On the barriers for local government releasing open data

Due to expected benefits such as citizen participation and innovation, the release of Public Sector Information as open data is getting increased attention on various levels of government. However, currently data release by governments is still novel and there is little experience and knowledge thus far about its benefits, costs and barriers. This is compounded by a lack of understanding about how internal processes influence data release. Our aim in this paper is to get a better understanding of these processes and how they influence data release, i.e., to find determinants for the release of public sector information. For this purpose, we conducted workshops, interviews, questionnaires, desk research and practice based cases in the education program of our university, involving six local public sector organizations. We find that the way data is stored, the way data is obtained and the way data is used by a department are crucial indicators for open data release. We conclude with the lessons learned based on our research findings. These findings are: we should take a nuanced approach towards data release, avoid releasing data for its own sake, and take small incremental steps to explore data release.     

Benchmarking open government: An open data perspective

This paper presents a benchmark proposal for the Open Government and its application from the open data perspective using data available on the U.S. government's open data portal (data.gov). The benchmark is developed over the adopted Open Government conceptual model, which describes Open Government through data openness, transparency, participation and collaboration. Resulting in two measures, that is, one known as the e-government openness index (eGovOI) and the other Maturity, the benchmark indicates the progress of government over time, the efficiency of recognizing and implementing new concepts and the willingness of the government to recognize and embrace innovative ideas.     

Looking for datasets to open: An exploration of government officials' information behaviors in open data policy implementation

In recent years, more and more government administrations around the world are participating in open data policy implementation. Government officials who are charged with implementing this new policy usually need to look for related information for deciding what datasets to open to the public. Accordingly, a research gap exists in understanding government officials' information behaviors in implementing open data policy. By using a qualitative approach to conduct semi-structured interviews with government officials who have extensive experience in implementing open data policy, this study explores government officials' information behaviors in searching and selecting datasets for open data publication. Specifically, this research investigates government officials' information needs, the employed information sources, and the intervening variables that influence their information behaviors. While open data is an ongoing policy implementation, government officials' information behaviors form an iterative cycle where information needs continually occur, information seeking activities are conducted by using a variety of information sources, and the obtained information is used to satisfy information needs. The findings and discussions of this study are expected to provide insights of government officials' data search and selection to practitioners and to enrich the current literature of open government data.     

Exploring open government data capacity of government agency: Based on the resource-based theory

Open government data (OGD) are valued by many countries and governments worldwide because of its important political, economic, and social benefits. Based on the resource-based theory, we construct a research model from the aspects of tangible, intangible, and human resources, as well as organizational culture to explore the factors that influence open government data capacity (OGDC). Results indicate that data variables, basic resources, organizational arrangement and technical capacity are directly related to the OGDC of government agencies; power distance negatively moderates the relationship between organizational structure and OGDC; uncertainty avoidance moderates the relationship among basic resources, organizational arrangement and OGDC. On this basis, we put forward relevant suggestions for the following development of OGD.     

The role of policy entrepreneurs in open government data policy innovation diffusion: An analysis of Australian Federal and State Governments

Open government data (OGD) policy differs substantially from the existing Freedom of Information policies. Consequently OGD can be viewed as a policy innovation. Drawing on both innovation diffusion theory and its application to public policy innovation research, we examine Australia's OGD policy diffusion patterns at both the federal and state government levels based on the policy adoption timing and CKAN portal “Organization” and “Category” statistics. We found that state governments that had adopted OGD policies earlier had active policy entrepreneurs (or lead departments/agencies) responsible for the policy innovation diffusion across the different government departments. We also found that their efficacy ranking was relatively high in terms of OGD portal openness when openness is measured by the greater number of datasets proactively and systematically published through their OGD portals. These findings have important implications for the role played by OGD policy entrepreneurs in openly sharing the government-owned datasets with the public.     

