Open Data Policies and Practice: An International Comparison

Abstract

New national Open Government Data (OGD) initiatives are being launched on an almost monthly basis. From Brazil to Burkina Faso, governments are establishing open data portals and committing to make machine-readable datasets available for re-use. Similar patterns are being replicated at the local level, with municipalities and sub-national states also establishing their own open data projects. At first glance, many of these local and national initiatives appear almost identikit copies of each other: using the same data portal software, and selecting similar datasets for their initial launch. Increasingly, the preparation and launch of open data initiatives follows a orthodox approach involving hackathons, training events and outreach activities, designed to build interest in, and demand for, newly available open data. Yet, the countries launching these OGD initiatives are vastly different: in their levels of development, their political structures, and their public policy priorities. This raises important questions about the nature of open data policy, and policy transfer.