PROJECT LEARNING: CREATING A BIG DATA PROCESSING TOOLKIT FOR USE IN DATE JOURNALISM

В статье рассматривается проблема адаптации образовательной программы подготовки ИТ-специалистов к решению сложных инженерных и, одновременно, творческих задач, связанных с развитием дата-журналистики. В качестве источника больших данных используются открытые государственные данные о системе здравоохранения. В статье отражены отдельные положения проектного обучения, сформированного на стандартах проектной и системно-инженерной деятельности, а также на принципах проведения хакатонов, где главным приоритетом является интеллектуальная составляющая работы команды и ее идеи. Приведены некоторые результаты использования проектного обучения при взаимодействии студентов - будущих ИТ-разработчиков с журналистами и исследователями данных. Предложенный подход и полученные на его основе результаты проектного обучения могут использоваться при создании методических рекомендаций для разработки совместных междисциплинарных образовательных программ, объединяющих сферу подготовки будущих ИТ-специалистов и дата-журналистов. The article discusses the problem of adapting the educational program of training IT specialists to solving complex engineering and, at the same time, creative problems associated with the development of data journalism. Open government data on the health care system is used as a source of big data. The article proposes the main provisions of the approach to project training, formed on the standards of project and system engineering activities, as well as on the principles of conducting hackathons, where the main priority is the intellectual component of the team's work and its ideas. Some results of the use of project-based learning in the interaction of students - future IT developers with journalists and data researchers are presented. The proposed approach and the results of project training obtained on its basis can be used to create guidelines for the development of joint interdisciplinary educational programs that combine the field of training future IT specialists and data journalists.

Investigation into the adoption of open government data among students: the behavioural intention-based comparative analysis of three countries

PurposeOpen government data (OGD) are considered as a technology capable of promoting transparency openness, and accountability, which in turn has a positive impact on innovation activities and creates responsive government, collaboration, cooperation, co-creation and participation. The purpose of this paper is to explore the adoption of OGD and open data portals among students, in an attempt to discover how governments can improve their actions in this respect.Design/methodology/approachThis study develops a behavioural intention-based analysis using constructs from the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology, which is supplemented with additional constructs that meet the purpose of the study. In total, ten constructs divided into 33 items constituted the input for our study. Input data for the developed model have been collected through a structured questionnaire distributed between bachelor's and master's level students in three countries – the Czech Republic, India and Latvia. A structural equation modelling technique was used to analyse the relationships between variables of the model and test the nine hypothesis defined.FindingsSix constructs have been identified to facilitate significant relationships with behavioural intention. The analysis of the results of the three countries allows us to draw more objective conclusions in respect to the aim of the study and to reveal country-specific aspects that need to be addressed in the future.Originality/valueThis study adds to the existing literature few theoretical and practical aspects. It highlights the role of open data portals as a central point of OGD infrastructures. It enables governments to understand the relationships among the related constructs, improving their actions and modifying their data infrastructures accordingly.

Open Government Data Use in the Brazilian States and Federal District Public Administrations

This research investigates whether, why, and how open government data (OGD) is used and reused by Brazilian state and district public administrations. A new online questionnaire was developed and collected data from 26 of the 27 federation units between June and July 2021. The resulting dataset was cleaned and anonymized. It contains an insight on 158 parameters for 26 federation units explored. This article describes the questionnaire metadata and the methods applied to collect and treat data. The data file was divided into four sections: respondent profile (identify the respondent and his workplace), OGD use/consumption, what OGD is used for by public administrations, and why OGD is used by public administrations (benefits, barriers, drivers, and barriers to OGD use/reuse). Results provide the state of the play of OGD use/reuse in the federation units administrations. Therefore, they could be used to inform open data policy and decision-making processes. Furthermore, they could be the starting point for discussing how OGD could better support the digital transformation in the public sector.

The Role of Information Institutions in Promoting Information Literacy and Access to Information for Sustainable Development in the Post-Truth Era

The right to access government information has been a key element of sustainable development since the 1992 Rio Declaration. It is further recognized in the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Therefore, governments are through open government initiatives making information available to the citizens. This is based on a supposition that everyone is information literate and yet this is not the case. Information literacy is defined as the ability to be able to act on the information that is provided to us citizens. Being able to locate, evaluate, and ethically use information is an ability that is crucial to the citizens' participation in society. It requires individuals to be in possession of a set of skills that can enable them to recognize when information is needed to be able to locate, evaluate, and use it effectively. Information institutions have been the gateways to knowledge, and hence, their resources and services have been crucial to the development of information literate, creative, and innovative societies. This study sought to establish how the information institutions in Sweden were promoting information literacy in accordance with Sustainable Development Goal 16 amidst the post-truth era. The author has applied a qualitative research methodology where interviews have been used as a data collecting technique.

Citizen Engagement With Open Government Data

Citizen engagement with open government data (OGD) can enhance the effectiveness of governments and improve not only the quality of public policy making but also public services provisioning and ability to address societal problems. Although previous research gives insight into citizen's drivers and inhibitors for engaging with OGD, they have not yet been integrated into a single conceptual model. The aims of this study are twofold: 1) to systematically review the literature on individual citizens' drivers and inhibitors for engaging with OGD and 2) to develop a conceptual model of citizen engagement with OGD based on the findings of the literature review. To attain this objective, the authors systematically analyzed 52 papers published in the period 2009-2019. Seven categories of drivers of citizen engagement are identified: citizen's profile, personal, performance-related, economic, social, technical, and political. Three groups of inhibitors are also identified: citizen's profile, technical, and political. This study helps in understanding how the engagement of citizens can be enhanced.