Privacy-preserving data mining for open government data from heterogeneous sources

Open data is a global movement with the potential to generate significant social and economic benefits. Policies on open government data (OGD) inspire the development of new and innovative services that government agencies may lack. The International Open Data Charter adequately describes the importance of data mining. Governments that have signed this charter should focus on the following areas—(i) data mining, (ii) linkage, and (iii) in-depth analysis, i.e., distribution of open data that is freely accessible for elaborate analysis using machine reading. However, a series of practical difficulties is observed in connection with the data mining of OGD for in-depth analysis. First, most OGD do not have identifiers to prevent privacy disclosure. Second, owing to the nature of siloed data, the data sharing and collection methods vary with respect to heterogeneous OGD, and administrative or institutional barriers need to be overcome. This has created a demand for a novel technical solution that applies micro-aggregation and distance-based record linkage to address the aforementioned issues. Thus, in this study, a method capable of integrating two or more de-identified OGDs into one dataset to enable OGD data mining is proposed. In addition, the proposed method allows users to adjust the privacy threshold level to determine an appropriate balance between privacy disclosure risk and data utility. The effectiveness of the method is evaluated in terms of several metrics via extensive experimentation. This study emphasizes the importance of the research on efficient utilization of already-published OGDs, which has been relatively neglected in the past. Further, it broadens the research area for privacy-preserving data mining by proposing a method capable of mining heterogeneous data even in the absence of identifiers.     

Promoting the use of open government data: Cases of training and engagement

In the last decade, governments around the world have created open government data (OGD) repositories to make government data more accessible and usable by the public, mostly motivated by values such as improved government transparency, citizen collaboration and participation, and spurring innovation. The basic assumption is that once data are more discoverable, accessible, available in alternative formats, and with licensing schemes that allow free re-use, diverse stakeholders will develop innovative data applications. Despite OGD's potential transformative value, there is limited evidence for such transformation, particularly due to scarce data use, which is partly attributable to the lack of technical skills and user training. To advance the dialogue around methods to increase awareness of OGD, improve users' skills to work with OGD, and encourage data use, the paper compares and contrasts how three training interventions in Spain, Italy, and the United States have sought to increase awareness of OGD, improve users' skills and potentially engage them in their use of OGD. We report three main findings. First, introduction and analysis skills are taught in combination to encourage use of open data. Being aware of OGD and its benefits is insufficient to promote use. Second, OGD training seems to be more effective when complemented with knowledge about context and interactions with government. Finally, embedding the training interventions in the specific contexts and considering the unique characteristics, interests, and expectations of different types of users is critical to success.     

The influence of the PSI directive on open government data: An overview of recent developments

This paper looks at the role of the European Directive on re-use of public sector information in the current trend towards opening up government data. After discussing the PSI directive, it gives an overview of current policies and practices with regard to open government data in the Member States. It is argued that the success of the open government data movement in some Member States can be related to the confusion or ignorance about the relationship between traditional freedom of information legislation and the re-use of public sector data. If future information policies decide to follow this trend, they should always ensure that existing rights on freedom of information are not harmed.     

Overcoming barriers to digital government: mapping the strategies of digital champions

Previous research has identified a variety of barriers to digital government, and regularly emphasizes the importance of individuals that navigate institutional contexts and strategically pursue digital government solutions. This exploratory analysis investigates how these individuals understand barriers to digital government and the strategies that they apply to overcome them. Using interviews with digital champions in the U.S government, we extract the tactics employed to overcome these barriers including storytelling, community building, external validation, orientation towards citizen perspectives and a reliance on external peer networks. Results highlight the interconnected nature of barriers and the non-linear quality of strategies, and allow the construction of a theoretical model for structural and cultural barriers and strategies as experienced by digital champions. This model highlights the perceived efficacy and impact of cultural strategies, and the association of these strategies with external peer networks and citizens, and a tension in how digital champions describe actors and approaches introduced from the private sector.     

