Current open data systems lag behind in their promised value creation and sustainability. The objective of the current study is twofold: 1) to investigate whether existing open data systems meet the requirements of open data ecosystems, and 2) to develop a research agenda that discusses the gaps between current open data systems on the one hand and participatory, value-creating, sustainable open data ecosystems on the other hand. The literature reveals that the main characteristics of value-creating, sustainable open data ecosystems are user-drivenness, inclusiveness, circularity, and skill-based. Our comparative case study of five open data systems in various application domains and countries highlighted that none of these systems are real open data ecosystems: they often do not balance open data supply and demand, exclude specific user groups and domains, are linear, and lack skill-training. We elaborate on a research agenda that discusses how research should address the challenge of making open data ecosystems more value-generating and sustainable.@en

Whilst extant literature on Open Government Data (OGD) focuses upon value creation and innovation, there is scant emphasis upon the Value Co-Creation (VCC) that might result with the engagement of the public sector agencies and the users at large. The present study seeks to appreciate the barriers towards OGD VCC by adopting a qualitative research methodology wherein interviews are being conducted with key personnel manning the OGD initiatives in Brazil. Impediments veering around VCC may be counted the internal, social and cultural and data factors. Findings from the present study lend credence to the fact that a systematic strategizing is important for the success of OGD VCC lest Value Co-Destruction (VCD) happen. From a developing country's perspective, the present study acts as a sounding-board for bearing in mind the caveats deduced vis-a-via the success of the VCC processes.@en

Digital government comprises all means to enable governments to interact with their constituents digitally. The metaverse provides a virtual reality environment where various activities can be carried out without physically visiting the places of interest, including the public authorities. Yet, how governments can use the metaverse is unknown. This paper aims to extend the understanding of the metaverse architecture requirements and their suitability for digital public services provision. We used the systematic literature review, experts' assessment using the Delphi method, and quantitative analysis to attain this goal. Our research contributes to the literature by eliciting the structure and composition of the functional and non-functional requirements. The contributions include (1) identification and classification of 50 functional and 16 non-functional metaverse-related architecture requirements, (2) determination and relevancy of 15 most important functional and 6 non-functional requirements for digital public services provision, and (3) suitability assessment of the 21 services recommended for provision in the EU's metaverse platform with the highest potential to attract users. These findings show that governments pose unique requirements on the metaverse. Not all types of services are suitable for providing in the metaverse. Those focused on empowering citizens and helping them to develop are most important.@en

Evaluation of Open Data is a systematic determination of open data merit, worth and significance, using criteria governed by a set of standards (Farbey, Land, & Targett, 1999). It is an essential procedure trying to ignite a learning and innovation process leading to a more effective data exploitation. Examples of questions to be answered by open data evaluation could be: what is the current status of published data against the best practices identified, how effectively these data are published or used, what are the most valuable data for users, what are the problems and barriers discouraging the publication and use of open data and in which extend these barriers affects users’ behaviour towards data usage. The answers on these questions will affect the next developments of an open data portal or initiative and the publication procedure.@en

Governments create and collect enormous amounts of data, for instance concerning voting results, transport, energy, education, and employment. These datasets are often stored in an archive that is not accessible for others than the organization’s employees. To attain benefits such as transparency, engagement, and innovation, many governmental organizations are now also providing public access to this data. However, in opening up their data, these organizations face many issues, including the lack of standard procedures, the threat of privacy violations when releasing data, accidentally releasing policy-sensitive data, the risk of data misuse, challenges regarding the ownership of data and required changes at different organizational layers. These issues often hinder the easy publication of government data.@en

The concept of open data itself is strongly associated with innovative capacity and transformative power (Davies, Perini, & Alonso, 2013). It is increasingly recognized that proactively opening public data can create considerable benefits for several stakeholders, such as firms and individuals interested in the development of value added digital services or mobile applications, by combining various types of Open Government Data (OGD), and possibly other private data. On the other hand, OGD also empowers scientists, journalists and active citizens who want to understand various public issues and policies through advanced data processing and production of analytics (Janssen, 2011a; Zuiderwijk, Helbig, Gil-García, & Janssen, 2014).@en

