Prospects of open government data (OGD) in facilitating the economic diversification of GCC region

2017 ◽  
Vol 118 (5/6) ◽  
pp. 214-234 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuti Saxena
Keyword(s):  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Research Question ◽  
Oil Prices ◽  
Open Government ◽  
Economic Diversification ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Gcc Countries ◽  
Open Government Data ◽  
Government Data ◽  
Immense Potential

Purpose As the ongoing oil prices’ crisis is emerging as a major cause of concern for the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region, the constituent governments are attempting at undertaking measures of economic diversification to attain long-term sustainability. The author posits that open government data (OGD) has a significant role to play in facilitating the economic turnaround of the GCC region, given that OGD promotes innovation and economic growth besides providing avenues for collaboration and participation among different stakeholders. Design/methodology/approach Following a structured literature review, the paper scans literature on OGD followed by providing a typology of countries on the basis of their OGD-adherence (“laggard”, “caged”, “forerunner” and “champ”). This is followed by a discussion on the ongoing oil prices’ crisis, and evidentiary support is lent by examples from the OGD portals of each of the six GCC countries (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates) to provide indicators as to how a robust OGD implementation may support their economic diversification objectives. Findings Although the present OGD framework of the GCC is relatively weak, it is asserted that OGD has immense potential in facilitating the economic diversification initiatives of the GCC countries. Therefore, the GCC needs to strategize upon institutionalization of their OGD initiatives for realizing their “vision” and goals of economic diversification to result in an economic turnaround effectively. Originality/value Besides providing a typology of countries as OGD-adherents and categorizing GCC as “forerunner(s)” on the basis of the typology, the originality of the study lies in its attempt to answer the research question: “what is the role of the OGD in facilitating the economic diversification of the GCC?” Conceding that the research on OGD in the GCC context is few and far between, the present study is a significant contribution to the extant literature pertaining to the roll-out of OGD in developing countries.

Open government data (OGD) in six Middle East countries: an evaluation of the national open data portals

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
pp. 310-322 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuti Saxena
Keyword(s):  
Middle East ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Open Data ◽  
Open Government ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Middle East Countries ◽  
Long Run ◽  
Open Government Data ◽  
Government Data

PurposeThe purpose of this study is to do provide an overview of open government data (OGD) frameworks in six Middle East countries (Cyprus, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, Lebanon and Jordan) and to underscore the barriers in using the open data sets.Design/methodology/approachOGD framework offered by Sieber and Johnson (2015) is deployed for the present purpose. Primarily, documentary analysis is being used for substantiating the study and the national portals of the six countries are investigated.FindingsIn line with the frameworks chosen for this study, OGD initiatives across the six Middle East countries are at an emerging phase. All the six countries qualify for the “data over the wall” model as advanced by Sieber and Johnson (2015), wherein there are basic provisions of “data aggregation.” Furthermore, the data are incomplete and outdated, which serve as barriers in using these data sets for analysis and interpretation. Therefore, there are a number of barriers in using the open data sets. However, there are many prospects for using these data sets which would improve public accountability and transparency in the long run.Practical implicationsBesides helping in improved decision-making, the governments may be in a better position to appreciate the relevance of adopting a robust OGD initiative in facilitating the economic growth of their country.Social implicationsThis study is relevant for ensuring that citizen engagement is promoted and there is co-creation of public value.Originality/valueHitherto, OGD has been investigated in the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries (Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) but the other countries in Middle East have not been investigated. This study selects six countries outside the GCC ambit and investigates the nature and scope of OGD initiatives in each of them apart from underlining the barriers in using the open data sets.

A centralized platform of open government data as support to applications in the smart cities context

2018 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniel Ianegitz Vieira ◽  
Alexandre Alvaro
Keyword(s):  
Smart Cities ◽  
Research Question ◽  
The Other ◽  
Open Government ◽  
Web Crawler ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Productivity Gain ◽  
Open Government Data ◽  
Government Data ◽  
Town Halls

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.

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
Keyword(s):  
Design Methodology ◽  
Smart Cities ◽  
Open Government ◽  
Data Standards ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Open Government Data ◽  
Government Data

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.

