Access To Government Information Research Articles

How Does Government Information Access Interplay with Resources of Emerging Market Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises for Innovation? Evidence from Vietnam

This study integrates the (extended) resource-based view (ERBV/RBV) and non-market strategy (i.e., corporate political activity) to investigate the role of internal and external resources as drivers of innovation in small and medium-sized enterprises in emerging markets (ESMEs). Using primary data from 192 Vietnam SMEs collected between 2014 and 2016, we adopted a partial least square estimation to examine our hypotheses, supplemented by ordinary least square and unobserved heterogeneity tests for robustness. Our PLS-SEM results reveal that firms with intangible resources, from human capital investment to political connections, are more likely to innovate. While the positive effect of human capital investment on innovation is not moderated by government information access, the impact of political connections as an extended resource is significantly enhanced by access to government information. On the other hand, international export experience is not related to innovation by itself, but it is positively moderated by government information access, suggesting that engaging in international markets alone is insufficient. This study contributes to the emerging market literature by examining the effects of intangible resources and political connections on ESMEs’ innovation and highlighting the role of government information as a non-market strategy access in enhancing these relationships.

The Effect of Conceptual Factors on Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises Business Success in Malaysia

This study was purposely conducted to examine the influence of conceptual factors such as external environment (i.e. government support and information access) and managerial expertise (i.e. business planning and entrepreneurial skills) on SMEs business success in Malaysia. The main objectives are to examine which factors that influences most on SMEs' business success. A survey was administered through a face-to-face approach to 115 individuals who run the SME business. We utilized SPSS version 20 software and analyzed the data using multiple regression analysis to test the hypothesis. Findings showed a significant relationship between all tested variables (government support, information access, business planning & entrepreneurial skills) and the dependent variable (business success of SME). Through multiple regression analysis, although all variables tested have a significant effect on SMEs' success, however, a greater influence is shown by entrepreneurial skills on the probability of SMEs' success. Findings are expected to contribute to improve the understanding of the obstacles or challenges that might be faced by SMEs. These findings also benefit policymakers and development partners to formulate policies related to improvement for SMEs. The useful information will help the SMEs continue to grow. At the same time, the government also can promote the development of competitive, innovative, and resilient SMEs through effective coordination and provision of business support that focuses on improving entrepreneurial skills. The research is useful for development partners in developing programs including searching for funds. Lastly, this study hopes to contribute to the body of knowledge concerning SMEs in Malaysia.

Transformational Leadership in Supporting Innovative Digital Governance

This research is motivated by various failures of several government leaderships in running digital government and resulting in low innovation. This study aims to analyze transformational leadership in supporting innovative digital governance. Digital governance emphasizes the aspect of using data and platforms for the public to be able to access government information and services anytime and anywhere by utilizing online network devices. The government of innovation emphasizes the creation of new things that are sup- ported by human intelligence. Data were taken through interviews and through online media and then analyzed using NVivo 12 Plus. The results show that transformational leadership provides good support for digital governance. Digital governance can contribute to transformational leadership in creating innovations. E-governance has a positive impact on the efficiency and effectiveness of public governance in relation to human relations with humans, human relations with government, and government relations with other institutions.

The Right To Information: An Investigation into the Legal Framework and Implementation in the Philippines

ABSTRACTThe citizens' right to access government information, through legislations like the Right to Information (RTI), is now the norm especially in democratic countries. However, the effectiveness of its implementation is still a challenge. This paper investigates the legal framework and the implementation of RTI in the Philippines by examining the Executive Order no. 2 and analysing a sample of 180 RTI requests submitted to the three government agencies with the greatest number of requests. Findings reveal issues on accessibility, FOI literacy, and privacy happening across the three government agencies. We argue that these issues are related to institutional capacity. This paper contributes to the literature examining the implementation of RTI, especially in developing countries.

Editor's Note

The editor examines the notion of a constitutional right to access government information, including its promises and limitations.

Kebijakan Online Single Submission sebagai E-Government dalam Mewujudkan Good Governance di Indonesia

Based on the history before the reform era, there have been many cases of government committing corruption, collusion and nepotism, this is the background of the movement to create a government to run good governance. As time has progressed, the time has come for a time that is all full of digitalization, both in the economy, education and politics. This research uses normative legal research methods. This study shows that the government in running its government will also be based on the development of sophisticated information technology which can be called E-Government. Therefore, there is now a time when the Indonesian government has used and allowed the Online Single Submission (OSS) system to make it easier for people who want to take care of business licensing. The implementation of good governance during the Industry 4.0 Revolution can take advantage of science, technology and information to provide good facilities and services to the Indonesian people, and the public can easily access government information.