Open Government Data (OGD) has been considered as a potent instrument for value creation and innovation by a range of stakeholders. Given that individual ingenuity is a function of individual and environmental factors, it is important to understand how the OGD adoption and usage is a factor of creative performance behaviors (CPB), viz., Problem Identification (PI), Information Search (IS), Idea Generation (IG) and Idea Promotion (IP) as well as creative self-efficacy (CSE). Invoking the adapted Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) constructs alongside the moderating effects of CPB and CSE constructs and also gender, the present study seeks to underline the behavioural intention towards OGD adoption and usage among 362 undergraduate and postgraduate university students in India. The guiding research question is: “Is there any difference among the males and females in terms of their OGD adoption and usage as far as their creative propensities are concerned?” Findings from the PLS-SEM (Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling) procedures show that there are gender differences across the CPB and CSE constructs. The study's contribution lies in furthering our understanding of OGD adoption and use with the additional determinants of creativity literature.@en

The academic interest in the Open Government Data (OGD) domain has been burgeoning over the years. Conceding that the prime focus of an OGD initiative is its further re-use for value creation and innovation by stakeholders, the present study seeks to underscore the role of HEXACO personality traits on behavioral intention (BI) to adopt and use OGD in developing countries' context. We investigate the direct, indirect, and moderating effects of HEXACO personality traits provide a better understanding of how and to what extent personality traits influence future behavioral intention to use OGD. The results demonstrate that Trust and Performance Expectancy are positive predictors of BI to adopt and use OGD. Users with higher Openness to Experience tend to have higher Effort and Performance Expectancy; are characterized by exposure to Social Influence; have higher level of Trust and positive experience of Facilitating Conditions and Information Quality. Agreeable people are more likely to Voluntarily Use OGD. Conscientiousness enhances the individual's perception of OGD quality-related factors. Excessive Emotionality affects negative perception to System and Information Quality issues. Honesty–Humility and Extraversion are able to maintain the effect of OGD Information Quality and Trust on users' BI. Our findings could be useful for practitioners to level the divergence between actual and potential use of OGD by considering the user's personality traits.@en

Purpose: It has been underscored in the extant literature that open government data (OGD) has not percolated across the length and breadth of any country, let alone the awareness of the OGD among the stakeholders themselves. In this vein, this study aims to underline the reasons as to why OGD promotion merits consideration apart from underlining the manner in which OGD promotion may be done. Design/methodology/approach: Based on literature review on the OGD conceptual models and government promotion initiatives, the study further sketches an OGD model across four quadrants: beginners, followers, fast-trackers, trend-setters on the basis of the progress made in their OGD initiatives besides underlining the four elements of OGD promotional strategy as media, arena, substance and stakeholders. Also, the study explores the drivers and barriers to OGD promotional initiatives. Findings: The study shows that across the OGD quadrants, the promotional strategies vary in terms of the 4As (acceptability, affordability, accessibility and awareness), and the same get reflected across MASS. Further, the drivers for OGD promotional initiatives are building citizens’ trust and forging stakeholder participation and collaboration in administration, thereby furthering transparency in administration, meeting the needs of the stakeholders, providing the desired impetus to value creation and innovation by the stakeholders and the need for furthering economic growth. Likewise, the barriers toward OGD promotion are linked with the lack of political will, lack of organizational leadership, mission and vision, lack of involvement of government departments, lack of budget and lack of requisite infrastructure for promotion. Originality/value: Hitherto, OGD research has underscored the need to make the users aware of the potential of OGD initiative; however, no study has been undertaken to understand the manner in which the awareness may be driven among the users – the present study is a first step in this direction.@en

