Open Government Data Ecosystems: A Closed-Loop Perspective

Abstract

Open data initiatives have opened new alternatives in creating benefits for the public through secondary use governmental data. From some perspectives, benefits will come from the development of innovative applications using the data, and from the new business models enabled by these applications. From other perspectives, open data applications offer an opportunity for increased citizen participation, improved transparency and accountability. Although the number of published governmental datasets has increased in many countries, producing the expected benefits – and even measuring them – has proven difficult. Creating the expected benefits depends on the development of an ‘ecosystem’ of government actors and private stakeholders that enables multiple forms of interactions and value creation. We propose that modeling and simulation of this open data ecosystem can expand our understanding of its enablers and barriers, leading to improvements in policy making and ultimate outcome of open data initiatives.