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Understanding civil servants' intentions to open data: factors influencing behavior to disclose data

Fernando Kleiman (Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands)
Sylvia J.T. Jansen (OTB Research Institute for the Built Environment, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands)
Sebastiaan Meijer (Department of Biomedical Engineering and Health Systems, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden)
Marijn Janssen (Faculty of Technology, Policy and Management, Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands)

Information Technology & People

ISSN: 0959-3845

Article publication date: 9 March 2023

Issue publication date: 18 March 2024

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Abstract

Purpose

The opening of government data is high on the policy agenda of governments worldwide. However, data release faces barriers due to limited support of civil servants, whereas the literature neglects civil servants' role in opening data. This paper aims at understanding why civil servants can be reluctant to support the disclosure of data. The authors developed a model to explain civil servants' behavioral intention to open data.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors test a series of hypotheses by collecting and analyzing survey data from 387 civil servants and by applying multivariate hierarchical regression.

Findings

The results indicate the factors influencing the behavior of civil servants. Social influences, performance expectancy, data management knowledge and risks have a significant influence. Personal characteristics control these effects.

Research limitations/implications

Caution is needed to generalize the findings towards the support to open data provision by civil servants. Though the analyzed sample was limited to Brazil, other countries and cultures might yield different outcomes. Larger and more diversified samples might indicate significant effects on variables not found in this research.

Practical implications

The insights can be used to develop policies for increasing the support of civil servants towards governmental data disclosure.

Originality/value

This study suggests factors of influence to civil servants' behavior intentions to disclose governmental data. It results in a model of factors, specifically for their behavioral intention at the individual level.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the Municipality of São Paulo, the Management Secretariat in the Ministry of Economy and the National School for Public Administration – Brazilian Federal Government, the ANESP association, the Frente Nacional dos Prefeitos, the UNU-eGov, the WeGov Network and all individuals who shared and supported this research. The authors also thank the Brazilian Federal Government for their in-kind contribution. This research did not receive any other specific grant from funding agencies in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.

Citation

Kleiman, F., Jansen, S.J.T., Meijer, S. and Janssen, M. (2024), "Understanding civil servants' intentions to open data: factors influencing behavior to disclose data", Information Technology & People, Vol. 37 No. 2, pp. 729-752. https://doi.org/10.1108/ITP-12-2020-0893

Publisher

:

Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited

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