Open Government Data (OGD) research has focused for a long on the adoption and usage from the perspectives of users across different contexts. The underlying rationale for this specific focus is that OGD initiatives are undertaken to further citizen engagement with OGD for value generation and innovation purposes. Conceding that usage propensity is different across individuals, it is important to understand the influence of personality traits vis-à-vis OGD adoption and usage. Given that OGD has been regarded as a sophisticated "technology"and the role of personality traits has been considered as important in the adoption and usage of "technologies"in general, therefore, the present study contributes to the extant OGD-focused literature from a novel dimension. The study invokes the adapted model of the Unified Theory of Technology Adoption and Use (UTAUT) alongside the HEXACO-100 inventory constructs for studying the relationships between the constructs with a sample of 530 respondents. The results demonstrate that higher user Openness to Experience contributes to their higher Effort and Performance Expectancy; exposure to Social Influence; an increased level of Trust; and a more positive perception of Facilitating Conditions and Information Quality. Agreeable people are more likely to voluntarily use OGD. An individual's conscientiousness improves their perception of factors related to OGD quality. Excessive emotionality leads to a more critical perception of systems and information quality issues. Our findings also attest to the moderating impact of Honesty-Humility across Information Quality-Behavioral Intention positively; Extraversion across Information Quality-Behavioral Intention negatively and Extraversion across Trust-Behavioral Intention positively. Honesty turns out to be important for considering Information Quality vis-à-vis OGD adoption and usage but whilst extroverts are concerned about Information Quality, i.e. flawless information retrieval via OGD sources, Introverts are concerned about OGD trustworthiness, i.e. credible OGD for its adoption and usage and Extroverts find the OGD reliable and credible. With pointers for further research across the personality traits-OGD adoption and usage theme, the study closes with practitioner implications.@en

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to highlight the drivers, barriers, benefits and risks affecting the integration of Internet of Things (IoT) into the e-government and to provide a future research agenda. Design/methodology/approach: Existing literature examining the relationships between e-government and IoT is scanned and evaluated by conceptualizing the IoT concept in the e-government perspective. Findings: The study shows that there are drivers to integrate IoT in e-government, such as ensuring the economy, efficiency and effectiveness of government operations, which would largely establish a relationship between the government and the citizens. Furthermore, there are barriers to such integration, given the lack of political will, the appropriate information technology infrastructure, the training of the stakeholders with a focus on the employee and the like. Originality/value: The integration of IoT in e-government is a novel and weakly explored concept, particularly in the light of new advances such as blockchain in the e-government, which requires further exploration and conceptualization, thereby achieving a shared/common vision and body of knowledge for its further successful and sustainable adoption – to the best of the authors’ knowledge, the current study is one of these initial attempts.@en

This research aims to assess available spatial open data related to access to hospitals in the three largest Croatian cities (Zagreb, Split, Rijeka), with a future aim to create digital services as an ecosystem that will be used in everyday situations, as part of the concept of “digital society”. Data analysis is performed for the following datasets: hospitals, hospital specialization, public transport (tram, bus), bike routes, car routes, parking and parking for people with disabilities. The future aim is to create a new mobile, multilingual and voice-based application that would enable quick access to information on hospital access, relying on the principles of the open data ecosystem, which would improve over time. There are four specific aims: (1) to identify and analyze portals and open datasets of the selected categories for the three largest Croatian cities; (2) to analyze existing open data assessment frameworks and detect gaps; (3) to create a conceptual open data assessment framework as an open data ecosystem that integrates new end-user perspectives; and (4) to analyze existing open datasets for the three largest cities in Croatia, based on supply and demand by researcher/developer categories, using the newly developed framework. The results show that existing open datasets related to hospital access in the three largest Croatian cities are scattered across different portals. Analyzed frameworks existing on the supply side of open data are more focused on the status of the components, lacking evaluation scales and not including end-user-driven aspects, which would be crucial for the open data ecosystem. As a result, the new “Hospital Access Framework” is created as a conceptual ecosystem, including five categories: supply, demand by researcher/developer, demand by end-user, legal aspect and impact. Analysis of existing open data for the three Croatian cities is performed for two categories (supply and demand by researcher/developer), for which KPIs, indicators and evaluation scales are developed. The other three categories are not analyzed, since the application cannot be developed from existing data, which are insufficient for the creation of a smart application. Results show that existing open data related to hospital access are incomplete or do not exist at all (hospital specialization, parking for people with disabilities, data on multilingualism and voice enabling). Average scores of the supply category are higher than those for demand by researcher/developer, although they are below the average grade, showing a lack of available data that could be used for further development. The new conceptual “Hospital Access Framework” open data ecosystem would benefit from end-user interaction, therefore, improving over time with end-users through interaction.@en

