The Role of Open Government Data in Urban Areas Development

The development of ecosystems around open government data in order to generate social and economic value from them requires on one hand the existence of a critical mass of them and on the other hand some level of homogeneity and interoperability among the numerous portals and websites providing them which enables their combined exploitation. This paper presents the Technical, Semantic, Legal, and Organizational (TSLO) Interoperability Framework, a conceptual tool designed to provide a structured evaluation of the interoperability capabilities of open government data infrastructures. It incorporates the technical, semantic, legal, and organizational aspects of open government data provision, which are crucial for developing interoperability between open data portals and websites, which enables the generation of high levels of social and economic value from them, so it can pave the way for creating open data ecosystems for this purpose. We are then applying this TSLO framework to examine from this perspective the open data infrastructures of the Greek local government administration institutions of all three layers of it (decentralized, regional, and municipal). In particular, we examine the open government data portals and websites of the local Greek governments and provide a detailed analysis of them concerning the fore aspects of the framework. This first application of TSLO reveals not only the low participation of Greek local government institutions in the open data movement, and especially of the municipalities, where only 8 out of 332 municipalities provide open data on their portals or websites but also the inconsistent implementation of this, especially with respect to the use of semantic technologies as well as the legal frameworks under which the open data provided. Finally, we propose the automation of the TSLO framework to facilitate the evaluation and standardization of open local government data infrastructure and expand the study to identify and address barriers to open data provision.

Nowadays, governments launch open government data (OGD) portals that provide data that can be accessed and used by everyone for their own needs. Although the potential economic value of open (government) data is assessed in millions and billions, not all open data are reused. Moreover, the open (government) data initiative as well as users’ intent for open (government) data are changing continuously and today, in line with IoT and smart city trends, real-time data and sensor-generated data have higher interest for users. These “smarter” open (government) data are also considered to be one of the crucial drivers for the sustainable economy, and might have an impact on information and communication technology (ICT) innovation and become a creativity bridge in developing a new ecosystem in Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0. The paper inspects OGD portals of 60 countries in order to understand the correspondence of their content to the Society 5.0 expectations. The paper provides a report on how much countries provide these data, focusing on some open (government) data success facilitating factors for both the portal in general and data sets of interest in particular. The presence of “smarter” data, their level of accessibility, availability, currency and timeliness, as well as support for users, are analyzed. The list of most competitive countries by data category are provided. This makes it possible to understand which OGD portals react to users’ needs, Industry 4.0 and Society 5.0 request the opening and updating of data for their further potential reuse, which is essential in the digital data-driven world.

Identifying patterns and recommendations of and for sustainable open data initiatives: A benchmarking-driven analysis of open government data initiatives among European countries

BackgroundOpen health data has implications for clinical care, research, public health, and health policy at regional, national, and global levels. No published attempts have been made to determine, collectively, whether WHO member states and governments have embraced the promise and effort required to officially share open health data. The observational study will provide evidence that World Health Organization (WHO) member states individually and collectively have adopted open data recommended principles, providing access to open health data.
 MethodsUsing the WHO list of member states (n=194), the researchers identified the presence of open health data or initiatives. With each country, the following types of official government web pages were recorded: a Ministry of Health web page; a conspicuous link on a government web page to open health data; additional government health web sites; national government-sponsored open data repositories; unique attributes of national health data web sites; and adherence to the principles of open government data for health. A supplemental PDF file provides a representation of data used for analysis and observations. Our complete data is available at: https://goo.gl/Kwj7mb
 Observations and DiscussionOpen health data is easily discoverable in less than one-third of the WHO member states. 13 nations demonstrate the principle to provide comprehensive open data. Only 16 nations distribute primary, non-aggregated health data. 24 % of the WHO observed member states are providing some health data in a non-proprietary formats such as comma-separated values. The sixth, seventh, and eighth open government data principles for health, representing universal access, non-proprietary formats, and non-patent protection, are observed in about one-third of the WHO member states. While there are examples of organized national open health data, no more than a one-third minority of the world’s nations have portals set up to systematically share open health data. At least 15 WHO member states are observed to not even have a government health ministry representation online.
 ConclusionWe hope the data collected in our Google Sheet and the discussion provided in this paper will generate international interest and advocacy for open health data.

