Abstract
The objective of this paper is to classify and analyse all research on open data performed in the scientific community from a technological viewpoint, providing a detailed exploration based on six key facets: publication venue, impact, subject, domain, life-cycle phases and type of research. This paper therefore provides a consolidated overview of the open data arena that allows readers to identify well-established topics, trends, and open research issues. Additionally, we provide an extensive qualitative discussion of the most interesting findings to pave the way for future research. Our first identification phase resulted in 893 relevant peer-reviewed articles, published between 2006 and 2019 in a wide variety of venues. Analysis of the results shows that open data research grew slowly from 2006 but increased significantly as from 2009. In 2019, research interest in open data from a technological perspective overall decreased. This fact could indicate that research is beginning to stabilise, i.e., the open data research hype is over, and the research field is reaching maturity. Main findings are (i) increasing effort in researching on Semantic Web technologies as a mechanism to publish and reuse linked open data, (ii) software systems are proposed to solve open data technical problems; and (iii) considering technological aspects of legislation and standardization is needed to widely introduce open data in society. Finally, we provide complementary insights regarding open data innovation projects, with special emphasis on publication (e.g., open data portals) and consumption (e.g., open data as business enabler) of open data.
Highlights
The concept of open data emerged in the early 2000s with some relevant milestones as the 2003 European Public-Sector Information (PSI) [1], or the 2009 United States Government decision to implement the Open Government concept [2], which had a worldwide impact
Systematic mappings are focused on performing a visual synthesis of the research publications and classify them based on some facets provided by research questions
We found that venues revealed two important communities in open data research: (i) one dedicated to Web topics with special emphasis on the Semantic Web such as the Semantic Web journal or the WWW conference, and (ii) another dedicated to e-government and its relationship with open data, i.e., the intersection between information technology and government publications such as Government Information Quarterly or conferences such as DG.O
Summary
The concept of open data (i.e., data freely used, modified, and shared by anyone for any purpose1) emerged in the early 2000s with some relevant milestones as the 2003 European Public-Sector Information (PSI) [1], or the 2009 United States Government decision to implement the Open Government concept [2], which had a worldwide impact. In 2013, the G8 group formed by world leaders signed the open data Charter [4], aiming at fostering broader global adoption of open data. Due to these global initiatives, the open data term gained momentum and the body of research on open data began to emerge as a multidisciplinary area encompassing a wide range issues, from social to technical. Research on open data is intrinsically multidisciplinary mainly due to a couple of facts:. Open data is published in the Web, as an information space where social and technical aspects come together [1].
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