While assessing the potential of a particular digital innovation initiative, especially when it has implications for a range of societal stakeholders, it becomes pertinent to understand the possible bottlenecks in its acceptability as well. In this regard, the present study seeks to understand how the Open Government Data (OGD) initiatives in Brazil are being confronted with bottlenecks in terms of their execution and acceptability. This exploratory study adopts a qualitative cross-sectional research approach wherein interviews are being conducted with 11 managers working in public organizations and are directly associated with the OGD initiatives. Findings from the interview responses delineate internal and external factors, resource availability, data maintenance, and lack of knowledge as the key determinants for the bottlenecks associated with the execution and acceptability of OGD initiatives by the societal stakeholders. The study's originality lies in its theoretical contribution towards an understanding of how a novel digital innovation-OGD, in the present case- is fraught with impediments in terms of its execution and acceptability. The study concludes with directions for further research and practitioner implications.@en

Open government data (OGD) include the provision of government data, which have so far been reserved for the provision of public utilities and services, wherein different stakeholders may create value out of the same source. Recently, OGD initiatives around the world have dampened or were found to be inadequate for one or other reasons. The present study seeks to underline the root causes behind these inadequate or stalled initiatives with a specific focus on the developing countries. This article undertakes a literature review of the most significant studies in this area, followed by a root cause analysis wherein the database across Scopus and Web of Science has been explored with the set inclusion and exclusion criteria being set in line with the research focusing on the hinderances and bottlenecks behind the failure of OGD initiatives (n ~ 15), thus not only summarizing what has been revealed in previous studies but also identifying these “root-cause” relationships, which are responsible for the stalled OGD projects. A deep understanding of the literature on OGD shows that research of OGD barriers repeat each other. The results show that the main root causes include politico-administrative, social, technological, legal and organizational (inter- and intra) dimensions including aspects like state of the economy, infrastructural issues, the tendency to copy the OGD initiative without need to institutionalize the same, and so forth. Whereas a number of studies are available covering the barriers in the roll-out and implementation of OGD initiatives, the root causes behind the existence of these barriers have not been identified so far-the present study seeks to plug this gap. Besides being a contribution to the extant OGD literature in general, the study seeks to leave academic and practical implications for furthering up deliberations and discussions on the OGD themes with specific impetus upon the cause analysis of the failure in OGD initiatives and the manner in which the same may be corrected or preempted.@en

Open data initiatives have resulted in greater availability of data, thereby realising ambitions such as improved efficiency and effectiveness of public services, increased transparency, accountability and citizen participation, and economic and social value creation. Open data research is a crucial component in creating and accelerating sustainable and innovative open data ecosystems. However, not all countries equally progress with regard to implementing open data policies and some countries are falling behind. The project Twinning Open Data Operational (TODO) examines which strategy can boost the open data ecosystem of countries that are just beginning to develop open data policies. We are developing and implementing an interdisciplinary multi-domain open data research approach to increase the maturity of the concept and impact of the open data ecosystem in Croatia and beyond. This paper lays down the strategy to arrive at a sustainable open data research ecosystem in open data beginners countries.@en