This paper presents the results of an online survey and subsequent interviews investigating whether, how, and why public administrations of Brazilian states and the federal district (Federation Units) use open government data. According to the literature reviewed, the questions were categorized into four big groups: benefits, barriers, enablers, and drivers. The Survey method, based on a questionnaire followed by interviews, was used to collect and analyze data from the open data officers of 26 Brazilian Federation Units. The use of open government data is controversial as responses from the questionnaires and interviews do not match and raise questions about how well-represented each Federation Unit was. Evidence of open government data use was found. Among others, findings showed that political leadership committed to using open data facilitates and motivates public agents to use these data. Additionally, interviews indicated that the lack of human resources with the knowledge, skills, and capabilities to use open data is a relevant barrier to data use. Findings also revealed that open government data mainly support policy and decision-making processes. This research contributed to the open data and public administration fields. It portrays diverse realities of open government data use and institutionalization in Brazilian state and district public administrations. In addition, it provides lists of open government data use benefits, barriers, drivers, and enablers from the perspective of these administrations so that they can benchmark against each other and improve their OGD use. For academia, this research provides empirical evidence of the factors influencing public administrations' use of open government data at the subnational level in Brazil. Even though Brazil ranks high on OGD global assessments, few studies on its use and reuse in the public sector were identified. This is one of the first academic studies focusing on open government data use in the country. It also contributes by offering to the academic community two instruments, a questionnaire and an interview protocol, which can be applied to other public settings to expand this study's results or open new research paths by applying them to other contexts.

Purpose The purpose of this exploratory study is to provide modern local governments with potential use cases for their open data, in order to help inform related future policies and decision-making. The concrete context was that of the Växjö municipality located in southeastern Sweden. Design/methodology/approach The methodology was two-fold: 1) a survey of potential end users (n=151) from a local university; and, 2) analysis of survey results using a theoretical model regarding local strategies for implementing open government data. Findings Most datasets predicted to be useful were on: sustainability and environment; preschool and school; municipality and politics. The use context given is primarily research and development, informing policies and decision making; but also education, informing personal choices, informing citizens and creating services based on open data. Not the least, the need for educating target user groups on data literacy emerged. A tentative pattern comprising a technical perspective on open data and a social perspective on open government was identified. Research limitations In line with available funding, the nature of the study was exploratory and implemented as an anonymous web-based survey of employees and students at the local university. Further research involving (qualitative) surveys with all stakeholders would allow for creating a more complete picture of the matter. Practical implications The study determines potential use cases and use contexts for open government data, in order to help inform related future policies and decision-making. Originality/value Modern local governments, and especially in Sweden, are faced with a challenge of how to make their data open, how to learn about which types of data will be most relevant for their end users and what will be different societal purposes. The paper contributes to knowledge that modern local governments can resort to when it comes to attitudes of local citizens to open government data in the context of an open government data perspective.

Open government and open data are often presented as the Asterix and Obelix of modern government—one cannot discuss one, without involving the other. Modern government, in this narrative, should open itself up, be more transparent, and allow the governed to have a say in their governance. The usage of technologies, and especially the communication of governmental data, is then thought to be one of the crucial instruments helping governments achieving these goals. Much open government data research, hence, focuses on the publication of open government data, their reuse, and re-users. Recent research trends, by contrast, divert from this focus on data and emphasize the importance of studying open government data in practice, in interaction with practitioners, while simultaneously paying attention to their political character. This commentary looks more closely at the implications of emphasizing the practical and political dimensions of open government data. It argues that researchers should explicate how and in what way open government data policies present solutions to what kind of problems. Such explications should be based on a detailed empirical analysis of how different actors do or do not do open data. The key question to be continuously asked and answered when studying and implementing open government data is how the solutions openness present latch onto the problem they aim to solve.

An understanding of the similar and divergent metrics and methodologies underlying open government data benchmarks can reduce the risks of the potential misinterpretation and misuse of benchmarking outcomes by policymakers, politicians, and researchers. Hence, this study aims to compare the metrics and methodologies used to measure, benchmark, and rank governments' progress in open government data initiatives. Using a critical meta-analysis approach, we compare nine benchmarks with reference to meta-data, meta-methods, and meta-theories. This study finds that both existing open government data benchmarks and academic open data progress models use a great variety of metrics and methodologies, although open data impact is not usually measured. While several benchmarks’ methods have changed over time, and variables measured have been adjusted, we did not identify a similar pattern for academic open data progress models. This study contributes to open data research in three ways: 1) it reveals the strengths and weaknesses of existing open government data benchmarks and academic open data progress models; 2) it reveals that the selected open data benchmarks employ relatively similar measures as the theoretical open data progress models; and 3) it provides an updated overview of the different approaches used to measure open government data initiatives’ progress. Finally, this study offers two practical contributions: 1) it provides the basis for combining the strengths of benchmarks to create more comprehensive approaches for measuring governments’ progress in open data initiatives; and 2) it explains why particular countries are ranked in a certain way. This information is essential for governments and researchers to identify and propose effective measures to improve their open data initiatives.

This chapter provides a brief overview of the history and current state of open government data in Russia. First, it discusses the concept of “open data” and defines the basic principles of open government data. It further describes the institutional, legal, and infrastructural frameworks for the development of open government data in Russia. The chapter discusses the main sources of open data, the availability of key datasets, and the current situation around future development of the open data agenda in Russia. Finally, it provides examples of projects and cases of interaction with government agencies based on open data.

