Barriers to Openly Sharing Government Data: Towards an Open Data-adapted Innovation Resistance Theory

Nowadays, governments launch open government data (OGD) portals that provide data that can be accessed and used by everyone for their own needs. Although the potential economic value of open (government) data is assessed in millions and billions, not all open data are reused. Moreover, the open (government) data initiative as well as users’ intent for open (government) data are changing continuously and today, in line with IoT and smart city trends, real-time data and sensor-generated data have higher interest for users. These “smarter” open (government) data are also considered to be one of the crucial drivers for the sustainable economy, and might have an impact on information and communication technology (ICT) innovation and become a creativity bridge in developing a new ecosystem in Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0. The paper inspects OGD portals of 60 countries in order to understand the correspondence of their content to the Society 5.0 expectations. The paper provides a report on how much countries provide these data, focusing on some open (government) data success facilitating factors for both the portal in general and data sets of interest in particular. The presence of “smarter” data, their level of accessibility, availability, currency and timeliness, as well as support for users, are analyzed. The list of most competitive countries by data category are provided. This makes it possible to understand which OGD portals react to users’ needs, Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0 request the opening and updating of data for their further potential reuse, which is essential in the digital data-driven world.

The commercial re-use of open government data is broadly expected to generate economic value. However, the practice and study of this trend is still in its infancy. In particular, the issue of value creation in the commercial re-use open government data remains largely unknown. This study aims to further understand how open government data is used to develop commercial products and services. Grounded in the comprehensive data obtained from a sample of 500 US firms that use open government data as part of their business model, we propose a taxonomy that encompasses three business model archetypes (enablers, facilitators, and integrators). Furthermore, we discuss the value proposition of each business model archetype, and subsequently present a framework that describes the value created in the context of the open government data ecosystem. Our framework can be used by both scholars and practitioners in the field of open government data to effectively frame the debate of the value created by the commercial re-use of open government data. Simultaneously, our work can be of benefit to entrepreneurs as it provides a systematic overview, as well as practical insights, of the growing use of open government data in the private sector.

The development of ecosystems around open government data in order to generate social and economic value from them requires on one hand the existence of a critical mass of them and on the other hand some level of homogeneity and interoperability among the numerous portals and websites providing them which enables their combined exploitation. This paper presents the Technical, Semantic, Legal, and Organizational (TSLO) Interoperability Framework, a conceptual tool designed to provide a structured evaluation of the interoperability capabilities of open government data infrastructures. It incorporates the technical, semantic, legal, and organizational aspects of open government data provision, which are crucial for developing interoperability between open data portals and websites, which enables the generation of high levels of social and economic value from them, so it can pave the way for creating open data ecosystems for this purpose. We are then applying this TSLO framework to examine from this perspective the open data infrastructures of the Greek local government administration institutions of all three layers of it (decentralized, regional, and municipal). In particular, we examine the open government data portals and websites of the local Greek governments and provide a detailed analysis of them concerning the fore aspects of the framework. This first application of TSLO reveals not only the low participation of Greek local government institutions in the open data movement, and especially of the municipalities, where only 8 out of 332 municipalities provide open data on their portals or websites but also the inconsistent implementation of this, especially with respect to the use of semantic technologies as well as the legal frameworks under which the open data provided. Finally, we propose the automation of the TSLO framework to facilitate the evaluation and standardization of open local government data infrastructure and expand the study to identify and address barriers to open data provision.

