Understanding the evolution of open government data research: towards open data sustainability and smartness
| Author | Yingying Gao,Marijn Janssen,Congcong Zhang |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/00208523211009955 |
| Published date | 01 March 2023 |
| Date | 01 March 2023 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Article
Understanding the
evolution of open
government data
research: towards
open data sustainability
and smartness
Yingying Gao
Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China, and
Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands
Marijn Janssen
Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands
Congcong Zhang
Huazhong University of Science and Technology, China
Abstract
The past decade has witnessed a rapid development of open government data practices
and academic research. However, there is no systematic survey of existing research to
understand the evolution of open government data. Such research can facilitate knowl-
edge transfer within and across domains, and foster learning for countries in the early
stages of open government data development. This study quantitively extracted the
evolution trajectory of open government data based on the main path analysis method
and then analysed the underlying motivations. The results show that open government
data research went through four main phases and that the open government data
movement has spread towards developing countries and smart cities. Different chal-
lenges and issues faced by the researchers in each phase drove the evolution of open
government data research. Finally, we discuss future directions of open government
Corresponding author:
Marijn Janssen, Delft University of Technology, Facultyof Technology, Policy & Management, Jaffalaan 5,Delft
2628BX, The Netherlands.
Email: M.F.W.H.A.Janssen@tudelft.nl
International Review of Administrative
Sciences
!The Author(s) 2021
Article reuse guidelines:
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DOI: 10.1177/00208523211009955
journals.sagepub.com/home/ras
2023, Vol. 89(1) 59–75
International
Review of
Administrative
Sciences
data research based on our findings and recent development. There is a tendency to
create sustainable open government data and smartness by employing artificial intelli-
gence and creating data marketplaces.
Points for practitioners
Open government data efforts have evolved over the years into a global phenomenon.
Countries have learned from each other and more and more efforts are focused on
innovating with open government data by stimulating co-creation and using other
incentives. The way that data are opened should focus on achieving goals like
innovation, participation, transparency and accountability. There is a tendency to
create sustainable open government data and smartness by employing artificial
intelligence and creating data marketplaces.
Keywords
bibliometric analysis, open data smartness and sustainability, open government,
systematic literature research
Introduction
Open government data (OGD) initiatives have spread rapidly in recent years
(Johnson and Robinson, 2014). OGD refers to publishing public sector informa-
tion in open and reusable formats, without restriction or monetary charge for use
by society (Kalampokis et al., 2011). This movement’s main purpose is to ensure
transparent administration and stimulate citizen participation and engagement.
Besides this, OGD can help to generate public value through innovation
(Janssen et al., 2012; Zuiderwijk and Janssen, 2014a). Under these motivations,
the European Union (EU) and the US took the lead in launching OGD activities.
There has also been a recent spurt of OGD initiatives in other parts of the globe,
where both the number of OGD websites and data sets have increased steadily
(Saxena, 2017).
Similarly, academic research about OGD has also developed at a fast pace.
There is currently an abundance of studies on OGD. For example, some publica-
tions have examined the factors that triggered the adoption of OGD initiatives
across government agencies (Coglianese, 2009; Hossain and Chan, 2015; Zhao and
Fan, 2018), while some studies have explored the innovation activities driven by
OGD (Mergel et al., 2018), and some have evaluated the quality and effects of
OGD initiatives (Sayogo et al., 2014; Zuiderwijk et al., 2019).
There have been several literature reviews on OGD. To provide guidance for
future research development, Hossain et al. (2016) assessed the status of OGD
research from three levels and proposed future directions, whereas Attard et al.
(2015) investigated existing OGD tools and approaches, and extracted the
60 International Review of Administrative Sciences 89(1)
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