Author: Barbara Ubaldi
Date of publish: May 2013
Why did we conduct this research?
Open government data (OGD) has been on the rise for the past 10 years now. Even though it might seem a great idea at first, it is vital to build a framework and establish the limits of doing so, for the sake of citizen's privacy rights and in order to protect this data to be sold to third parties or being misused. The paper explores through the challenges and opportunities that building an analytical framework would provide and the impact that doing so would have both on policy-makers and citizens.
Key findings:
- Open data could have a huge impact on transparency at all levels, as well as improve decision making (both for citizens as decision-makers).
- Potential capacity for economic growth, greater entrepreneurship and social innovation (having easiest access to a greater range of datasets would foster evidence-based decisions. Flourishment of tailored-made solutions to citizens' existing problems).
- Capacity to both empower citizens as well as civil servants (which would in turn foster innovation, efficiency and effectiveness in government services).
- When it comes to the key dimensions for implementation, the paper highlights six main challenges that would need to be sorted out, these being: policy, technical, economic and financial, organizational, cultural and legal.
Reference:
Ubaldi, B. (2013), “Open Government Data: Towards Empirical Analysis of Open Government Data Initiatives”, OECD Working Papers on Public Governance, No. 22, OECD Publishing, Paris.