Enhancing transparency through open government data: the case of data portals and their features and capabilities

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Lněnička ◽  
Renata Machova ◽  
Jolana Volejníková ◽  
Veronika Linhartová ◽  
Radka Knezackova ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Open Data ◽  
Open Government ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Web Content ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Domain Experts ◽  
Computer Mediated ◽  
Open Government Data ◽  
Decision Making Processes ◽  
Government Data

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.

Re-using Open Government Data (OGD) published by the Election Commission of India (ECI)

foresight ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 507-526 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuti Saxena
Keyword(s):  
Academic Research ◽  
Vote Share ◽  
Open Government ◽  
Party Affiliation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Demographic Profiles ◽  
Open Government Data ◽  
Government Data ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Election Commission

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.

The use of open government data to citizen empowerment: an empirical validation of a proposed model

foresight ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (6) ◽  
pp. 665-680 ◽  
Author(s):  
Md Nahin Hossain ◽  
Md Shamim Talukder ◽  
Md Rakibul Hoque ◽  
Yukun Bao
Keyword(s):  
The Body ◽  
Open Government ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Research Model ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Proposed Model ◽  
Open Government Data ◽  
Citizen Empowerment ◽  
Government Data ◽  
The Impact

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to measure the impact of open government data (OGD) on citizen empowerment. Design/methodology/approach This study advances the body of knowledge on OGD by proposing an integrated research model based on transparency, accountability, participation and collaboration dimensions. The research model was empirically tested using 275 responses using the on-paper survey from the university students and professionals in Bangladesh. Data were analyzed using the structured equation modeling technique. Findings Findings revealed that transparency and participation have a positive and significant direct and indirect influence on citizen empowerment through accountability and collaboration. Overall, the four basic pillars of OGD such as transparency, participation, accountability and collaboration interrelated with each other and have the impact on citizen empowerment. Research limitations/implications This study has proposed an instrument that sums the dimensions of open government, which avoids tautology and redundancy among OGD dimensions. More research should be done to validate the proposed model and the instruments used in this study. Practical implications For the researchers, this study provides a basis for further refinement of individual models of empowerment. For practitioners, understanding the key constructs is crucial to design, refine and implement OGD systems and applications that empower citizens, create public values and strengthen the democratic process. Originality/value This research is the first step that empirically investigates the impact of OGD on citizen empowerment which is the ultimate goals of any democratic government.

Asymmetric Open Government Data (OGD) framework in India

2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 434-448 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuti Saxena
Keyword(s):  
Economic Value ◽  
Open Data ◽  
Developed Countries ◽  
Open Government ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Indian States ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Open Government Data ◽  
Government Data ◽  
The Government

Purpose With the ongoing drives towards Open Government Data (OGD) initiatives across the globe, governments have been keen on pursuing their OGD policies to ensure transparency, collaboration and efficiency in administration. As a developing country, India has recently adopted the OGD policy (www.data.gov.in); however, the percolation of this policy in the States has remained slow. This paper aims to underpin the “asymmetry” in OGD framework as far as the Indian States are concerned. Besides, the study also assesses the contribution of “Open Citizens” in furthering the OGD initiatives of the country. Design/methodology/approach An exploratory qualitative following a case study approach informs the present study using documentary analysis where evidentiary support from five Indian States (Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, West Bengal, Sikkim and Gujarat) is being drawn to assess the nature and scope of the OGD framework. Further, conceptualization for “Open Citizen” framework is provided to emphasize upon the need to have aware, informed and pro-active citizens to spearhead the OGD initiatives in the country. Findings While the National OGD portal has a substantial number of data sets across different sectors, the States are lagging behind in the adoption and implementation of OGD policies, and while Telangana and Sikkim have been the frontrunners in adoption of OGD policies in a rudimentary manner, others are yet to catch up with them. Further, there is “asymmetry” in terms of the individual contribution of the government bodies to the open data sets where some government bodies are more reluctant to share their datasets than the others. Practical implications It is the conclusion of the study that governments need to institutionalize the OGD framework in the country, and all the States should appreciate the requirement of adopting a robust OGD policy for furthering transparency, collaboration and efficiency in administration. Social implications As an “Open Citizen”, it behooves upon the citizens to be pro-active and contribute towards the open data sets which would go a long way in deriving social and economic value out of these data sets. Originality/value While there are many studies on OGD in the West, studies focused upon the developing countries are starkly lacking. This study plugs this gap by attempting a comparative analysis of the OGD frameworks across Indian States. Besides, the study has provided a conceptualization of “Open Citizen” (OGD) which may be tapped for further research in developing and developed countries to ascertain the linkage between OGD and OC.

