SIPRI’s arms producing and military services companies database

This article describes the history of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute’s (SIPRI) arms producing and military services companies database (AIDB) as well as its purpose, its main strengths and deficiencies, and its data collection and implementation processes. It presents ideas to improve the AIDB discussed at an expert workshop held in Stockholm on 23–24 March 2018 and reports on concrete recommendations that SIPRI wishes to take forward to improve the database. The article’s first section provides an overview of the database’s history. The second section moves on to AIDB’s weaknesses and strengths, its data collection approach, and the sources and methods used. Section three discusses deficiencies of the database. Section four details aspects of the expert workshop and the important takeaways from the two-day meeting. The final section offers possible solution approaches to problems with the database.