Abstract
This article presents a case study on the use of open data in the Scandinavian parliaments (Norway, Sweden, and Denmark). While the three countries have all opened the gates and provided access to data—for example, on the voting in parliament, debates, and notes from meetings in committees—the uptake and use of data outside the parliaments is limited. While journalists and academia are users of the open data, hackathons and third-party portals are at an explorative level. Still, there are indicators that hackathons can enhance democracy, and parliamentary data can increase political transparency.
Highlights
Governments strive to advance mutual government-citizen understanding by innovating with emerging computing technologies, such as open data and big data [1], to make a significant impact on societies through promoting government transparency and accountability, empowering citizens, and improving participation and public services [2,3]
We focus on open data in Scandinavian parliaments (Norway, Sweden, and Denmark)
While the literature defines open government data as “government-related data that is made open to the public” [17], there is a gap in the literature with regard to the definition of open parliamentary data, and even more so with regard to the dynamics of open data from parliaments
Summary
Governments strive to advance mutual government-citizen understanding by innovating with emerging computing technologies, such as open data and big data [1], to make a significant impact on societies through promoting government transparency and accountability, empowering citizens, and improving participation and public services [2,3]. The emergence of open data and big data has received increasing interest from governments, which has been interpreted as a set of perceived potential benefits for governments and the whole society towards further democracy [4]. This includes, for example, the Brazilian My National Congress [5]. There have been various citizen initiatives to advocate for more data openness in government [6]. In a study of open data on UK government spending data, there were identified gains on accountability, but less conclusive findings on participation and information transmission [21] While the literature defines open government data as “government-related data that is made open to the public” [17], there is a gap in the literature with regard to the definition of open parliamentary data, and even more so with regard to the dynamics of open data from parliaments.
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