Open data platforms are hoped to foster democratic processes, yet recent empirical research shows that so far they have failed to do so. We argue that current open data platforms do not take into account the complexity of democratic processes which results in overly simplistic approaches to open data platform design. Democratic processes are multifaceted and open data can be used for various purposes, with diverging roles, rules and tools by citizens and public administrators. This study develops a Democratic Activity Model of Open Data Use, which is illustrated by an exploratory qualitative multiple case study outlining three democratic processes: monitorial, deliberative and participatory. We find that each type of democratic process requires a different approach and open data design. We conclude that a context-sensitive open data design facilitates the transformation of raw data into meaningful information constructed collectively by public administrators and citizens.

This article contributes to the growing body of literature within public management on open government data by taking a political perspective. We argue that open government data are a strategic resource of organizations and therefore organizations are not likely to share it. We develop an analytical framework for studying the politics of open government data, based on theories of strategic responses to institutional processes, government transparency, and open government data. The framework shows that there can be different organizational strategic responses to open data—varying from conformity to active resistance—and that different institutional antecedents influence these responses. The value of the framework is explored in two cases: a province in the Netherlands and a municipality in France. The cases provide insights into why governments might release datasets in certain policy domains but not in others thereby producing “strategically opaque transparency.” The article concludes that the politics of open government data framework helps us understand open data practices in relation to broader institutional pressures that influence government transparency.

Governments around the world make their data available through platforms but, disappointingly, the use of this data is lagging behind. This problem has been recognized in the literature and to facilitate use of open datasets, scholars have focused on identifying general user requirements for open data platform design. This approach however fails to take into account the variation of open data practices and specific contexts of usage. This study, therefore, argues that next to general requirements: we also need to collect context-specific user requirements for open data platforms. We take different societal issues as the starting point for open data platform design.

Open government data are claimed to contribute to transparency, citizen participation, collaboration, economic and public service development. From an innovation perspective, we explore the current gap between the promise and practice of open government data. Based on Strategic Niche Management (SNM), we identify different phases in the open data innovation process. This study uses a living lab in a province in the Netherlands to stimulate the provision and use of open data for collaborative processes and analyses the mechanisms that condition the success of this innovation process. The results based on six interventions over a period of two years show that our interventions stimulated the use of open data and raised awareness within government, but that various mechanisms inhibited the realization of the ambitions of open government data. We conclude that the challenge of open government data as an innovation lies in finding a way to scale up the provision of open data: innovation niches are established but "regime changes" do not take place. Scaling up open government data use requires strong managerial commitment and changes in the wider organizational landscape such as constructing formal and informal rules and technological developments that stimulate debate about open data practices. KEYWORDS innovation; open government data; strategic niche management; transparencyOpen government initiatives have become a major worldwide administrative reform (Piotrowski, 2017). Currently, 70 countries are participating in the international Open Government Partnership (OGP). Due to initiatives such as the Open Government Declaration of the OGP (Open Government Partnership, 2011) and the EU Directive on the reuse of public sector (2013/37/EU), and fueled by internet technology, pressure is being placed on government organizations around the world to release their data

During recent years, the amount of data released on platforms by public administrations around the world have exploded. Open government data platforms are aimed at enhancing transparency and participation. Even though the promises of these platforms are high, their full potential has not yet been reached. Scholars have identified technical and quality barriers of open data usage. Although useful, these issues fail to acknowledge that the meaning of open data also depends on the context and people involved. In this study we analyze open data usage from a practice lens – as a social construction that emerges over time in interaction with governments and users in a specific context – to enhance our understanding of the role of context and agency in the development of open data platforms. This study is based on innovative action-based research in which civil servants’ and citizens’ initiatives collaborate to find solutions for public problems using an open data platform. It provides an insider perspective of Open Data Work. The findings show that an absence of a shared cognitive framework for understanding open data and a lack of high-quality datasets can prevent processes of collaborative learning. Our contextual approach stresses the need for open data practices that work on the basis of rich interactions with users rather than government-centric implementations.