This paper describes a small-scale study to investigate the missions, services and operational tasks provided by four open government data centers: NYC OpenData (New York Open Data Center), DataSF (open data portal of San Francisco), WPRDC (Western Pennsylvania Regional Data Center) and the London Datastore (Greater London open data portal). The findings are used to propose three emerging specialist data roles for open government data (OGD) centers. The methodology used was an analysis of the textual content of the data center websites, to identify the common elements of the mission and services. A common mission across all four open government data centers was ‘to improve the use of data’. The range of data center services and tasks identified and extracted from the websites, could be classified into five common categories: Availability, Understandability, Technical Help, Social Engagement, and Improve User Data Literacy. Three new specialist open government data roles were proposed, which were framed to facilitate the delivery of the services identified in this study: Data Interpreter, Data Consultant and Data Visual Assistant. In parallel with existing research data policies and guidelines, these three specialist OGD roles could be extended and applied across other open data portals and domain-based data centers e.g. research data repositories, to optimise the delivery of open data, to facilitate greater value from data sharing, to maximize the understanding of complex data and to minimize the subsequent misuse of data.

The Best States for Data Innovation

The open government paradigm relies on the provision and reuse of open government data (OGD) to improve transparency and create new sources of value. This study aims to progress understanding of OGD beyond a theoretical commentary by exploring the perceived sources of value of mashups (online services that combine diverse OGD), and to examine issues that impact on, and facilitate, the delivery of this value from an 'insider' perspective. Based on open-ended interviews with 17 individuals actively involved in OGD application design, use, and advocacy in New Zealand (ranked fourth in the 2013 Global Open Data Barometer) nine key sources of value were identified: Ease of discovery, improved data quality, bringing knowledge into relevant contexts, economic benefits, social benefits, cost reduction and efficiencies, predictive value, transparency, and ability to explore and play. Twelve barriers to delivering this value were found, ranging from change-related issues to problems relating to sustainability. Six facilitators were identified as helping to overcome these barriers and realise the value of OGD.

The open government paradigm relies on the provision and reuse of open government data (OGD) to improve transparency and create new sources of value. This study aims to progress understanding of OGD beyond a theoretical commentary by exploring the perceived sources of value of mashups (online services that combine diverse OGD), and to examine issues that impact on, and facilitate, the delivery of this value from an 'insider' perspective. Based on open-ended interviews with 17 individuals actively involved in OGD application design, use, and advocacy in New Zealand (ranked fourth in the 2013 Global Open Data Barometer) nine key sources of value were identified: Ease of discovery, improved data quality, bringing knowledge into relevant contexts, economic benefits, social benefits, cost reduction and efficiencies, predictive value, transparency, and ability to explore and play. Twelve barriers to delivering this value were found, ranging from change-related issues to problems relating to sustainability. Six facilitators were identified as helping to overcome these barriers and realise the value of OGD.

Towards Open Data for Public Accountability: Examining the US and the UK Models

Identifying patterns and recommendations of and for sustainable open data initiatives: A benchmarking-driven analysis of open government data initiatives among European countries

Data Governance for open government data is a significant process which defines the roles and responsibilities of the person in charge of data management in a government agency to gain the open government data and to use it correctly, ensure the security of personal data including defining the standardization of data, consistency and effectively link and use open data between the agencies. Many countries have already considered data governance and dissemination of open government data to the citizen imperative. Although Thailand has prescribed a draft of public information act, data governance for government data is still unclear. Hence, this research proposes a conceptual legal framework for open government data in data governance aspects. The results of preliminary studies from the previous research are used in this paper including gap analysis and compare results between Public Information Act of the United States of America, the Republic of Korea and the current draft of Public Information Act of Thailand. The coverage issues are on the organizational structure, organizational roles, and responsibilities of Public Information Committee. The proposed amendments is applied in the current draft of the Public Information act for Thailand. This includes defining the standardization and security on open data by taking the existing data governance framework as a guideline for determining the procedures and compliance according to the data governance framework for Thailand.

