Re-defining open government data standards for smart cities’ websites: a case study of selected cities

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Lnenicka ◽  
Stuti Saxena

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to study the select Smart Cities of Czech and Indian counterparts and assess the extent to which open government data (OGD) standards are being adhered to using select indicators. Design/methodology/approach This study integrates the benchmarking frameworks provided in literature on OGD and apply them to evaluate the OGD standards of the Smart Cities’ websites. Findings Whereas the Czech Smart Cities are relatively more advanced in their OGD initiatives, the Indian counterpart is far lagging behind in their endeavors. Originality/value While there are many studies on OGD and Smart Cities, there has been no study which seeks to appreciate if the OGD initiatives are being adhered to by the Smart Cities.

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 550-562
Author(s):  
Ruhua Huang ◽  
Chunying Wang ◽  
Xiaoyu Zhang ◽  
Dan Wu ◽  
Qingwen Xie

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to describe the process of designing, developing and evaluating a prototype of an open government data (OGD) platform that provided user-centred experiences. Design/methodology/approach Based on the OGD lifecycle, an OGD prototype was created, which involved the system functionality, user interface, standard specification and security mechanism. The main functionalities of the system included data acquisition, data processing and data management. A usability test was conducted following the prototype implementation. Findings The usability test indicated that an OGD platform was desired to help the public to find, access, reuse and share government data effectively and efficiently. Functions, such as visualization, local download and digital watermark should be provided and integrated into the platform. Originality/value This paper provided a complete case study on the design of an OGD platform and a reference for information system developers to design such system in the future.


2020 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-30 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arie Purwanto ◽  
Anneke Zuiderwijk ◽  
Marijn Janssen

Purpose Citizen engagement is key to the success of many Open Government Data (OGD) initiatives. However, not much is known regarding how this type of engagement emerges. This study aims to investigate the necessary conditions for the emergence of citizen-led engagement with OGD and to identify which factors stimulate this type of engagement. Design/methodology/approach First, the authors created a systematic overview of the literature to develop a conceptual model of conditions and factors of OGD citizen engagement at the societal, organizational and individual level. Second, the authors used the conceptual model to systematically study citizens’ engagement in the case of a particular OGD initiative, namely, the digitization of presidential election results data in Indonesia in 2014. The authors used multiple information sources, including interviews and documents, to explore the conditions and factors of OGD citizen-led engagement in this case. Findings From the literature the authors identified five conditions for the emergence of OGD citizen-led engagement as follows: the availability of a legal and political framework that grants a mandate to open up government data, sufficient budgetary resources allocated for OGD provision, the availability of OGD feedback mechanisms, citizens’ perceived ease of engagement and motivated citizens. In the literature, the authors found six factors contributing to OGD engagement as follows: democratic culture, the availability of supporting institutional arrangements, the technical factors of OGD provision, the availability of citizens’ resources, the influence of social relationships and citizens’ perceived data quality. Some of these conditions and factors were found to be less important in the studied case, namely, citizens’ perceived ease of engagement and citizens’ perceived data quality. Moreover, the authors found several new conditions that were not mentioned in the studied literature, namely, citizens’ sense of urgency, competition among citizen-led OGD engagement initiatives, the diversity of citizens’ skills and capabilities and the intensive use of social media. The difference between the conditions and factors that played an important role in the case and those derived from the literature review might be because of the type of OGD engagement that the authors studied, namely, citizen-led engagement, without any government involvement. Research limitations/implications The findings are derived using a single case study approach. Future research can investigate multiple cases and compare the conditions and factors for citizen-led engagement with OGD in different contexts. Practical implications The conditions and factors for citizen-led engagement with OGD have been evaluated in practice and discussed with public managers and practitioners through interviews. Governmental organizations should prioritize and stimulate those conditions and factors that enhance OGD citizen engagement to create more value with OGD. Originality/value While some research on government-led engagement with OGD exists, there is hardly any research on citizen-led engagement with OGD. This study is the first to develop a conceptual model of necessary conditions and factors for citizen engagement with OGD. Furthermore, the authors applied the developed multilevel conceptual model to a case study and gathered empirical evidence of OGD engagement and its contributions to solving societal problems, rather than staying at the conceptual level. This research can be used to investigate citizen engagement with OGD in other cases and offers possibilities for systematic cross-case lesson-drawing.


