Local Open Government: Empirical Evidence from Austrian Municipalities (original) (raw)
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Why Open Government Data? The Case of a Swedish Municipality
Journal of Data and Information Science, 2021
Purpose: The purpose of this exploratory study is to provide modern local governments with potential use cases for their open data, in order to help inform related future policies and decision-making. The concrete context was that of the Växjö municipality located in southeastern Sweden. Design/methodology/approach: The methodology was twofold: 1) a survey of potential end users (n=151) from a local university; and, 2) analysis of survey results using a theoretical model regarding local strategies for implementing open government data. Findings: Most datasets predicted to be useful were on: sustainability and environment; preschool and school; municipality and politics. The use context given is primarily research and development, informing policies and decision making; but also education, informing personal choices, informing citizens and creating services based on open data. Not the least, the need for educating target user groups on data literacy emerged. A tentative pattern comprising a technical perspective on open data and a social perspective on open government was identified. Research limitations: In line with available funding, the nature of the study was exploratory and implemented as an anonymous web-based survey of employees and students at the local university. Further research involving (qualitative) surveys with all stakeholders would allow for creating a more complete picture of the matter. Practical implications: The study determines potential use cases and use contexts for open government data, in order to help inform related future policies and decision-making. Originality/value: Modern local governments, and especially in Sweden, are faced with a challenge of how to make their data open, how to learn about which types of data will be most relevant for their end users and what will be different societal purposes. The paper contributes to knowledge that modern local governments can resort to when it comes to attitudes of local citizens to open government data in the context of an open government data perspective.
The conceptualization and implementation of open government practices have evolved over the years, encompassing numerous actions that increase transparency, participation, and collaboration. While states mandate some open government practices for municipal governments, they also often implement optional forms independently. This paper examines how four mid-sized cities implement two such optional forms: government boards and open government data. This study was conducted in three stages. In the first stage, the author used the Democracy Cube framework, a theoretical model developed by Fung (2006), that categorizes various approaches to public participation in government decision-making along three dimensions. This model served as the foundation for conducting an ideal-type analysis of city-established government boards. In the second stage, the author developed a hierarchical taxonomy to classify open government data that the cities published. The content of each dataset, irrespective of public sector domains, served as the basis of the taxonomy. In the final stage, the researcher performed a multi-case embedded case study analysis where the city served as the primary unit of analysis and the public sector domain was the embedded unit of analysis. How the four city governments use both government boards and open government data was examined, as was the relationship between these two open government tools. Overall, this study offers a detailed and nuanced analysis of open government practices, contributing significantly to the academic literature and practical understanding of these tools in local government contexts.
Open government implementation: an exploratory survey of public administration officials
International Journal of Electronic Governance, 2018
The phenomena why open government implementation struggles and falls short of expectations is still unsolved. Moreover, only little empirical scientific knowledge on the expected benefits and risks of open government implementation exists. Against this background, this study presents an exploratory expert survey of 34 public administration officers in Germany that deal with open government issues in their municipalities. The conducted online survey examines positive and negative aspects of open government implementation, which we derived from a systematic review of the literature. This approach follows the underlying assumptions that the perception of public administration officers on open government implementation is significantly affected by the anticipated benefits and hindrances and that a better understanding of the influence on the perception of responsible employees allows to draw conclusions regarding open government difficulties. Despite the study's straightforward academic and public management implications, further empirical research is needed to assess the derived results.
On the barriers for local government releasing open data
Government Information Quarterly, 2014
Due to expected benefits such as citizen participation and innovation, the release of Public Sector Information as open data is getting increased attention on various levels of government. However, currently data release by governments is still novel and there is little experience and knowledge thus far about its benefits, costs and barriers. This is compounded by a lack of understanding about how internal processes influence data release. Our aim in this paper is to get a better understanding of these processes and how they influence data release, i.e., to find determinants for the release of public sector information. For this purpose, we conducted workshops, interviews, questionnaires, desk research and practice based cases in the education program of our University, involving six local public sector organizations. We find that the way data is stored, the way data is obtained and the way data is used by a department are crucial indicators for open data release. We conclude with the lessons learned based on our research findings. These findings are: we should take a nuanced approach towards data release, avoid releasing data for it's own sake, and take small incremental steps to explore data release.
