A Research Roadmap to Advance Data Collaboratives Practice as a Novel Research Direction

Abstract

An increasing number of initiatives have emerged around the world to help facilitate data sharing and collaborations to leverage different sources of data to address societal problems. They are called “data collaboratives”. Data collaboratives are seen as a novel way to match real life problems with relevant expertise and data from across the sectors. Despite its significance and growing experimentation by practitioners, there has been limited research in this field. In this article, the authors report on the outcomes of a panel discussing critical issues facing data collaboratives and develop a research and development agenda. The panel included participants from the government, academics, and practitioners and was held in June 2017 during the 18th International Conference on Digital Government Research at City University of New York (Staten Island, New York, USA). The article begins by discussing the concept of data collaboratives. Then the authors formulate research questions and topics for the research roadmap based on the panel discussions. The research roadmap poses questions across nine different topics: conceptualizing data collaboratives, value of data, matching data to problems, impact analysis, incentives, capabilities, governance, data management, and interoperability. Finally, the authors discuss how digital government research can contribute to answering some of the identified research questions.

Digital Government in Social Sciences Discipline: Mapping Pivotal Features and Proposed Theoretical Model

“…Several studies include data, digital, financial, and project management. Where the public sector provides several significant data sources, a clear understanding is needed for proportional data management (Susha et al, 2018). As explained by Daniel & Pettit (2021), interference becomes a sure thing in digital technology, so to anticipate this, professional human resources are needed in data management in digital technology.…”

Facilitating Data Flows through Data Collaboratives: A Practical Guide to Designing Valuable, Accessible, and Responsible Data Collaboratives

“…This means that actors can focus on developing sustainable and replicable methodological frameworks for how the data collaborative operates and addresses challenges such as legal barriers, data ownership, asymmetries, and fears of misuse as well as privacy, ethical, and fairness issues (Ruijer, 2021). By concentrating on the structures through which challenges can be mitigated and addressed, the data collaborative builds resilient governance structures, processes, and practices before obstacles arise (Susha et al, 2018).…”

Developing data capability with non-profit organisations using participatory methods

“…For all participants, but particularly the larger organisation, collaboration was a key theme and ambition of the iterative workshop and data walkthrough methods. Data collaboration was explicitly addressed in the workshops and in the webinar support materials in line with emerging approaches that seek to ‘match real life problems with relevant expertise and data’ (Susha et al, 2018: 1). Given the focus was on each organisation separately, the wider sense of data collaboration remained an aspirational part of the project.…”