Open data has been conceptualised as a strategic form of public knowledge. Tightly connected with the developments in open government and open science, the main claim is that access to open data (OD) might be a catalyser of social innovation and citizen empowerment. Nevertheless, the so-called (open) data divide, as a problem connected to the situation of OD usage and engagement, is a concern. In this chapter, we introduce the OD usage trends, focusing on the role played by (open) data literacy amongst either users or producers: citizens, professionals, and researchers. Indeed, we attempted to cover the problem of OD through a holistic approach including two areas of research and practice: open government data (OGD) and open research data (ORD). After uncovering several factors blocking OD consumption, we point out that more OD is being published (albeit with low usage), and we overview the research on data literacy. While the intentions of stakeholders are driven by many motivations, the abilities that put them in the condition to enhance OD might require further attention. In the end, we focus on several lifelong learning activities supporting open data literacy, uncovering the challenges ahead to unleash the power of OD in society.

PurposeThis paper aims to identify and to understand how current data portals comply with open government data (OGD) principles in the context of Brazilian local government.Design/methodology/approachIn this paper, we assessed a sample of 561 municipalities from a universe of interest of 3,052 ones expected to disclose information using the internet. As part of our methodology, the authors analyzed the required items for active disclosure and the technical requirements, all enforced by Brazilian law and close to OGD principles which are the focus of analysis of the authors.FindingsThe findings generally show the vast majority of assessed data portals did not comply with the basic requirements stated by national law, consequently not complying with OGD principles, and prevent society from benefiting from government data openness. The authors also found arguments that the national law should explicitly reproduce OGD principles, as they demonstrate clearer understanding about the global context of open data.Originality/valueThe contributions of this work can be used to plan public data openness actions over the internet and envision effective accountability and public participation with clearer legislation and with the effective implementation of OGD principles in data portals.

Citizen Factors of the open government data are being explored in this study in the selected Asian countries. As per the open data availability countries have been selected on global open data index and well-structured open government data portals of Asian countries. To identify and analyze the differences of selected Asian countries through the principals of open government data which are eight in number, analysis the portal activities and observed the Open government data benefits. In analysis, the datasets of selected countries have been analyzed for the purpose of defining the portal activities. These activities include the Visitants, Suppliers, Applications, Developments, generation of Knowledge and overall resources utilization. Open government data of these countries are examined through web contented analysis, in order to understand the open government data’s status. This study also describes different challenges on how adoption, promotion and acceptance of the open government data and portals have been carried out by Asian countries. Moreover, there are some recommendations according to the key problems and status in the open government data initiatives. Also, the study has limitations regarding the number of countries and future directions emphasize the need for Open Government Data analysis in less developed countries also.

This paper describes a small-scale study to investigate the missions, services and operational tasks provided by four open government data centers: NYC OpenData (New York Open Data Center), DataSF (open data portal of San Francisco), WPRDC (Western Pennsylvania Regional Data Center) and the London Datastore (Greater London open data portal). The findings are used to propose three emerging specialist data roles for open government data (OGD) centers. The methodology used was an analysis of the textual content of the data center websites, to identify the common elements of the mission and services. A common mission across all four open government data centers was ‘to improve the use of data’. The range of data center services and tasks identified and extracted from the websites, could be classified into five common categories: Availability, Understandability, Technical Help, Social Engagement, and Improve User Data Literacy. Three new specialist open government data roles were proposed, which were framed to facilitate the delivery of the services identified in this study: Data Interpreter, Data Consultant and Data Visual Assistant. In parallel with existing research data policies and guidelines, these three specialist OGD roles could be extended and applied across other open data portals and domain-based data centers e.g. research data repositories, to optimise the delivery of open data, to facilitate greater value from data sharing, to maximize the understanding of complex data and to minimize the subsequent misuse of data.

Open Government Data Study: India

The subject of the study is ensuring the information openness of government structures. The purpose of the work is to substantiate the directions for improving the ways of representing open government data. The article substantiates the directions for improving the ways of representing open government data. At the conceptual level, it is determined in what ratio open data are with information about the activities of the authority; with official and departmental statistics; with data operated by state information systems. At the methodological level, based on the analysis of web resources and generalization of best practices, a set of requirements for a regional open data portal is formulated. The article identifies possible goals for the publication of open data, consisting in scientific and methodological support for management, the development of public control, and the provision of material for the development of projects to create useful services. The results of the analysis of the information content of regional open data portals are presented, which allow not only to understand the current situation on the ground, but also to form a system of criteria for the quality of their information content. It is determined that the further development of the practice of posting open government data depends on solving such methodological problems as correlating the concepts of "open data" and "state statistics data", comparing statistical and departmental data, classifying posted official information as "open data", streamlining approaches to centralization/regionalization of open data. Based on the analysis of the accepted definitions of open data, it was revealed that they highlight only the properties, and not the meaningful characteristics of such data. It is concluded that it is necessary to streamline the structure and content of regional open data portals, as well as embed relevant information in industry Internet resources.