Open government data: an institutional logics perspective

Abstract

Many countries in the world recently initiated the Open Government Data (OGD) to achieve transparency, accountability, value from the data and to transform public sector into smart and open government. However, the (OGD) initiatives faces challenges that hinders the initiatives to achieve the desired objectives, particularly in developing countries. The information systems adoption literature indicates a lack of studies investigating OGD adoption at an early stage from the national ecosystem perspective. This research investigates the early stage of adoption of the national OGD. The study adopts the institutional perspective to investigate the role of institutional logics and institutional pillars. The research aims to answer the research question: How do the institutional logics affect the emergence and adoption of the Open Government Data initiative in the public sector? This study adopts the interpretive research methodology with data collected from a singleembedded case study that encompasses nine government organisations in Oman. It captures the institutional logics qualitatively, by applying pattern inducting technique, that affects the adoption of OGD in the public sector in a complex institutional environment. The phenomena investigated reveals that the institutional pillars affect the institutional logics in the institutional environment. It shows how the institutional logics and institutional pillars interplay at the macro- and micro-level. It also shows that normative and cultural-cognitive pillar have a prominent effect, whereas the regulative pillar has less-prominent effect. This study captured one dominant and three competing logics that enable/hinder the OGD initiative from achieving the desired objectives: Institutional Acceptance Logic (ACL), Institutional Roles Logic (IRL), Ownership and Control Logic (OCL) and Institutional Capabilities Logic (ICL). The findings show that dominant logic is complemented by three co-existing subordinate institutional logics. This research contributes to the IS literature and to the institutional theory and further explains how the institutional logics and institutional pillars affect the adoption of the OGD initiative. It outlines how institutional logics are shaped and reconciled in the complex environment at the national level. It offers a holistic view from an ecosystems perspective and explains how institutional logics interact in a heterogeneous institutional environment. Given the tensions between the dominant and competing institutional logics, the adoption progresses at a slower pace. These tensions exist between micro and macro levels, and contribute negatively to the adoption of the OGD initiative. The study suggests that in order to reconcile the competing logics, a combined collaborative initiative to be formed between regulatory authorities at the national level. In addition, it offers a conceptual framework for OGD adoption at an early stage, and assists the policymakers and practitioners by presenting a holistic view from the institutional perspectives to attain the desired objectives.