Investigating the attainment of open government data objectives: is there a mismatch between objectives and results?
| Published date | 01 December 2019 |
| Author | Marijn Janssen,Rhythima Shinde,Anneke Zuiderwijk |
| Date | 01 December 2019 |
| DOI | 10.1177/0020852317739115 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
International
Review of
Administrative
Sciences
Investigating the
attainment of open
government data
objectives: is there a
mismatch between
objectives and results?
Anneke Zuiderwijk
Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands
Rhythima Shinde
Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands
Marijn Janssen
Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands
Abstract
The objectives of open government data initiatives range from enhancing transparency
and accountability to increasing innovation and participation. However, there is a lackof
knowledge of the extent to which the objectives of open government data initiatives
are achieved. This article investigates the relationship between the objectives of open
government data initiatives and the benefits delivered. A total of 168 survey responses
concerning 156 open government data initiatives at different government levels world-
wide suggest that operational and technical benefits are the benefits most often deliv-
ered, followed by economic benefits and, finally, societal benefits. Surprisingly, our study
suggests that whether an open government data initiative delivers a benefit (e.g.
increased openness, trust or innovation) is not significantly affected by having an objec-
tive related to the delivery of that benefit. The objectives of state- and national-level
open government data initiatives are more often achieved than those of local- and
regional-level open government data initiatives.
Corresponding author:
Anneke Zuiderwijk, Delft University of Technology, Jaffalaan 5, Delft 2628 BX, The Netherlands.
Email: a.m.g.zuiderwijk-vaneijk@tudelft.nl
International Review of
Administrative Sciences
2019, Vol. 85(4) 645–672
!The Author(s) 2018
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/0020852317739115
journals.sagepub.com/home/ras
Points for practitioners
Key implications for professionals working in public management and administration
are: attaining open government data objectives is easier said than done; the benefits
delivered are most often operational and technical benefits, followed by economic
benefits and, finally, societal benefits; the benefits are often in areas other than those
of the open government data initiative’s objectives, suggesting a mismatch between
the objectives and their attainment; state- and national-level open government
data initiatives achieve their objectives more often than local- and regional-level open
government data initiatives; and initiatives might mimic each other instead of aiming at
delivering the benefits.
Keywords
attainment, benefits, delivery, evaluation, implementation, objectives, open data, open
government, open government data, open science
Introduction
Open government data initiatives (OGDIs) are often intended to achieve a variety
of objectives, including enhanced transparency, participation and collaboration
(Alexopoulos et al., 2013; Attard et al., 2016; Kassen, 2013), as well as the stim-
ulation of innovation and economic value (Zeleti et al., 2016). To realise this, open
government data (OGD) are published on the Internet by governments or publicly
funded research organisations and can be reused by the public (Alexopoulos et al.,
2013; Jetzek, 2015; Linders, 2013; Meijer et al., 2012). These efforts, however, are
criticised for a number of reasons, including not taking the user’s point of view into
account (Zuiderwijk, 2015) and a lack of convincing evidence regarding the impact
and value created by OGDIs (Davies, 2013; Jetzek, 2015).
Considerable amounts of effort and money have been devoted to attaining the
objectives of OGDIs (e.g. The Economist, 2013; The World Bank, 2013).
Governments have high expectations regarding the achievement of such objectives
(Kroes, 2011). Some OGDIs have successfully achieved their objectives (e.g.
Attard et al., 2015; Evans and Campos, 2013), meaning that these initiatives
have resulted in benefits that are related to the intended objectives. For example,
when a particular OGDI aimed to increase governmental transparency, this OGDI
actually managed to attain the benefit of increased governmental transparency.
However, many OGDIs seem to have only partially achieved their objectives, or
have not done so at all. An example of the latter is Kenya’s national OGDI, where
the objective of data reuse was not achieved as the number of users remained
stagnant and then decreased substantially (Brown, 2013). In addition, for many
other OGDIs, it is not clear whether they have resulted in the delivery of the
intended benefits.
646 International Review of Administrative Sciences 85(4)
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