Factors in the adoption of open government initiatives in Spanish local governments
Government Information Quarterly
The Open Government Data (OGD) projects have spread rapidly in recent years, given that they involve a great transformative potential, whose aims to guarantee transparent government and stimulate the participation and citizenry engagement. It seems that there is a lack of studies analysing factors regarding both the access to OG projects and the volume and format of data published into OGD projects. Therefore, this paper seeks to identify main factors affecting both the way of accessing the OG projects and the volume and format of data published into OGD projects in larger Spanish municipalities (with >50,000 inhabitants and a sample of 145 municipalities). Our main findings seem to point out the intention of sample governments to increase their information disclosure as a way for enhancing their reputation or government's image introducing OGDPs initiatives. Also, it revels differences among analysed municipalities regarding the context in which the information is disclosed.
2011
Open" is not just a fancy synonym for transparent and accountable. The "Open" in Open Government, Open Data, Open Information, and Open Innovation stands for the changing relation between citizens and authorities. Many citizens no longer accept the passive stance representative democracy held for them. They take an active approach in setting up better means of collaboration by ICTs. They demand and gain access to their historically grown collective knowledge stored in government data. Not just on a local level, they actively shape the political agenda. Open Government is to be seen in the context of citizens' rights: the right to actively participate in the process of agenda-setting and decision-making. Research into open government needs to address the value of the changing relation between citizens, public administration, and political authority. The paper argues finally for the application of the Public Value concept to research into open government.
Openness and Urban Governance: How Transparency Erodes Local Government
International Public Administration Review, 2015
Local government political leaders have a hard job these days. More and more they are confronted by citizens demanding transparency and a say in the production of social goods. Challenging the hegemony of local government, they connect their resources to come up with grass roots solutions. Fear of litigation claims and an increase in the complexity of policymaking and administration and fiscal scarcity render local administrations risk averse.How to effectively structure the frontline between local government and local communities? Open and collaborative governance approaches hold the promise of developing to mediate these tensions, but what are the implications for the way local democracy, local government and local administration work? This article looks at the ugly face of trust in collaborative and open governance on the basis of a comparative casestudy from Apeldoorn (The Netherlands). The article identifies and analyses patterns of (a lack of) open governance and offers altern...
Local Open Government: Opportunities and Challenges in Terms of Impact and Participation
2019
Through this reflection we propose to investigate and explore the possibilities offered by the implementation of open government policies in the local dimension, focusing particularly on: 1) the impact generated by open government initiatives in the improvement of processes, delivery of public services and quality of life of citizens; 2) the potential of these tools to advance in opening policies that involve the different branches of the State; 3) the possibilities offered by closeness in local governments to encourage and diversify citizen participation, and to empower the community as a driver of innovation; 4) the lessons and challenges that the implementation of these tools leave in subnational governments.
The Role of Organizational Design in Local Open Government
Proceedings Collective Intelligence Conference 2014 (Poster)
Open government aims to integrate citizens into the public value creation process. This paper aims to fill in two gaps in the existing body of open government literature. First, little is known about the implementation of open government initiatives to and their implications for organizational design. Second, there is still little open government literature that considers municipalities. Hence, we examine how the pre-existing organizational design of a municipality shapes the implementation of a web-based open government platform. The empirical context showcases how the City of Linz implemented the application “Schau.auf.Linz”, an interactive mapping and reporting platform for urban maintenance needs. The platform builds on the existing structures and policies of the municipality. It functions as an additional, transparent channel of communication. Number of inquiries processed by the responsible department convincingly speaks for the success of the “Schau.auf.Linz“ platform. We suggest that the continuous adaptation of the municipalities’ organizational design to the service-oriented new public management paradigm prior to the launch of “Schau.auf.Linz” was a key enabler for the successful implementation of the platform.
Information Polity, 2021
Open government has become a research trend among e-government scholars around the world. However, most research in this field has focused on national policies and the implementation thereof. Typically, this is related to Open Government (OG) ecosystems, data, policies and models, yet very little attention has been paid to the most basic level: the municipal/local level. The purpose of this research paper is to fill this gap. We based our research on an instrument for the assessment of OG priorities in Spanish municipalities (Gómez, Criado, & Gil-Garcia, 2017a). This instrument for assessment was adapted to Mexican municipalities. In so doing, we surveyed 67 cases of Mexican public officials working on OG or in transparency offices in municipalities across Mexico during 2017. This paper reports the findings of this exploratory research, grouping concepts of perception, and analyzing four elements of OG: 1. Open Government; 2. Transparency; 3. Citizen Participation and 4. Open Data. Going forward, we used factor analysis to group concepts and identify two principal perspectives for addressing OG policy implementation in local governments, one oriented at fostering technological innovation, and another at promoting democratic values of co-responsibility. Broadly, we discovered there is some emphasis on democratic values and some on technological innovation. We also found varying levels of knowledge on this topic in Mexican municipalities. Another finding is that OG policies are not well-defined due to a lack of resources for the promotion of genuine transparency, participation, and collaborative actions.