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To create the expected value and benefits through open data, appropriate provision and usage of data are required simultaneously. However, the level of provision and usage of open data differs from country to country. Moreover, previous research on open data has only focused on either open data provision or usage. To fill the research gap, the purpose of this paper is threefold: first, to understand the current status of the provision and usage of open data; second, to identify patterns in the provision and usage of open data; and third, to provide appropriate future directions and guidelines for the transformation paths of each pattern.

The authors analyzed the data collected from open data portals of 13 countries that provide information on the provision and usage of open data together.

The authors identified four patterns of the provision and usage of open data, namely, availability-driven, government-driven, market-driven and interaction-driven patterns. Furthermore, three strategic paths of transformation reach a high level of open data provision and usage, namely, data provision-focused, data usage-focused and balanced transformation paths.

This study provides a foundation that enables researchers to build a holistic theory that can integrate fragmented and incomplete knowledge of open data and usage, particularly in the context of government.

This paper aims to examine the nature and sufficiency of descriptive information included in open datasets and the nature of comments and questions users write in relation to specific datasets. Open datasets are provided to facilitate civic engagement and government transparency. However, making the data available does not guarantee usage. This paper examined the nature of context-related information provided together with the datasets and identified the challenges users encounter while using the resources.

The authors extracted descriptive text provided together with (often at the top of) datasets (N = 216) and the nature of questions and comments users post in relation to the dataset. They then segmented text descriptions and user comments into “idea units” and applied open-coding with constant comparison method. This allowed them to come up with thematic issues that descriptions focus on and the challenges users encounter.

Results of the analysis revealed that context-related descriptions are limited and normative. Users are expected to figure out how to use the data. Analysis of user comments/questions revealed four areas of challenge they encounter: organization and accessibility of the data, clarity and completeness, usefulness and accuracy and language (spelling and grammar). Data providers can do more to address these issues.

The purpose of the study is to understand the nature of open data provision and suggest ways of making open data more accessible to “non expert users”. As such, it is not focused on generalizing about open data provision in various countries as such provision may be different based on jurisdiction.

The study provides insight about ways of organizing open dataset that the resource can be accessible by the general public. It also provides suggestions about how open data providers could consider users' perspectives including providing continuous support.

Research on open data often focuses on technological, policy and political perspectives. Arguably, this is the first study on analysis of context-related information in open-datasets. Datasets do not “speak for themselves” because they require context for analysis and interpretation. Understanding the nature of context-related information in open dataset is original idea.

Citizen engagement is key to the success of many Open Government Data (OGD) initiatives. However, not much is known regarding how this type of engagement emerges. This study aims to investigate the necessary conditions for the emergence of citizen-led engagement with OGD and to identify which factors stimulate this type of engagement.

First, the authors created a systematic overview of the literature to develop a conceptual model of conditions and factors of OGD citizen engagement at the societal, organizational and individual level. Second, the authors used the conceptual model to systematically study citizens’ engagement in the case of a particular OGD initiative, namely, the digitization of presidential election results data in Indonesia in 2014. The authors used multiple information sources, including interviews and documents, to explore the conditions and factors of OGD citizen-led engagement in this case.

From the literature the authors identified five conditions for the emergence of OGD citizen-led engagement as follows: the availability of a legal and political framework that grants a mandate to open up government data, sufficient budgetary resources allocated for OGD provision, the availability of OGD feedback mechanisms, citizens’ perceived ease of engagement and motivated citizens. In the literature, the authors found six factors contributing to OGD engagement as follows: democratic culture, the availability of supporting institutional arrangements, the technical factors of OGD provision, the availability of citizens’ resources, the influence of social relationships and citizens’ perceived data quality. Some of these conditions and factors were found to be less important in the studied case, namely, citizens’ perceived ease of engagement and citizens’ perceived data quality. Moreover, the authors found several new conditions that were not mentioned in the studied literature, namely, citizens’ sense of urgency, competition among citizen-led OGD engagement initiatives, the diversity of citizens’ skills and capabilities and the intensive use of social media. The difference between the conditions and factors that played an important role in the case and those derived from the literature review might be because of the type of OGD engagement that the authors studied, namely, citizen-led engagement, without any government involvement.

The findings are derived using a single case study approach. Future research can investigate multiple cases and compare the conditions and factors for citizen-led engagement with OGD in different contexts.

The conditions and factors for citizen-led engagement with OGD have been evaluated in practice and discussed with public managers and practitioners through interviews. Governmental organizations should prioritize and stimulate those conditions and factors that enhance OGD citizen engagement to create more value with OGD.

While some research on government-led engagement with OGD exists, there is hardly any research on citizen-led engagement with OGD. This study is the first to develop a conceptual model of necessary conditions and factors for citizen engagement with OGD. Furthermore, the authors applied the developed multilevel conceptual model to a case study and gathered empirical evidence of OGD engagement and its contributions to solving societal problems, rather than staying at the conceptual level. This research can be used to investigate citizen engagement with OGD in other cases and offers possibilities for systematic cross-case lesson-drawing.

The main purpose of this study is to investigate the nature and scope of Open Data in Israel, Georgia and Uzbekistan.

Drawing upon the two Open Data models proposed by Kalampokis et al. (2011) and Sieber and Johnson (2015), this paper seeks to underline the nature and scope of Open Data in Israel, Georgia and Uzbekistan.

Open Data across the three countries (Israel, Georgia and Uzbekistan) is at an early stage of maturity. There is more of data aggregation and this poses a number of challenges as far as access to and usage of these data sets are concerned. Furthermore, in terms of the model proposed by Sieber and Johnson (2015), there is “data over the wall” in these countries.

