble the PNRR model even more closely.
As we approach 2026, public funding is increasingly confirmed as a lever that enables investment, research, transition and infrastructure, while also carrying tangible risks: fragmented information, complex procedures, evolving regulations and deadlines that, if not properly governed, lead to delays in financial flows.
In this context, the need is no longer just to “report properly”, but to govern effectively—and to do so across the entire value chain, involving both public and private granting bodies and beneficiaries, in order to avoid slowdowns and misalignments. This is not a theoretical issue: the Italian Court of Auditors has highlighted postponed expenditure for the 2023–2024 biennium (ReGiS data) amounting to approximately €2.4 billion.
It is within this transition that OpenRep evolves into Sonar, integrating new functionalities without changing its mission. What expands is the breadth of the platform’s response, not its commitment to supporting transparency, correctness and accountability in the use of public resources.
Why the new name, Sonar
The rebranding—new name and new visual identity, aligned with the OpenEconomics brand—is not a cosmetic exercise. It reflects a strategic decision: to make explicit the platform’s evolution from a compliance tool to a solution designed to govern the entire public funding lifecycle in an integrated way. It also aims to crystallise the new positioning as a public funding management platform that, like a sonar, detects signals and turns them into direction.
Until now, OpenRep has primarily supported corporate organisations in managing funded projects, bringing together data, documents and compliance checklists into a structured workflow.
Today, however, the need is for a platform that not only helps execute compliance requirements, but also enables users to identify opportunities, anticipate critical issues, reduce fragmentation, and accelerate, automate and simplify controls—supporting accurate and timely financial flows.
Sonar evokes exactly this capability: the ability to “listen” to weak signals—requirements, deadlines, inconsistencies, missing documents—and transform them into clear information and actionable guidance for those managing public funds: CFOs, technical teams and control functions, both in public administrations and in large corporate organisations.
What will change with Sonar
The evolution from OpenRep to Sonar is driven by a multi-year roadmap that will take the product from a reporting tool to a platform for integrated public funding management. The goal is to provide an environment that supports the entire public funding ecosystem: not only beneficiaries but also funding authorities, not only private companies but also public bodies. And, across the public funding lifecycle, not just reporting, but end-to-end management. Here are the near-term enhancements.
Greater efficiency in risk prevention
Even more advanced checklists and guided controls flag inconsistencies and unmet requirements before validation, ensuring full traceability of every step. This helps reduce errors, prevent delays and strengthen compliance from the earliest stages.
More advanced governance
Sonar’s BI (Business Intelligence) module transforms everything the platform collects—data, documents, implementation status and control outcomes—into dashboards that enable more informed and effective fund governance.
Improved intra- and inter-team collaboration
Sonar further strengthens the coordination of activities, roles and deadlines within a single operational view. Tasks and milestones can be assigned clearly, making it explicit “who does what” throughout the project lifecycle.
Interoperability
The platform already integrates with ReGiS and is on a path towards interfacing with public administration portals and systems, supporting smoother data exchange and reducing duplication of effort.
A smoother overall user experience
Sonar offers a clearer, more modern interface designed to guide users step by step. It makes it easier to track progress, deadlines and critical issues, even for those who do not work on reporting activities on a daily basis.
Expanded target towards public administration
Sonar extends its application scope to include central and local administrations, granting authorities and control bodies. In doing so, it supports more uniform fund governance across the entire value chain, following a win-win logic for all stakeholders involved.
Conclusion: a platform that looks beyond
Looking ahead, at a time when multiple programming cycles overlap and require operational continuity and a unified vision, Sonar positions itself not merely as a support system, but as a compass. It helps orient public fund management towards more timely and informed decisions, transforming public funding into a lever for competitive advantage.
For decision-makers, fund and reporting managers, and CFOs—across public administration and large corporate organisations—Sonar is an invitation to make public funding management more transparent, efficient, controllable and timely across the entire value chain, from beneficiaries to granting bodies, in support of the most strategictransformation and development projects.
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