Pandering, Priority or Political Weapon: Presidencies, Political Parties & the Freedom of Information Act

Politics have a profound influence on the design and administration of nearly all government laws and policies. And the executive branch, a highly political institution, is given significant latitude in shaping the primary mechanism for accessing government information, the Freedom of Information Act. This article explores the political nature of the FOIA by examining legislative history, party messaging, presidential actions and a quantitative analysis of FOIA use and implementation from 1975 until the present. The outcomes are both predictable — Presidents Ronald Reagan and Donald Trump having poor records — and surprising — President George W. Bush producing a relatively transparent record. The study’s findings suggest the failures of FOIA are likely less a consequence of presidencies and political parties than an indiscriminate symptom of contemporary U.S. governance.

Investigating The Impact of E-Government Services on The Integrated Management Structure in The Urban Organization

Investigating The Impact of E-Government Services on The Integrated Management Structure in The Urban Organization Shaho Saeed Braim Business and Management Department, Choman Technical Institute, Erbil, Kurdistan Region, Iraq Correspondence: shahosaeed12345@gmail.com Abstract: E-government is a way for governments to use new technology to provide individuals with the necessary facilities to access government information and services, […]

Government Information: Readily Accessible yet Also Grey Literature

ABSTRACT Government information is a unique subset of grey literature. Often governments are the only source of information because they are the only entities that collect or create specific information, such as census data. Government information is usually categorized by level of government (local, state, federal, international), as well as by agency, and is often in the form of serials, such as annual reports. For the larger jurisdictions, there are often repositories or depository programs that index publications, but local government information often must be actively acquired. Currently, government information is published online. Some agencies are conscientious of their historical information and digitize and post older materials, but other agencies focus on access to current, born-digital information, and may not be archiving older material. There are several library community initiatives to combat grey government information. A couple of examples are the Federal Depository Library Program’s Lost Docs Reporting mechanism, and the End of Term Archive that collects federal websites at the change of each presidential term. These are at the federal level, and more needs to be done to index and preserve state, and especially local, government information. This is because issues such as copyright affect the accessibility and preservation of non-federal government information.

Issues Facing Citizens In Iraq Towards Adoption Of E-Government

Developing countries have established promising e-Government initiatives with the objectives of enhancing the accessibility of government services and information for their citizens. Purpose: This research attempts to explore and investigate the key challenges and Issues that facing e-government adoption and the factors influencing citizen in Iraq. Methodology: The research depended on qualitative approach, the participants comprised undergraduate and postgraduate students at Baghdad university because university students are amongst the adult population for whom the Internet has become part of their daily routine. population of 369, Potential participants for the focus groups were identified from the questionnaire survey. Finding: The findings show that Trust and Awareness significant and direct relationship with adoption of e-government in Iraq. Corruption was found to have significant and negative relationship with the adoption of e- government.

The Archivists’ Understanding of New Public Management and Outsourcing of Government Information: The Case of Sweden

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the archivists’ understanding of New Public Management (NPM) and its impact on their role as gatekeepers of government information. The paper therefore presents the views of the archivists who traditionally manage the creation, capture and organisation of information at the Swedish Transport Board (STB). Government information is key to institutional transparency and hence the stringent legal framework that governs it. Sweden is considered a highly transparent country and through its Press Act, which dates as far back as the 1766, all its citizens enjoy the right to access government information. This way, citizens can follow and scrutinise the government processes, which increases openness and trust in government institutions. However, this image of Sweden as open and transparent was challenged by the “Transportgate IT scandal,” which put it in the limelight of both national and international media. The scandal was due to outsourcing. Global governments these days operate under increased financial constraints, demands for efficiency and environmentally sustainable solutions and are therefore engaged in the outsourcing of government functions. Outsourcing is a strategy within New Public Management and is regarded as a solution to the above-mentioned constraints. Outsourcing is being done within the growing popularity of NPM, which is the adoption of methods and best practice from the private sector. However, among the challenges that outsourcing poses is data/information security. Yet, one of the building stones of trust in government institutions is secure and trustworthy government information. As the “Transportgate IT scandal” unfolded, the focus was on IT security and there was a total lack of discussion on the information contained in the systems. This paper used a case study as a method to explore the above issues. It applied a literature review and interviews as data gathering techniques. The results confirmed that the archivists had a full understanding of NPM and its impact on the management of government information. They are supposed to play a key role in the management of government information, but they were not at all involved in the outsourcing process. There is a danger that this development might impact the trust citizens have in government institutions since access to government information might be compromised. Therefore, outsourcing of government information should involve all the stakeholders and there should be well-formulated clauses to protect it.