A prioritization-based analysis of local open government data portals: A case study of Chinese province-level governments

While most data originate within a local context, our knowledge about the realization of open government data (OGD) at local levels is limited due to the lack of systematic analysis of local OGD portals. Thus, we focus on a core question about analysing and guiding the development of local OGD portals. An evaluation framework is developed based on the comparison of related studies and principles. To fill the gap in existing frameworks which lack clarity in the prioritization process, Analytic Hierarchy Process together with an expert survey is used to derive priorities of elements of the framework. To test the capability of the framework in analysing and guiding the development of local OGD portals, a case study of Chinese province-level OGD portals has been carried out. Results show that data accessibility and quality matter more than data quantity for a local OGD portal. Currently, Chinese province-level OGD portals are in their infancy of development, with a great gap between Taiwan and Hong Kong with other portals. Data relating to local statistics, credit records, and budget and spending are well released on portals in China. Population size and the size and wealth of the local government show no significant relation with the number of datasets. By combining priorities of the framework with evaluation results, it could help local governments to recognise their present shortcomings and give them recommendations for recognizing directions for OGD portal's future development.     

Understanding the key factors and configurational paths of the open government data performance: Based on fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis

The governments worldwide have attached great importance to open government data (OGD), and many OGD projects have emerged in recent years. However, the performance of OGD greatly differs in various districts and governments. Therefore, the influencing factors of OGD performance should be explored. However, the existing research has not yet established a systematic analytical framework for OGD performance, and the explanation degree of performance differences in OGD implementation is limited. Thus, this study takes technical management capacity, financial resource, organization arrangement, rules and regulations, organization culture, public demand, and inter-government competition as antecedent conditions under the perspective of technology–organization–environment framework and resource-based theory. From the cases of 16 provincial OGD practice in China, we employ fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis to explore the influencing mechanism of the interaction and coordination of multiple conditions on OGD performance. Results indicate that OGD performance depends on the integration of the total effect of various factors. Moreover, four configurational paths could be utilized to achieve high OGD performance, namely, organization–balanced path, organization–environment path, balanced path, and organization–technology path. Furthermore, a substitution relationship exists among different conditional variables, which points out the direction and focus of the implementation of OGD for governments with different endowment characteristics. This study enriches the existing studies of OGD implementation and provides references for OGD practice.     

Federal government information policy and public policy analysis: A brief overview

The information policy of the federal government of the United States has been evolving for well over 200 years, with antecedents in the British, colonial, and Confederation experiences. Having a variety of themes, (e.g., accountability, records management, accessibility, security, and privacy), it is a policy of complexity, both in terms of interrelationships among its themes and political dynamics, which is to acknowledge that all three branches have contributed to its substance, and that balance among competing forces has been neither easily realized nor maintained. Moreover, it concerns values of particular importance for a democracy, such as realizing a government that is accountable to the citizenry and protects the security of the nation. It continues to evolve, adjust, and change due to a variety of factors, new political environments and information technology being among the foremost. Policy analysis, discussed here in several dimensions, may be applied to understand not only information policy of the past and the present, but also what might be modified, adjusted, or created anew for the future. Ultimately, in all instances of policy analysis application, the end result, hopefully, will be more informed decision making.     

Key factors and generation mechanisms of open government data performance: A mixed methods study in the case of China

Open government data (OGD) has attracted widespread attention and has been widely carried out on a global scale. With further promotion, OGD performance becomes a hot topic and meaningful enough for in-depth exploration. This research focuses on the influential factors and generation mechanisms of OGD performance. Based on the resource-based theory and institutional theory, this paper constructs a model from multiple dimensions of internal resources and external pressures. Subsequently, from the 122 cities in China that have constructed OGD platforms, this study adopts a mixed research methods approach, which combines the regression analysis method and qualitative comparative analysis (QCA). The regression analysis results show that the organization arrangement, legal and policy, and horizontal pressure have direct positive effects on OGD performance. On this basis, this paper use QCA method to explore the configuration paths for the generation of OGD performance of cities in different geographic regions and at different administrative ranks levels. The QCA results provide different configuration paths to achieve better OGD performance, which verified the conclusions drawn by the regression analysis, also provides alternative paths for governments with different characteristics. This paper enriches the studies on OGD performance and provides more targeted paths together with references for the implementation of OGD.     

