Development aid forms an important link between rich countries, poor countries and poor people. But there have been serious concerns raised by aid critiques about the quality and accuracy of the global aid data. the paper aims to explore the relationship between established players and new global players as they both grapple with rival definitions of aid quality. Whether the newly established transparency standards of aid data provide any way forward to the future of aid data governance where all new players will adhere to IATI standards. The paper will investigate the incentives and disincentives for the new global players to adhere to IATI standards and in the wake of any binding standards (IATI or OECD), what challenges and opportunities they bring to the future of aid data governance. And how does the existence of IATI standards shape the dynamics of rising power under South-South Development Cooperation?