Test of Citizens’ Physical and Cognitive on Indonesian E-Government Website Design

E-Government websites stand to allow an easier approach for citizens to access government information and services. However, in the application, many Indonesian do not access E-Government website, and the main reason is due to the unattractive design. It is imperative to match the website design with the user’s physical and cognitive skills limitations, to increase the website effectiveness. This study aims to conduct experiments by examining citizens physical and cognitive capability constraint in 15 website designs of City and Regency Governments in Indonesia. Physical aspects were tested using Eye Tribe Tracker and Neurosky Mindwave was mobilized to investigate cognitive aspects and both aspects were assessed towards total 48 respondents The research data was being examined employing One Way ANOVA analysis to obtain a website with the highest average value. This study contributes to provide website design recommendations that include layouts, background colors, and typography for City and Regency Governments in Indonesia.

Gobierno Abierto en México: hacia una discusión realista de su factibilidad

<p>El Gobierno Abierto (GA) se considera una propuesta novedosa de reforma gubernamental y promoción de la democracia. Este trabajo plantea la necesidad de llevar a cabo una discusión realista sobre su factibilidad en México. Para ello se analizan la transparencia, las tecnologías de información y comunicación (TIC) y la participación ciudadana. Se revisan supuestos no explícitos de su relación con el ga y se presenta información sobre las condiciones imperantes en México. El principal hallazgo es que las leyes, instituciones y procedimientos para acceder a la información gubernamental y para participar, así como las herramientas técnicas disponibles (TIC), mantienen barreras que impiden a los ciudadanos conocerlo, entenderlo y utilizarlo. Existen también resistencias burocráticas, desconocimiento y desinterés de los ciudadanos por participar, además de desconfianza interpersonal y hacia el gobierno. Todo ello integra un escenario poco favorable para el desarrollo de un ga en México en el corto plazo.</p>

Can an Open Access Approach be the Solution to Better Implementation of the Right to Information Act in Bangladesh?

Legal implementation has always been a challenge in Bangladesh. The Right to Information Act 2009 (the RTI Act) was introduced in Bangladesh with the objective of ensuring people’s access to government information for improving accountability and empowering people to participate in decisions that shape the social, economic, and political aspects of their lives. However, this article suggests that there has been no significant improvement in accessing government information despite the enactment and the strategies for the implementation of the RTI Act. Most citizens are unaware of their legal entitlements to seek and receive information. Only a small number of applications have been registered with public offices since the RTI Act was introduced in 2009. The article argues that one of the main reasons behind the lack of improvement is that the chosen implementation approach fails to engage the public to exercise their right to access information related to government services. This article claims that a proactive and deliberative approach to information disclosure is a much better alternative to the current scheme for implementing the RTI Act.

The People’s Right to Know and State Secrecy

Among the classic arguments which advocates of open government use to fight government secrecy is the appeal to a “people’s right to know.” I argue that the employment of this idea as a conceptual weapon against state secrecy misfires. I consider two prominent arguments commonly invoked to support the people’s right to know government-held information: an appeal to human rights and an appeal to democratic citizenship. While I concede that both arguments ground the people’s right to access government information, I argue that they also limit this right and in limiting it, they establish a domain of state secrecy. The argument developed in the essay provides a novel interpretation of Dennis Thompson’s claim, who in his seminal work on the place of secrecy in democratic governance, has argued that some of the best reasons for secrecy are the same reasons that argue for openness and against secrecy.

Public Information Directive (PSI) implementation in two Swedish municipalities

PurposeThis paper examines the implementation of the Public Sector Information (PSI) directive in two Swedish municipalities amidst a changing information management landscape impacted by e-government development. Government information is currently looked upon as a “gold mine” and “raw material” to be explored by interested parties. The PSI directive grants European citizens a right to access government information flows (PSI) in order to develop new electronic services. The Swedish government implemented its PSI directive in July 2010. Swedish municipalities have to embrace the directive and make the PSI available to the general public. The literature review highlighted a number of critical issues that should be addressed if PSI initiatives are to succeed. This study revealed that the two municipalities had different resource capacities, and the levels of e-government development varied. This meant that the implementation of the PSI directive also varied. The bigger municipality with a bigger budget had implemented the PSI directive and was publishing data sets on its website, while the smaller municipality with a smaller budget only published a few documents. This paper, therefore, argues that the municipalities should have the same capacity if the PSI is to be a democratic endeavor to serve all citizens. Good quality PSI will also require the municipalities to embrace a records and information continua thinking, which highlights the necessity to proactively and holistically manage the information for pluralization in different contexts.Design/methodology/approachThis paper builds on interviews that were conducted with four municipal officers. The number of respondents is quite small because the focus was specifically on people who were responsible for the implementation of the PSI directive in the municipalities. The respondents were identified through their fellow colleagues and they also recommended each other. Pickard refers to this kind of approach as a snow-bowling approach. Through interviews and observation, one participant advises on issues that need further inquiry and, hence, directs the researcher to another person who might offer more answers. A general interview guide approach was used to solicit answers to issues such as the implementation of the PSI directive, guidelines for PSI publication, if terms such as big data and open data were being used in the municipalities, if the municipalities had an information governance plan and how it was understood, if the information systems were well aligned to meet with the requirements of the PSI directive, how e-government development affected information management and information security and if the municipalities had information security guidelines.FindingsThe Swedish government requires its administrations to engage in e-government development. This development has led to increased amounts of information that the municipalities have to effectively manage and make available to the general public. However, the municipalities operate under different conditions. Municipalities that are financially stronger are better placed to invest in measures that will lead to better quality PSI. All municipalities are, however, expected to implement the PSI directive. The two municipalities that were the subjects of this study had different information management environments and the capacity to invest in information management systems that would facilitate the management of their information resources. The budgetary constraints faced by smaller municipalities might impact the implementation of the PSI directive and, hence, hinder the publication of the PSI. e-Government is meant to be an inclusive project, and the PSI is meant for all citizens with innovative ideas. There is a risk that citizens who belong to poorer municipalities might not be equally privileged compared to those living in resourceful municipalities. This poses a democratic challenge that should concern all people interested in an open and inclusive society.Originality/valueLittle research has so far been published on the implementation process of the PSI directive. The discourses that have started to emerge discuss the challenges of open data without paying much attention to the creation, capture and the management aspects of the PSI. The originality of this paper, therefore, lies in the application of the records and information continua thinking, which highlights dimensions that enhance information management and the democratic challenges that will be caused by the data divide, as municipalities have different capabilities when it comes to the publication of the PSI.