2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (2) ◽  
pp. 149-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Mary Chorley

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the challenges that open government data initiatives present to records management within the public sector in England and to identify areas of practice and policy that will need to be developed to ensure compliance with such environments. Design/methodology/approach A review of current literature underpins the analysis of data collected through an anonymised case study of a National Health Service (NHS) hospital trust. Data were collected through a qualitative research in the form of semi-structured interviews with information professionals at the case study site. Additionally, a short descriptive online survey was distributed to the members of a specialist interest group, the Health Archives and Records Group. Findings Open government data presents a series of interconnected practical challenges to records management at a local level as the open government data environment continues to develop. These practical challenges overshadow a number of technical challenges, such as ensuring the accuracy and integrity of proactively published data. Research limitations/implications The main limitation of this research is the small number of interviews conducted during data collection, which limits its capacity to present more generalised findings. Originality/value The case study of an individual NHS hospital trust allows for a specific insight into the challenges that open government data presents to records management within a single operational unit.


foresight ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 648-664 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuti Saxena

Purpose This paper aims to summarize the open government data (OGD) research which has been become an increasingly engaging domain for the academic community. Design/methodology/approach Scanning the literature on OGD, the paper underlines the different strands observable in the OGD-based research. The paper concludes with research pointers, limitations and implications for practitioners. Findings OGD has been investigated from different angles, and there is a need for more empirical investigation across contexts. Originality/value The paper serves as a reference point for OGD research.


2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Ianegitz Vieira ◽  
Alexandre Alvaro

Purpose The development of smart cities (SCs) is a costly process as it requires the implementation of physical infrastructure to meet the demand for data collection. On the other hand, there are open government data (OGD) that are open and free, and can be a first step from the current city evolution to SCs at a more affordable cost. However, these data are available in a decentralized way, in different formats and granularities. To date, the authors have not found any literature work that performs the centralization of OGDs on a single platform. The purpose of this paper is provide a centralized OGD platform. Design/methodology/approach This work investigates the state-of-the-art literature from the OGD, establishes the research question, design and develop the platform for OGD and accomplish the validation of the platform. Findings Through the validations of the platform, advantages were observed in relation to productivity gain for the development of solutions, in the SC context, using the proposed platform. Research limitations/implications The data have been collected in a manual way but for future works, the authors will use the web-crawler for the collection of data. Practical implications One town hall (Sorocaba) is interested in using the platform to analyze the data usage in the simple way and compare with the other nearby towns. Originality/value It is a recent work in literature using OGD, and there is no work that centralizes the information about several town halls to provide comparison between them and improve the decision-making.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nathan Moles

Purpose This paper aims to explore the curation of government-produced datasets for release as open government data (OGD) from the perspective of the digital curation and preservation concept of a “Designated Community”. Specifically, it explores how digital curation functions when there is no clear Designated Community to which curation services can be targeted. Design/methodology/approach The research was conducted through a case study of the City of Toronto’s efforts to revitalize their OGD program. Data was collected using three methods: semi-structured interviews, non-participative observation and document analysis. Findings The curators of OGD responded to the absence of a Designated Community through two complementary methods. The first was to draw from the discourse that defines the OGD domain. The second was to take a participatory approach that incorporated members of the community surrounding OGD and various other stakeholders into the process of developing a plan for the revitalization of the program. Research limitations/implications This study opens new directions for investigating the application of the Designated Community concept and its role in digital curation and preservation. Practical implications The approach used by OGD curators in this case has the potential to be used in other curation situations where there is no clearly defined user group. Originality/value The findings presented in this paper contribute empirical insights to on-going discussions on the concept of a Designated Community in digital curation and preservation.


2017 ◽  
Vol 118 (7/8) ◽  
pp. 420-432 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuti Saxena