Open government and open data are often presented as the Asterix and Obelix of modern government—one cannot discuss one, without involving the other. Modern government, in this narrative, should open itself up, be more transparent, and allow the governed to have a say in their governance. The usage of technologies, and especially the communication of governmental data, is then thought to be one of the crucial instruments helping governments achieving these goals. Much open government data research, hence, focuses on the publication of open government data, their reuse, and re-users. Recent research trends, by contrast, divert from this focus on data and emphasize the importance of studying open government data in practice, in interaction with practitioners, while simultaneously paying attention to their political character. This commentary looks more closely at the implications of emphasizing the practical and political dimensions of open government data. It argues that researchers should explicate how and in what way open government data policies present solutions to what kind of problems. Such explications should be based on a detailed empirical analysis of how different actors do or do not do open data. The key question to be continuously asked and answered when studying and implementing open government data is how the solutions openness present latch onto the problem they aim to solve.

Open Government Data (OGD), an extension of e-Government, so claimed, has become a major factor in the United Nations e-Government Development Index (EGDI) and to achieving the global sustainable development goals (SDGs). This is based on the argument that opening up government data has tremendous social, political and economic benefits. However, if data is open in a format that is not useful to data prospects, it is as good as data that is not open at all. Most governments around the world, especially in the developing countries, have concentrated their efforts around transparency in governance as a major reason for open data. They have only succeeded in opening and publishing data on government Web/open data Portals in unstructured formats. This has prevented innovative use and reuse of data by developers/entrepreneurs and the public for good governance, economic, environmental and social development. Also, access to quality and accurate data as well as how to address privacy issues are critical to achieving the promises of OGD. In addition, the institutional politics around data ownership among government agencies and their readiness to open actual data are critical to national OGD portal. This paper develops an integrated Open Government Data model & architecture based on literature reviews of secondary data to address issues around data format, quality, accuracy and ownership. While addressing these challenges, the goal of the architecture is to guide governments in building a sustainable OGD portal with linked data as the output and the highest level of open data format. The connection of related data makes data effectively reusable to create public value.

PurposeCitizen engagement is key to the success of many Open Government Data (OGD) initiatives. However, not much is known regarding how this type of engagement emerges. This study aims to investigate the necessary conditions for the emergence of citizen-led engagement with OGD and to identify which factors stimulate this type of engagement.Design/methodology/approachFirst, the authors created a systematic overview of the literature to develop a conceptual model of conditions and factors of OGD citizen engagement at the societal, organizational and individual level. Second, the authors used the conceptual model to systematically study citizens’ engagement in the case of a particular OGD initiative, namely, the digitization of presidential election results data in Indonesia in 2014. The authors used multiple information sources, including interviews and documents, to explore the conditions and factors of OGD citizen-led engagement in this case.FindingsFrom the literature the authors identified five conditions for the emergence of OGD citizen-led engagement as follows: the availability of a legal and political framework that grants a mandate to open up government data, sufficient budgetary resources allocated for OGD provision, the availability of OGD feedback mechanisms, citizens’ perceived ease of engagement and motivated citizens. In the literature, the authors found six factors contributing to OGD engagement as follows: democratic culture, the availability of supporting institutional arrangements, the technical factors of OGD provision, the availability of citizens’ resources, the influence of social relationships and citizens’ perceived data quality. Some of these conditions and factors were found to be less important in the studied case, namely, citizens’ perceived ease of engagement and citizens’ perceived data quality. Moreover, the authors found several new conditions that were not mentioned in the studied literature, namely, citizens’ sense of urgency, competition among citizen-led OGD engagement initiatives, the diversity of citizens’ skills and capabilities and the intensive use of social media. The difference between the conditions and factors that played an important role in the case and those derived from the literature review might be because of the type of OGD engagement that the authors studied, namely, citizen-led engagement, without any government involvement.Research limitations/implicationsThe findings are derived using a single case study approach. Future research can investigate multiple cases and compare the conditions and factors for citizen-led engagement with OGD in different contexts.Practical implicationsThe conditions and factors for citizen-led engagement with OGD have been evaluated in practice and discussed with public managers and practitioners through interviews. Governmental organizations should prioritize and stimulate those conditions and factors that enhance OGD citizen engagement to create more value with OGD.Originality/valueWhile some research on government-led engagement with OGD exists, there is hardly any research on citizen-led engagement with OGD. This study is the first to develop a conceptual model of necessary conditions and factors for citizen engagement with OGD. Furthermore, the authors applied the developed multilevel conceptual model to a case study and gathered empirical evidence of OGD engagement and its contributions to solving societal problems, rather than staying at the conceptual level. This research can be used to investigate citizen engagement with OGD in other cases and offers possibilities for systematic cross-case lesson-drawing.