The study holds practical relevance in the sense that policymakers are encouraged to further the Open Data initiatives in their respective countries. Furthermore, government departments are encouraged to release data sets for use by the public and to generate public value.

Whereas extant literature on Open Data veers around economies in the West, academic research in other countries is visibly lacking. Also, no study has been undertaken so far wherein Open Data initiatives in Israel, Georgia and Uzbekistan have been undertaken till date. The present study seeks to plug this gap in a major way.

The purpose of this study is to do provide an overview of open government data (OGD) frameworks in six Middle East countries (Cyprus, Turkey, Egypt, Iran, Lebanon and Jordan) and to underscore the barriers in using the open data sets.

OGD framework offered by Sieber and Johnson (2015) is deployed for the present purpose. Primarily, documentary analysis is being used for substantiating the study and the national portals of the six countries are investigated.

In line with the frameworks chosen for this study, OGD initiatives across the six Middle East countries are at an emerging phase. All the six countries qualify for the “data over the wall” model as advanced by Sieber and Johnson (2015), wherein there are basic provisions of “data aggregation.” Furthermore, the data are incomplete and outdated, which serve as barriers in using these data sets for analysis and interpretation. Therefore, there are a number of barriers in using the open data sets. However, there are many prospects for using these data sets which would improve public accountability and transparency in the long run.

Besides helping in improved decision-making, the governments may be in a better position to appreciate the relevance of adopting a robust OGD initiative in facilitating the economic growth of their country.

This study is relevant for ensuring that citizen engagement is promoted and there is co-creation of public value.

Hitherto, OGD has been investigated in the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries (Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates) but the other countries in Middle East have not been investigated. This study selects six countries outside the GCC ambit and investigates the nature and scope of OGD initiatives in each of them apart from underlining the barriers in using the open data sets.

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.

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

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.

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.

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

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.

In the data economy era, despite the tremendous effort of governments to actively provide and use open data, its effect on national performance such as competitiveness differs widely from country to country. A sufficient knowledge base and its appropriate management are important to effectively derive the potential value from open data. A country can implement multiple and equally viable means to effectively align open data with knowledge management, which lead to high national performance. However, previous studies lack consideration of the possibility of these various configurations. To fill the research gap, this study aims to investigate the configurational patterns constituted by government data openness and knowledge management for national competitiveness.

From the open innovation perspective, this study collected data from the global reports of 76 countries and examined them through fuzzy-set qualitative comparative analysis (fsQCA).

Four configurational patterns are identified, namely, coupled (outbound-focused)-, coupled (inbound-focused)-, inbound-focused-, and outbound-focused national competitiveness.

This study provides a foundation that enables researchers to build a holistic and balanced perspective that can manage open government data and develop knowledge management capability.

The purpose of this paper is to review the strengths and weaknesses of open government data (OGD) in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member states: Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE).

The paper takes a qualitative approach to explore the OGD portals of the GCC countries.

The OGD policies of the GCC countries are at an early stage and there are many challenges that need to be addressed. Specifically, there are privacy concerns regarding the utilization and harnessing of OGD, and users are wary of sharing their vital information via the internet owing to information leaks. Besides, the paper throws light on some of the lessons which may be derived from the OGD policies of developed nations.

Academic research on OGD implementation in the GCC is limited. This study seeks to fill the gap in the extant literature by probing different dimensions associated with OGD implementation in the GCC context.

This paper explains the formation of government resistance to open data based on the cognition of stakeholders in Chinese context.

Adopting grounded theory, this study interviewed 22 stakeholders to collect data. Through continuous coding, this study identified the main categories and then constructed theoretical models.

This study identified and explained five main categories that relate to resistance: practice, perception, organizational culture, motivation and resistance strategies. Then, a framework was developed that conceptualizes the government' resistance to open data. Based on the division of the forms of motivation, there are three paths through which government departments resist open data, namely, avoiding disadvantages to the organization, being unwilling to increase the workload and being unwilling to take the initiative.

This paper reveals the internal logic of government departments' resistance to open data and provides a process explanation beyond causality. It also provides a reference for other countries in the same preliminary stage as China with respect to open data implementation.

The main aim of this study is to do a comparison of Open Government Data (OGD) frameworks in Iran, Lebanon and Jordan and underscore the prospects and challenges in OGD implementation.

Basing itself on two OGD models offered by Kalampokis and his colleagues (Kalampokis et al., 2011) and Sieber and Johnson (2015) and the typology of “good” and “bad” data based on factors such as “usability”, “findability” and “understandability”, the study uses a documentary analysis for generating evidences by scanning the websites linked with OGD across the three countries. Following a qualitative methodology, countries shall be classified in terms of these models and the typology depending upon their OGD nature and scope.

OGD adoption in Iran, Lebanon and Jordan is at a nascent stage, and the OGD nature is of the “bad” type. These countries have merely “aggregated data” over their Web interfaces which are incomplete, outdated and do not permit analytics. Besides, there are a number of challenges which need to be overcome for proper OGD adherence. Nevertheless, there are a lot of prospects for harnessing OGD for improved citizen–government interaction by creating a culture of transparency, collaboration and accountability.

The study holds immense significance for government bodies to appreciate the potential of OGD which would go a long way to add social and economic value to propel the country’s growth.

No study has been conducted so far which compares Iran, Lebanon and Jordan in terms of their OGD policies; this is the main contribution of the study. Also, conceding the significance of the three countries in terms of their socio-economic indices, academic research is warranted in relation to these countries.