Using the Critical Capabilities Approach to Evaluate the Tanzanian Open Government Data Initiative

Abstract

The framework proposed by Zheng and Stahl (chapter 9, this volume) challenges the idea that open development initiatives have positive and uniform objectives. They suggest that open data initiatives are influenced by ideological and political structures and that progress and outcomes should be determined based on how the initiative affects the well-being and agency freedom of those it intends to support. It assumes that actors will have different capabilities and interests in engaging in open initiatives and that power differentials affect how and why actors get involved.