Open government policies: Untangling the differences and similarities between the US and the EU approach

Abstract

The purpose of this work is to explore the main differences and similarities between open government policies developed since 2009 by the US and the EU, two major powerhouses in what concerns eGovernment-related policies. For that purpose, the authors analyzed the information on webpages and main policy documents as available to any ordinary citizen. The results show that both the US and EU policy share the same core concepts and goals. However, while the US opted to formulate an autonomous policy under a unifying ‘open government’ umbrella term, the EU choose to incorporate the goals and principles into an already existing eGovernment development effort, emphasizing ‘public services innovation’ instead. As a consequence, in the US case it is easier to identify and understand the policy main goals, and to find policy-related information online. Furthermore, the US policy seems to have had a bigger external impact and recognition.