Purpose While “transparency-by-design” serves as the antecedent of any Open Government Data (OGD) initiative (Janssen et al., 2017), its logical objective would be the extent to which data “usage” is facilitated. This paper aims to underscore the significance, drivers and barriers to ensure “usage” of data sets conceding that re-use of data sets is one of the key objectives of any OGD initiative. Design/methodology/approach With a documentary analysis approach, the OGD initiative of Sri Lanka is investigated for the present purpose. Furthermore, the theoretical model of citizen engagement in OGD suggested by Sieber and Johnson (2015) is being referred to appreciate the extent to which the usage of data sets is facilitated via the OGD platform. Findings There are drivers as well as barriers as far as facilitating the usage of the data sets in the Sri Lankan OGD initiative is concerned. For instance, some of the drivers are the provision of suggesting data sets or the possibility of referring to data sets which are historical in nature. However, there are countless barriers to usage than the drivers. For instance, there is absence of metadata in the data sets; the data sets are not updated regularly; there are historical data; the formats of the data sets are limited in nature and are not user-friendly; there is no facility of conducting data visualization or analytics, and there is no collaborative approach towards building further the OGD initiative. Research limitations/implications As only one case study is probed in the paper, further research is warranted to undertake a comparative approach by taking two or more case studies into consideration. Practical implications This study holds relevance for Sri Lankan Government and other stakeholders (policy makers, citizens, developers and the like) so far as furthering of user engagement in OGD initiative is concerned. Social implications Facilitating more usage by citizens would increase their engagement, and they might derive value out of the data sets. At the same time, the government’s objective of ensuring increased usage of the data sets would be better realized. Originality/value “Transparency-by-design” approach had its focus on the publishing phase of OGD, and this paper seeks to provide its logical conclusion by emphasizing upon “usage by stakeholders” because by opening data sets, the government has the target to ensure that these open data sets are being used and re-used. Therefore, it is the outcome which is being discussed with the support of a case study set in the background of Sri Lanka’s Open Data initiative. Besides, this is the first study which probes the OGD initiatives of Sri Lanka – therein lies the major contribution of the study.


2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (4) ◽  
pp. 1042-1065
Author(s):  
Anne Gottfried ◽  
Caroline Hartmann ◽  
Donald Yates

The business intelligence (BI) market has grown at a tremendous rate in the past decade due to technological advancements, big data and the availability of open source content. Despite this growth, the use of open government data (OGD) as a source of information is very limited among the private sector due to a lack of knowledge as to its benefits. Scant evidence on the use of OGD by private organizations suggests that it can lead to the creation of innovative ideas as well as assist in making better informed decisions. Given the benefits but lack of use of OGD to generate business intelligence, we extend research in this area by exploring how OGD can be used to generate business intelligence for the identification of market opportunities and strategy formulation; an area of research that is still in its infancy. Using a two-industry case study approach (footwear and lumber), we use latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) topic modeling to extract emerging topics in these two industries from OGD, and a data visualization tool (pyLDAVis) to visualize the topics in order to interpret and transform the data into business intelligence. Additionally, we perform an environmental scanning of the environment for the two industries to validate the usability of the information obtained. The results provide evidence that OGD can be a valuable source of information for generating business intelligence and demonstrate how topic modeling and visualization tools can assist organizations in extracting and analyzing information for the identification of market opportunities.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Lněnička ◽  
Renata Machova ◽  
Jolana Volejníková ◽  
Veronika Linhartová ◽  
Radka Knezackova ◽  
...  

PurposeThe purpose of this paper was to draw on evidence from computer-mediated transparency and examine the argument that open government data and national data infrastructures represented by open data portals can help in enhancing transparency by providing various relevant features and capabilities for stakeholders' interactions.Design/methodology/approachThe developed methodology consisted of a two-step strategy to investigate research questions. First, a web content analysis was conducted to identify the most common features and capabilities provided by existing national open data portals. The second step involved performing the Delphi process by surveying domain experts to measure the diversity of their opinions on this topic.FindingsIdentified features and capabilities were classified into categories and ranked according to their importance. By formalizing these feature-related transparency mechanisms through which stakeholders work with data sets we provided recommendations on how to incorporate them into designing and developing open data portals.Social implicationsThe creation of appropriate open data portals aims to fulfil the principles of open government and enables stakeholders to effectively engage in the policy and decision-making processes.Originality/valueBy analyzing existing national open data portals and validating the feature-related transparency mechanisms, this paper fills this gap in existing literature on designing and developing open data portals for transparency efforts.


foresight ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 507-526 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuti Saxena

Purpose The paper aims to “re-use” the Open Government Data (OGD) published by the Election Commission of India (ECI). Bihar’s performance across General Elections, 2014, and Bihar Legislative Assembly Elections, 2015, is compared, wherein the role of contestants’ demographic profiles in determining their vote share is being investigated. Design/methodology/approach Hypotheses are derived based on the impact of contestants’ demographic profiles (age, marital status, social category, political party affiliation, educational qualification, availing telephone and email facility, criminal antecedents) on their vote share. Following a quantitative approach, multiple regression and logistic regression are used to draw inferences from the data contestants’ affidavits – sourced from the ECI website. Findings Results show that contestants’ demographic profiles impact their vote share in the elections. While the ECI website is a viable source for re-using the data available there, data are not available in a user-friendly format and this leads to difficulty in being re-used by different stakeholders. Originality/value Academic research on OGD re-use is negligible, and the present study seeks to contribute towards extant literature by underlining the significance of re-using OGD by drawing inferences from the data accessible via ECI.


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