Open government—Progress and impediments in the digital era

The Ambiguous Definition of Open Government: Parliamentarians, Journalists and Bloggers Define Open Government In Accordance With Their Interests

“…Moreover, it was widely noted that the first Liberal party convention since getting into government was a closed and highly managed affair (Hall, 2016a). Roy describes this as follows: “While the Liberal government campaigned heavily on themes of open government and democratic renewal, the first half of their first mandate has been marked by political fundraising and secrecy, an aborted electoral reform agenda and the absence of any new flagship digital government initiatives” (2017: 440).…”

“…We suggest that the self-interested nature of the competing conceptions of open government act as an important barrier and previously unknown source of resistance to more open governance in Canada. Exploring such sources of resistance to open government has been identified as “a critical contour for research” in the fields of public administration and open government (Roy, 2017: 441).…”

“…We must also unlock public data so that you can help us solve problems and find new ways of doing things” (Benzie, 2013). Similarly, the federal Conservative government, which is generally understood to be “control minded” (Roy, 2017: 439), launched a similar initiative in 2012. The Open Government portal on the Government of Canada's website identifies ‘open data’ as one of three core goals along with ‘open information’ and ‘open dialogue.’ The website is intended to facilitate the release of government data and statistics to users (Canada, 2017).…”

Virtual forums for public accountability: How internet and communication technologies are influencing citizen interactions with a local government

“…More recently, such objectives have been specially promoted through new forms of government best practices such as Open Government (OG). As Roy (2017) puts it, “open government has emerged over the past decade as an important prism for public sector action and reform—and for situating government within a wider mosaic of public, private and civic actors” (p. 441). This objective within the Canadian governance context is interpreted such that by opening up government information to the public, civic participation and transparency could be enhanced, improving public accountability as a result (Roy, 2014; 2016; 2017; 2019).…”

“…In developed countries, OG targeted modern technologies to enhance citizen engagement and transparency in public sector government. The literature suggests that OG initiatives could impact public government efficiency and public sector accountability by defining an active role for the citizens as co‐producers of value (Linders, 2012; Roy, 2017). Such initiatives have been adopted and implemented in Canada since their early introduction in 2011.…”