By Alexandra Shaw, Michelle Winowatan, Andrew Young, and Stefaan Verhulst The Living Library Index – inspired by the Harper’s Index – provides important statistics and highlights global trends in governance innovation. This installment focuses on open data and was originally published in 2018. Value and Impact Direct market value of open data in EU from 2016 to 2020: estimated EUR 325 billion Predicted number of Open Data jobs in Europe by 2020: 100,000 (35% increase) The projected year at which all 28+ EU member countries will have a fully operating open data portal: 2020 Between 2016 and 2020, the... (More >)
Open Government Data Report: Enhancing Policy Maturity for Sustainable Impact
Report by the OECD: This report provides an overview of the state of open data policies across OECD member and partner countries, based on data collected through the OECD Open Government Data survey (2013, 2014, 2016/17), country reviews and comparative analysis. The report analyses open data policies using an analytical framework that is in line with the OECD OUR data Index and the International Open Data Charter. It assesses governments’ efforts to enhance the availability, accessibility and re-use of open government data. It makes the case that beyond countries’ commitment to open up good quality government data, the creation... (More >)
To turn the open data revolution from idea to reality, we need more evidence
Stefaan Verhulst at apolitical: “The idea that we are living in a data age — one characterised by unprecedented amounts of information with unprecedented potential — has become mainstream. We regularly read “data is the new oil,” or “data is the most valuable commodity in the global economy.” Doubtlessly, there is truth in these statements. But a major, often unacknowledged problem is how much data remains inaccessible, hidden in siloes and behind walls. For close to a decade, the technology and public interest community has pushed the idea of open data. At its core, open data represents a new... (More >)
Causal mechanisms and institutionalisation of open government data in Kenya
Paper by Paul W. Mungai: “Open data—including open government data (OGD)—has become a topic of prominence during the last decade. However, most governments have not realised the desired value streams or outcomes from OGD. The Kenya Open Data Initiative (KODI), a Government of Kenya initiative, is no exception with some moments of success but also sustainability struggles. Therefore, the focus for this paper is to understand the causal mechanisms that either enable or constrain institutionalisation of OGD initiatives. Critical realism is ideally suited as a paradigm to identify such mechanisms, but guides to its operationalisation are few. This study... (More >)
On the Bumpy Road Towards Open Government: The Not-Invented-Here Syndrome as a Major Pothole
Paper by Lisa Schmidthuber, David Antons and Dennis Hilgers: “This paper investigates the role of public employees in absorbing external knowledge. Triggered by open government initiatives and open calls for participation, external actors are invited to integrate ideas, solutions, or experience into public organizations. Such exploitation of valuable external knowledge across organizational interfaces might, however, be hindered by negative attitudes of public employees towards external input. The rejection of outside knowledge by internal actors is known as the Not-Invented-Here syndrome. This paper sheds light on NIH attitudes in public organizations. After reviewing the state of the art of research... (More >)
Evaluating Civic Open Data Standards
Renee Sieber and Rachel Bloom at SocArXiv Papers: In many ways, a precondition to realizing the promise of open government data is the standardization of that data. Open data standards ensure interoperability, establish benchmarks in assessing whether governments achieve their goals in publishing open data, can better ensure accuracy of the data. Interoperability enables the use of off-the shelf software and can ease third party development of products that serves multiple locales. Our project aims to determine which standards for civic data are “best” to open up government data. We began by disambiguating the multiple meanings of what constitutes... (More >)
Introducing CitizENGAGE – How Citizens Get Things Done
Open Gov Partnership: “In a world full of autocracy, bureaucracy, and opacity, it can be easy to feel like you’re fighting an uphill battle against these trends. Trust in government is at historic lows. Autocratic leaders have taken the reins in countries once thought bastions of democracy. Voter engagement has been declining around the globe for years. Despite this reality, there is another, powerful truth: citizens are using open government to engage in their communities in innovative, exciting ways, bringing government closer and creating a more inclusive system. These citizens are everywhere. In Costa Rica, they are lobbying the... (More >)
The Skeptic’s Guide to Open Government
Open Gov Partnership: “Whether you are inside or outside of OGP, you may not yet be convinced of the benefits of opening government. When you open government, what do you get in return? If you are asking this question, this guide is for you. The guide summarizes what is known about the impact of opening government in five areas: 1) public service delivery 2) business opportunities 3) government efficiency and cost saving 4) prevention of corruption and 5) trust in government. Each chapter draws from empirical evidence, and highlights reformers who are opening government in innovative ways….(More)”. ... (More >)
My City Forecast: Urban planning communication tool for citizen with national open data
Paper by Y. Hasegawa, Y. Sekimoto, T. Seto, Y. Fukushima et al in Computers, Environment and Urban Systems: “In urban management, the importance of citizen participation is being emphasized more than ever before. This is especially true in countries where depopulation has become a major concern for urban managers and many local authorities are working on revising city master plans, often incorporating the concept of the “compact city.” In Japan, for example, the implementation of compact city plans means that each local government decides on how to designate residential areas and promotes citizens moving to these areas in order... (More >)
Open Data Charter Measurement Guide
Guide by Ana Brandusescu and Danny Lämmerhirt: “We are pleased to announce the launch of our Open Data Charter Measurement Guide. The guide is a collaborative effort of the Charter’s Measurement and Accountability Working Group (MAWG). It analyses the Open Data Charter principles and how they are assessed based on current open government data measurement tools. Governments, civil society, journalists, and researchers may use it to better understand how they can measure open data activities according to the Charter principles. What can I find in the Measurement Guide? An executive summary for people who want to quickly understand what... (More >)
