Uncertain risk: assessing open data signals
Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy
ISSN: 1750-6166
Article publication date: 18 June 2020
Issue publication date: 23 November 2020
Abstract
Purpose
Open data resources contain few signals for assessing their suitability for data analytics. The purpose of this paper is to characterize the uncertainty experienced by open data consumers with a framework based on economic theory.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on information asymmetry theory about market exchanges, this paper investigates the practical challenges faced by data consumers seeking to reuse open data. An inductive qualitative analysis of over 2,900 questions asked between 2013 and 2018 on an internet forum identified how a community of 15,000 open data consumers expressed uncertainty about data sources.
Findings
Open data consumers asked direct questions that expressed uncertainty about the availability, interoperability and interpretation of data resources. Questions focused on future value and some requests were devoted to seeking data that matched known sources. The study proposes a data signal framework that explains uncertainty about open data within the context of control and visibility.
Originality/value
The proposed framework bridges digital government practice to information signaling theory. The empirical evidence substantiates market aspects of open data portals. This paper provided a needed case study of how data consumers experience uncertainty. The study integrates established theories about risk to improve the reuse of open data.
Keywords
Acknowledgements
This project is based in part on work supported by the National Science Foundation Grant No. #1833119. This would not have been possible without several NSF-supported summer research assistants. Any opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Citation
Washington, A.L. (2020), "Uncertain risk: assessing open data signals", Transforming Government: People, Process and Policy, Vol. 14 No. 4, pp. 623-637. https://doi.org/10.1108/TG-09-2019-0086
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2020, Emerald Publishing Limited