PurposeThis study aims to propose strategies to address the identified major barriers for giving the public open access to government data. The study adopts fuzzy analytical hierarchy process and technique for order performance by similarity to ideal solution (AHP-TOPSIS) to weigh the barriers and strategies, and it subsequently involves experts to identify and weigh the barriers and strategies. A case of Indonesia is used to contextualize the study.Design/methodology/approachThe data were collected using fuzzy AHP-TOPSIS-based questionnaires given to several government representatives who had been working with data and information. The respondents were given sets of pairwise comparisons of which they were asked to compare the level of importance using one to nine fuzzy numbers between barriers and strategies. The data were then calculated using the fuzzy AHP-TOPSIS formula to obtain each weight of the barriers and strategies. The weight is used to prioritize the barrier and strategies.FindingsIn total, five barrier categories in the order of importance, namely, legal and privacy; government culture; social; technical; and economic, were identified from 27 barriers. In total, ten strategies of open government data (OGD) adoption were identified and ranked in the order of importance, and they can be grouped into five priorities. Priority 1 is to involve stakeholders in OGD planning and establish an OGD competence center. Priority 2 is to develop a legal compliance framework. Priority 3 is to adopt OGD gradually. Priority 4 is to create a collaboration feature on the portal for stakeholder communication and raise public awareness of OGD. Priority 5, finally, is to conduct training for government officials, develop standard operating practice for OGD management, use standard data formats and provide metadata.Research limitations/implicationsThis study provides a perspective from the government’s view. One suggestion for future research is to conduct a study from the public’s perspective to formulate strategies based on the identified citizens’ barriers in using OGD. In addition, cross-country (of different characteristics) studies were required to generalize the findings.Practical implicationsThe first strategy of the first priority implies that government institutions should be able to develop a preliminary plan to involve relevant stakeholders in OGD planning, which includes identifying relevant stakeholders and continuously engaging them to participate in the planning phase of OGD. The second strategy in the first priority entails that government institutions should realize an OGD competence center by creating a virtual team whose members are from various backgrounds and who are very knowledgeable about OGD and how to manage OGD in government institutions.Originality/valueThis research provides key strategies to address the main barriers to giving the public open access to government data.

Open government data (OGD) is attracting stakeholders from different backgrounds. The call for OGD has been especially pronounced in the last 6 or 7 years. OGD demand accelerated after the launch of the US OGD initiative portal in 2009, followed by the UK in 2010. Before that, the availability and accessibility of government data were limited to certain executives and few government employees, whereas for others, it was either partially available or completely unavailable. Publishing government data, thereby making it available to the public, could be useful in many ways such as increasing transparency and accountability in governments, increasing overall efficiency and performance, encouraging publics’ engagement, and achieving trust and reputation. As an example of the role that OGD may provide, this paper compares the different financial reporting and auditing systems in the public sector between Brazil and Saudi Arabia. Also, the paper examines OGD initiatives among different countries with the focus of the Republic of Brazil and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia’s open data portals. Moreover, it assesses the level of data transparency based on the definition of the open data model, and more importantly, the paper suggests new dimensions to the open data concept when utilized by governments. In addition, it argues that the OGD in Saudi Arabia, which is an emerging initiative in a country that has centralized power, could be improved dramatically. We demonstrate by using a sample of procurement contracts data taken from the Council of Saudi Chambers Web site, which is publicly available and shows the potential of monitoring or auditing public spending.