While previous research on Open Government Data (OGD) has primarily focused on reuse and adoption, this study aims to explore the implications of the Public Service Logic (PSL) and Public Service Motivation (PSM) dimensions in the context of OGD initiatives. This study is contextualized in Tanzania wherein the OGD initiatives are at an evolving stage. For the present study, the perspectives of the 15 public officials involved in the management of the OGD initiatives are being solicited. Findings underscore the need for furthering the marketing and refurbishing the OGD initiatives' quality alongside the increased involvement of the stakeholders to engage in value co-creation. Furthermore, as a study contextualized in a developing country to understand the involvement of the public personnel in the refurbishment of the OGD initiatives, the study contributes to the extant OGD literature while identifying the OGD publisher-side challenges and strengths in a still-evolving OGD initiative. Finally, with its societal implications in terms of the impact on societal stakeholders' engagement with OGD given the PSL-PSM of the public officials, the study's relevance is also clinched.@en

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to understand the moderating impact of perceived technological innovativeness (PTI) in terms of gender differences as far as adoption and usage of Open Government Data (OGD) is concerned. Design/methodology/approach: Partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) methodological approach is used wherein the adapted unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model is being used for estimating the research model. Findings: PTI has been attested to have moderating impact on the UTAUT-BI relationships in select cases (SI, SQ, IQ, TR-BI). Furthermore, gender differences were observed as far as far as the PTI's moderating role on UTAUT-BI relationships were concerned. Originality/value: While there has been ample impetus upon the OGD adoption and usage propensities underscoring the role of different variables, the present study's contribution lies in terms of understanding the moderating role of PTI as far as individual-centric analysis is concerned.@en

Purpose: The purpose of the study is to understand the moderating impact of perceived technological innovativeness (PTI) in terms of gender differences as far as adoption and usage of Open Government Data (OGD) is concerned. Design/methodology/approach: Partial least squares-structural equation modelling (PLS-SEM) methodological approach is used wherein the adapted unified theory of acceptance and use of technology (UTAUT) model is being used for estimating the research model. Findings: PTI has been attested to have moderating impact on the UTAUT-BI relationships in select cases (SI, SQ, IQ, TR-BI). Furthermore, gender differences were observed as far as far as the PTI's moderating role on UTAUT-BI relationships were concerned. Originality/value: While there has been ample impetus upon the OGD adoption and usage propensities underscoring the role of different variables, the present study's contribution lies in terms of understanding the moderating role of PTI as far as individual-centric analysis is concerned.@en

The assessment of the performance of open data ecosystems has gained significant interest of researchers worldwide (see Welle Donker & Van Loenen, 2016; Dodds and Newman, 2015; Capgemini Consulting, 2015; Public Sector Information (PSI) Scoreboard; Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM), 2015; World Wide Web Foundation, 2015; Open Knowledge International (OKI), 2014). These existing assessment methods focus on the status of the components of an ecosystem (is there an open data policy, does the data comply with open standards, is it available free of charge, etc). By applying an application/ user needs driven approach, this project implements a different assessment approach: open data as a means to assess (physical) access to hospital buildings. The extent to which such a simple but important societal question can be answered is regarded as a measure for the maturity of the open data ecosystem of a jurisdiction. We used the basic indicators for assessing the performance of an open data ecosystem, and complemented these with the result of the assessment of hospital accessibility. The results will provide insight in how the open data ecosystem is able to answer such a simple question and which steps have to be taken to improve the ecosystem. Adding such an user question driven approach to the portfolio of open data ecosystem assessment framework would be extremely beneficial for decision makers in specific domains to set priorities for releasing data as open data. The focus of the research is to detect available data sets in order to assess access to hospitals in three Croatian towns (Zagreb, Rijeka, Split). The research is based on existing open data, found on web portals, containing information on hospitals, emergency service, coronavirus screening clinics, public transport and stations (bus lines, tramways, bike routes), roads and car parking. Research method includes qualitative research on publicly available datasets. Methodology includes identification of portals, search for datasets, acquisition, data inspection, qualitative and quantitative analysis based on created model and reporting. The created framework entitled “Hospital Access Framework” consists of five domains: Supply side, Demand side (open data user skills), Demand side (end-user capabilities), Legal aspects and privacy, Impact. For each domain, several KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are suggested, using SMART (Specific Measurable Achievable Relevant Time-bound) criteria. Qualitative analysis is performed on suggest eco-system framework, created for this research, while quantitative analysis includes Yes/Partly/No answers of suggested KPIs. Existing data sets are incomplete, missing, not in formats available for download, or generally, not of the sufficient quality and quantity. The aim was to interrelate data for several Croatian towns in order to assess access to hospitals by public and private transport and parking places. Although the suggested framework “Hospital Access Framework” is created as an ecosystem framework, it is not fully implemented. The framework is used at this stage only for assessment of (non)existence of available datasets needed to assess access to hospitals. The future challenge would be to create an online app as an eco-system, which would be updated through adding new data from interaction with users and by improving data quality and data quantity and to apply the framework “Hospital Access Framework” in its full potential.@en

