Budgetary data (in an open format) benefits, advantages, obstacles and Inhibitory factors in the view of the intermediaries of this system: A study in Latin American countries

Abstract

Governments are under pressure to meet new social demands and seek new forms of management. As well as this, the fact that they make considerable use of information technology, has led to the growth of their databases, and made governments and the respective government organizations, fertile ground for open data initiatives. Having access to budgetary data and being able to make use of it (with regard to revenue and expenditure), has traditionally always aroused great interest in society. The purpose of this study is to determine the potential benefits and possible obstacles that can affect the intermediaries who take action on the basis of budgetary data. A number of intermediaries (members of society and government policymakers) from four Latin-American countries were interviewed. The results show that the structural barriers of governments have an adverse effect on their activities because they impair the quality of the information that is made available. Nonetheless, the benefits that allow a greater degree of transparency as well as the ability to reveal more knowledge of the inside operations of governments, encourage the intermediaries to take part in this “ecosystem”.