Stakeholder Tensions in Decision-Making for Opening Government Data

Abstract

Various types of stakeholders are often involved in the process of deciding to open data. However, the influence of multiple-actors on the decision-making process is ill-understood. Stakeholders play different roles and have different interests in opening and analyzing datasets. The objective of this paper is to understand the influence of the stakeholder's roles and their interests in the decision-making process to open data. The roles-interest grid method is used to determine the stakeholder's concerns and how they influence the decision-making process to open data. In addition to stakeholder theory, we employ muddling through and bounded rationality theories to create a comprehensive analysis of the decisionmaking process. Stakeholders are found to be diverse, where some are proponents of opening data, and others are risk-averse and do not favor disclosing data. Stakeholder's responsible for the actual opening of data are often focused on the risks resulting in a tension between the ambitions of politicians to open data, and the practices of administrators and decision-makers. Understanding the stakeholder's roles and their tensions can help to ensure better decisions are made. We recommend creating incentives for generating shared objectives.

Usability of the G7 Open Government Data Portals and Lessons Learned

“…This is because a portal that is easy to use creates more value than its less user-friendly counterpart. In other words, it can be reasonably surmised that so long as all independent and legitimate data publishers are free to publish and that all data are provably authentic, portals with fewer datasets but that are easy to use and are highly relevant will create more value than those with more datasets but that are more difficult to use [21,22]. With this in mind, portal design and implementation should prioritise helping users find what they need, whether social, political, or entrepreneurial, over providing large volumes of data.…”

A Stakeholders Taxonomy for Opening Government Data Decision-Making

“…One of stakeholder management's key processes is defining and designing influential stakeholders' engagement agendas and plans [12]. The need to enhance stakeholder engagement is to help translate stakeholders' interests and needs into organisational goals and create an effective strategy in the decision-making process [1,5]. Discovering the importance of consensus and intensive discussion among the OGD stakeholders should help stakeholders to reach a decision and ensure a time allocation and investment in a profitable outcome.…”

“…Varying stakeholders' interests in the decision-making process about whether to open or not disclose the data can be burdensome and challenging [1]. In government organisations, the challenges might be that stakeholders like decision-makers, civil servants, open data evangelists, software developers, and privacy analysis officers all have their different views and objectives [2,3].…”

“…In government organisations, the challenges might be that stakeholders like decision-makers, civil servants, open data evangelists, software developers, and privacy analysis officers all have their different views and objectives [2,3]. These stakeholders play diverse roles in the decisionmaking process of disclosing data ranging from setting goals, agendas, and ambitions to the actual opening of data [1]. Direct stakeholders are those who are involved in the decision-making process, but also indirect stakeholders might influence the ability to open datasets.…”

A Digital Game to Learn About Open Data

“…In the same context, civil servants might fear "unexpected and unwanted responsibilities" [6] due to unclear liabilities for the consequences of opening a dataset [6]. It should also be noted that open data decision-making does not happen in a vacuum; civil servants might be confronted with risk-averse stakeholders (politicians, administration officers) or they might lack the necessary tools and resources to open data [17]. On the other hand, the benefits of open data might also be exaggerated, as in the myth that releasing data will create immediate and automatic benefits or that it is good practice to release any sort of data unrestrictedly [12].…”