The assessment of the performance of open data ecosystems has gained significant interest of researchers worldwide (see Welle Donker & Van Loenen, 2016; Dodds and Newman, 2015; Capgemini Consulting, 2015; Public Sector Information (PSI) Scoreboard; Independent Reporting Mechanism (IRM), 2015; World Wide Web Foundation, 2015; Open Knowledge International (OKI), 2014). These existing assessment methods focus on the status of the components of an ecosystem (is there an open data policy, does the data comply with open standards, is it available free of charge, etc). By applying an application/ user needs driven approach, this project implements a different assessment approach: open data as a means to assess (physical) access to hospital buildings. The extent to which such a simple but important societal question can be answered is regarded as a measure for the maturity of the open data ecosystem of a jurisdiction. We used the basic indicators for assessing the performance of an open data ecosystem, and complemented these with the result of the assessment of hospital accessibility. The results will provide insight in how the open data ecosystem is able to answer such a simple question and which steps have to be taken to improve the ecosystem. Adding such an user question driven approach to the portfolio of open data ecosystem assessment framework would be extremely beneficial for decision makers in specific domains to set priorities for releasing data as open data. The focus of the research is to detect available data sets in order to assess access to hospitals in three Croatian towns (Zagreb, Rijeka, Split). The research is based on existing open data, found on web portals, containing information on hospitals, emergency service, coronavirus screening clinics, public transport and stations (bus lines, tramways, bike routes), roads and car parking. Research method includes qualitative research on publicly available datasets. Methodology includes identification of portals, search for datasets, acquisition, data inspection, qualitative and quantitative analysis based on created model and reporting. The created framework entitled “Hospital Access Framework” consists of five domains: Supply side, Demand side (open data user skills), Demand side (end-user capabilities), Legal aspects and privacy, Impact. For each domain, several KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) are suggested, using SMART (Specific Measurable Achievable Relevant Time-bound) criteria. Qualitative analysis is performed on suggest eco-system framework, created for this research, while quantitative analysis includes Yes/Partly/No answers of suggested KPIs. Existing data sets are incomplete, missing, not in formats available for download, or generally, not of the sufficient quality and quantity. The aim was to interrelate data for several Croatian towns in order to assess access to hospitals by public and private transport and parking places. Although the suggested framework “Hospital Access Framework” is created as an ecosystem framework, it is not fully implemented. The framework is used at this stage only for assessment of (non)existence of available datasets needed to assess access to hospitals. The future challenge would be to create an online app as an eco-system, which would be updated through adding new data from interaction with users and by improving data quality and data quantity and to apply the framework “Hospital Access Framework” in its full potential.@en