Beyond standards and regulations

Presentation on my Master's Thesis Project at the Open Data Research Symposium 2016, Madrid.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Transcript

1. Beyond Standards and Regulations Obstacles to Local Open Government Data Initiatives in Italy and France October 5, 2016 Madrid, Spain Federico Piovesan
2. INTRODUCTION • Master thesis: April-July 2015 • “Open data needs to go local” (World Wide Web Foundation, 2015) ◦ … and research should follow! ◦ National indicators flatten diversity and hide local talent. • No research about Italy and only one study about France. • Combine available literature (high level, abstract) to anecdotes from local experiences (practical but not generalizable). • Collect know-how about how difficulties were addressed. World Wide Web Foundation, 2015. Open Data Barometer (2nd Edition). URL (accessed 6.18.15).
3. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK (1/5) Level 1: Object of analysis Organizational structures Individual behaviours Level 2 Combines actors, actions, and pressures involved in OGD release Level 3: Socio-political context
4. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK (2/5) Routines From evolutionary economic theory (Coriat and Dosi, 1995): “Routines are crucial (although not exclusive) repositories of knowledge.” • Inherently collective • Double nature Partial tacitness hinders diffusion of superior organizational forms ⇒ Heterogenous performance across PAs Coriat, B., Dosi, G., 1995. Learning How to Govern and Learning How to Solve Problems: On the Co-Evolution of Competences, Conflicts and Organizational Routines. URL
5. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK (3/5) Satisficing “Satisfy + suffice”: best choice relative to cognitive resources (Simon, 1955). May not be the absolute best choice as actors do not know the probabilities of all outcomes and possess only limited memory. Internal resistance to OGD: • Insufficient data skills • Lack of resources (money and time) • Unwillingness to change one’s habits Simon, H.A., 1955. A Behavioral Model of Rational Choice. Quarterly Journal of Economics 69, 99–118.
6. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK (4/5) Open Data Dynamics Model OGD dynamics as an information polity (Helbig et al., 2012): “A collection of stakeholders, data sources, data resources, information flows, and governance relationships involved in the provision and use of government-held and non governmental data sources.” • Knowledge stocks • Information flows • Feedback loops (reinforcing v. balancing) Helbig, N.C., Cresswell, A.M., Burke, G.B., Luna-Reyes, L., 2012. The Dynamics of Opening Government Data.
7. THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK (5/5) Multi-Level Perspective How innovation diffuse in complex socio-technical systems - Martin (2014) on OGD. Martin, C.J., 2014. Barriers to the Open Government Data Agenda: Taking a Multi-Level Perspective. Policy and Internet 6, 217–240. doi:10.1002/1944-2866.POI367
8. METHODOLOGY Interviews 14 participants: • 10 from Italy • 4 from France • 10 work in public agencies Limitations • Majority of Italian respondents • One unstructured interview per participant • Supply-side only
9. OBSTACLES (1/3)
10. OBSTACLES (2/3) Economic obstacles Usually related to re-usables datasets (e.g. cadaster, company registry, location data, weather, income) Potential solutions: • Freemium model for legally binding documents and/or APIs • Electronic payments But balancing feedback loops and mentality.
11. OBSTACLES (3/3) Reluctant organizational culture OGD supply-chain affects a wide range of roles and departments within each PA. Ready-for-release data requires conscious reflection ⇒ Profound restructuring of routines and habits ⇒ Strong resistance! Both employees and managers satisfy. But increased dialogue can lead to more efficient organizations.
12. CONCLUSIONS • Organizational restructuring through cultural change ◦ Dedicated open data team / Regular meetings / Ongoing training ◦ Updated directives now address many of the issues found in this research. ◦ Implementation is a different story. • More research ◦ Case studies: cost-benefit analysis of novel data-management models ◦ Guideline on data sharing across agencies ◦ Measure impact on a local scale • Perspective of users (future research) ◦ Data catalogs ◦ Signal mistakes / meaning conflicts / adverse consequences ◦ Promotion and training
13. THANK YOU!! ANY QUESTION? Federico Piovesan federicopvs@gmail.com
14. OPTIMAL OPEN GOVERNMENT DATA Optimal Open Government Data 1. ..available online.. 2. ..under open license.. 3. ..machine-readable.. 4. ..in open-format.. 5. ..use URIs.. 6. ..and linkes to other data.. 7. ..at no cost.. 8. ..available in bulk.. 9. ..on a timely and up to date basis.. 10. ..with complete meta-data.. 11. ..ready-for-release.. 12. ..historically complete.. 13. ..and allow for user feedback. Tim Berners Lee Open Knowledge Foundation Me
15. LITERATURE REVIEW