The wicked problem of commercial value creation in open data ecosystems: Policy guidelines for governments

Abstract

Creating commercial value through open data use in open data ecosystems is a wicked problem. This problem is characterized by a lack of specific formulation, complex interactions amongst a variety of stakeholders, a lack of criteria determining a satisfactory solution, including what constitutes `value', and uncertain outcomes. Wicked problems cannot be solved by only considering part of the problem. Yet, open data efforts all too often focus mainly on open data publication and neglect the use of the data; while it is the use of data (not just publication) that generates value. This paper addresses the question: Which policy guidelines can support commercial value creation from open data? This study first elicits characteristics of wicked problems for studying the wicked problem of commercial open data value creation. Subsequently, we use the wicked problem characteristics to study open data innovation in two countries and consult experts. This work results in eliciting four policy guidelines that can help to derive greater commercial value from open data ecosystems. The four policy guidelines show that governmental open data policies for commercial value should pay attention to: 1) increasing the knowledge of open data ecosystem stakeholders about contextual factors influencing open data use and commercial value creation, 2) ensuring the availability and quality of five types of resources: open data, open Information Technology (IT), internal IT, knowledge and governance, 3) cooperating between businesses and citizens to create alliances, and 4) reducing the negative effects of value creation by companies in the open data ecosystem. These policy guidelines are expected to stimulate commercial value creation with open data use.