NTIS: Potential roles and government information policy frameworks

Despite major technological and document capture advances in the 1990s, the National Technical Information Service (NTIS) became a privatization target again in 1995 as part of Republican efforts to dismantle its parent agency, the Department of Commerce. After examining NTIS's current operational status and its user profile, this article explores six future role options for the agency. Finally, NTIS's “fit” with four competing information policy models is examined. NTIS has become an innovative, entrepreneurial agency with the potential to assume an expanded role in government and scientific/technical information dissemination, but it is still politically and financially vulnerable in the current Washington climate.     

A promising phenomenon of open data: A case study of the Chicago open data project

This article presents a case study of the open data project in the Chicago area. The main purpose of the research is to explore empowering potential of an open data phenomenon at the local level as a platform useful for promotion of civic engagement projects and provide a framework for future research and hypothesis testing. Today the main challenge in realization of any e-government projects is a traditional top–down administrative mechanism of their realization itself practically without any input from members of the civil society. In this respect, the author of the article argues that the open data concept realized at the local level may provide a real platform for promotion of proactive civic engagement. By harnessing collective wisdom of the local communities, their knowledge and visions of the local challenges, governments could react and meet citizens' needs in a more productive and cost-efficient manner. Open data-driven projects that focused on visualization of environmental issues, mapping of utility management, evaluating of political lobbying, social benefits, closing digital divide, etc. are only some examples of such perspectives. These projects are perhaps harbingers of a new political reality where interactions among citizens at the local level will play a more important role than communication between civil society and government due to the empowering potential of the open data concept.     

Cultivating open government data platform ecosystems through governance: Lessons from Buenos Aires,Mexico City and Montevideo

Open government data (OGD) initiatives are an emergent platform research topic. There is little understanding how these platforms are governed for the innovation of services using open data, where the cultivation of an installed base of heterogeneous service innovators can lead to increased usage of OGD. In this paper, we draw on established literature from digital platforms research to investigate how service innovation is cultivated in open government data contexts. We employ a comparative case study of open government data platforms in three leading Latin American cities and draw upon the concept of boundary resources taken from platform theory. Our research generates two key contributions. First, we propose a theoretical model, which explains how an OGD platform owner is able to govern the demand and the supply side of its platform to facilitate the cultivation of a platform ecosystem. Second, we develop contributions to practice in terms of a set of recommendations for governments in emerging countries concerning how to establish and manage a vibrant OGD platform ecosystem.     

Data-driven government: Cross-case comparison of data stewardship in data ecosystems

Government agencies are becoming more data-driven and need high-quality data to fulfill their roles in society. In the past, each agency organized its own data exchange system according to its own needs. Today, data is distributed over many organizations, and government agencies need to adopt an ecosystem approach for data exchange. Fundamental in the ecosystem approach is the dependence on other parties for the execution of stewardship strategies. Data-driven government agencies increasingly depend on other organizations for high-quality data and data stewardship across organizations is becoming more critical. While there is ample research on data stewardship within organizations, little is known about data stewardship in ecosystems. More specifically, it is unclear which data stewardship strategies government agencies can employ in ecosystems. The main goal of this explorative paper is to identify and compare data stewardship strategies used in empirical government-business ecosystems. Following an explorative case study approach, this paper reveals three different configurations of inter-organizational data stewardship: 1) the government-led ecosystem, 2) the government-business-led ecosystem, and 3) the regulation-led ecosystem. The case studies expose a wide array of data stewardship strategies across ecosystems. While the ecosystem approach provides advantages such as cost-sharing and innovation by private parties, government agencies become increasingly dependent on private parties to gain high-quality data and provide distributed infrastructure components. Maximizing the benefits and minimizing the risks of the ecosystem approach requires government agencies to be cautious when selecting a specific ecosystem configuration.