How Much are Citizen Perceptions of Fiscal Accountability Influenced by Government Transparency, Information Access, and Participation Opportunities?

Anecdotal and empirical evidence points to a decline of citizen trust in government in the U.S. Distrust of government related to fiscal matters often occurs because information about accountability is not communicated. This study examines factors that may influence citizen perceptions of their local government's fiscal accountability. We focus specifically on seven local governments in the Hampton Roads, Virginia region of the U.S. We measure citizens’ perception of local government finances using survey responses to five questions related to responsible spending, financial reporting, and educating and informing citizens of government finances. Our study examines the relationship of levels of transparency, information accessibility, and participation opportunities to citizens’ perceptions of government's fiscal accountability. We expect that residents in cities with high levels of transparency and information accessibility and participatory processes will perceive their local government's fiscal accountability more positively. However, our results do not support these expectations since the level of perceived fiscal accountability is non-variant across the cities irrespective of the varying levels of transparency, information accessibility, and participation opportunities. These findings suggest there may be different values associated with a range of administrative activities thought to be critical antecedents for informing and engaging citizens to enhance perceptions of accountability.

Freedom of access to government information in Africa: trends, status and challenges

PurposeAgitation for adoption of freedom of access to government information is an emerging issue in Africa and has gathered momentum since 2000 when South Africa passed the first freedom of information (FoI) law in the continent. This paper aims to discuss the extent of passage of FoI laws in Africa, the reality of their implementation in some of the countries and the critical challenges and recommendations.Design/methodology/approachA document analysis approach was adopted for gathering vital information on the realities and challenges of FoI implementation in Africa. Literature on the concepts, principles and practice of FoI were reviewed, and relevant facts and figures were extracted to buttress the authors’ argument.FindingsOnly 14 (25.5 per cent) of the 55 countries in Africa had signed FoI law as on January 31, 2015; 16 (29.0 per cent) are still lobbying, while 25 (45.5 per cent) of the states had no significant plan yet. Political factors like colonial legacy, poor leadership, inexperienced record managers for the implementation of FoI Acts (FoIA), corruption and hydra-headed clauses such as “national security, and other privacy rights” impede access to government records in Africa. The paper recommended among others that African countries should amend restrictive laws that continue to impede full implantation of FoI laws.Practical implicationsImplementation of the provisions in the FoIA in Africa will not be realistic unless those restrictive clauses that hinder citizens from freely accessing government information are reviewed in line with free access to information.Originality/valueThis paper appears to be the first to review the status of FoIA in Africa since the first right to information laws were signed in the continent.

A Summary of Collaborative Projects Working to Preserve Access to Government Data

Researchers of varied disciplines use federal information and data on a daily basis. Publically funded information and data are important not only to researchers, but to businesses and state and local governments as well. Recent events have resulted in concerns about the continuing accessibility of federal government information has led to several collaborative projects to preserve government data. This article is a summary of some of these projects, the types of data they collect, and how anyone can provide access to the valuable data.

Law Libraries and the Future of Public Access to Born-Digital Government Information

As government publications have shifted from print to electronic, mechanisms for guaranteeing the public's right to access government information have not kept pace. Because legal resources are among the publications most at risk of loss, law libraries should participate in efforts to ensure that born-digital government information remains freely available to all.