The impact of open government data on accountability and transparency

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 204-216 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stuti Saxena ◽  
Irfan Muhammad
Keyword(s):  
Private Sector ◽  
Citizen Participation ◽  
Open Government ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Open Government Data ◽  
Government Data ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Impact

Purpose Accountability, citizen participation and transparency are the three pillars on which open government data (OGD) is based. As such, OGD implies that the government shall provide data freely via the internet so that the same may be re-used for diverse purposes. It is hoped that by re-using government data, public value shall be co-created and government services might be improved upon with the involvement of different stakeholders. The purpose of this paper is to underline the impact of OGD on accountability and transparency in the context of Pakistan where OGD initiative is taking roots for quite some time now. In the present study, the authors seek to investigate the challenges being faced by the professionals in the private sector and nongovernment organizations (NGOs) in Pakistan. Besides, the authors also seek inputs from the respondents in the manner in which OGD initiative of Pakistan has impact on ensuring accountability and transparency. Design/methodology/approach For conducting the review of the national OGD portal of Pakistan, the authors invoke documentary analysis wherein the authors investigate the features of the national OGD portal of Pakistan. Furthermore, the authors conducted structured interviews with 49 senior management representatives from private sector and NGOs in order to gauge the challenges encountered by them in tapping OGD from diverse online public sources. Findings Respondents aver that robust statistical analysis is not feasible via the data sets being shared by the online sources. More initiatives are required on the part of the government bodies to release the data sets which have remained confined in silos. Government should institutionalize an OGD policy and promote the re-use of OGD by the professionals from diverse backgrounds. At present, only educational data are being shared by the OGD portal of Pakistan and it is important that more data sets are being released in the public domain. Furthermore, the respondents perceive that in a bid to be more accountable and transparent, the government bodies should release data sets via the online channels which are user-friendly. Research limitations/implications The present study conducted a qualitative research where the number of respondents was relatively less. Further research is required by adopting quantitative approach in order to accommodate more respondents and lend reliability to the study. Nevertheless, the study holds implications for academicians and practitioners in the sense that while it is needed that further research be conducted on the OGD initiative of Pakistan, it is imperative that policy makers get involved in institutionalizing the OGD initiative of Pakistan at national and local levels. Social implications Professionals might be better involved in creating and co-creating products and services by tapping OGD. Originality/value Given that OGD initiative in Pakistan is in a nascent stage and research is wanting in exploring the nature and scope of Pakistan’s OGD, the present study seeks to contribute toward the existing OGD literature.

Systematic and ontology-based approach to interoperable cross-domain open government data services

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hadi Masoumi ◽  
Bahar Farahani ◽  
Fereidoon Shams Aliee
Keyword(s):  
Social Innovation ◽  
Open Government ◽  
Published Data ◽  
Data Sets ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Top Down ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Data Services ◽  
Open Government Data ◽  
Government Data

Purpose Open government data (OGD) has emerged as a radical paradigm shift and endeavor among government administrations across the world mainly due to its promises of transparency, accountability, public-private collaboration, civic participation, social innovation and data-driven value creation. Complexity, cross-cutting nature, diversity of data sets, interoperability and quality issues usually hamper unlocking the full potential value of data. To tackle these challenges, this paper aims to provide a novel solution using a top-down approach. Design/methodology/approach In this paper, the authors propose a systematic ontology-based approach combined with a novel architecture and its corresponding processes enabling organizations to carry out all the steps in the OGD value chain. In addition, an OGD Platform including a portal (www.iranopendata.ir) and a data management system (www.ogdms.iranopendata.ir) are developed to showcase the proposed solution. Findings The efficiency and the applicability of the solution are evaluated by a real-life use case on energy consumption of the buildings of the city of Tehran, Iran. Finally, a comparison was made with existing solutions, and the results show the proposed approach is able to address the existing gaps in the literature. Originality/value The results imply that modeling and designing the data model, as well as exploiting an ontology-based approach are critical pillars to create rich, relevant and well-described OGD data sets. Moreover, clarity on processes, roles and responsibilities are the key factors influencing the quality of the published data services. Thus, to the best of the knowledge, this is the first study that exploits and considers an ontology-based approach in a top-down manner to create OGD data sets.

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