What Matters in Maintaining Effective Open Government Data Systems?: The Role of Government Managerial Capacity, and Political and Legal Environment

Abstract

This paper aims to identify key institutional factors that contribute to effective open data systems. Rapid advancement in new technologies such as machine learning, algorithms, IoT, and Cloud Computing has amplified the importance of national open data systems. The availability of relevant public data has become a crucial factor in creating sophisticated machine learning platforms or algorithms that will have a considerable impact on national competitiveness. Effective national open data strategies will matter in shaping an environment that will facilitate data production, dissemination, and utilization. Using multiple sources of data that measure the qualities of open data systems and various political, governmental, and legal attributes at the national level, we seek to identify key institutional factors that contribute to robust open data policies and outcomes. Our findings point to the importance of the existence of a national open data strategy and support (especially "open by default"strategy), pre-existing e-government capability, and countries operating under full democracy with its guarantees to civil liberties and political freedom. In addition, the nature of the open data matters as different managerial, political, and demographic conditions affected the quality of different open data systems. Policy implications of our findings are discussed.