Motivations of civil society actors to reuse open data. Case study of discrete actors in Lyon

Abstract

Open data platforms are being widely adapted in cities with a promise to boost the economy and empower citizens. However, researchers have drawn attention to the ineffectiveness of such initiatives, unless they are designed taking into account the local context and ecosystem of actors. Yet, literature review demonstrates a gap in addressing individual motivations of actors and in particular discrete civil society actors to use open data. Building upon studies on individual motivations in open government, we propose a heuristic model of interconnection between societal outcomes of open data and individual motivations of the actors.Analysis of the open data initiative and ecosystem in Lyon is based on interviews and platform analysis. Our findings show that civil society actors in Lyon have the expertise to create knowledge and services from open data, but they fail to appropriate the latter for the lack of communication channels with the platform managers. Consequently, possible modalities of interaction are discussed and further research agenda is proposed to better understand the connection between individual motivations, open data platform design and broader societal outcomes.