Open Data and Open Governance in Canada: A Critical Examination of New Opportunities and Old Tensions

Abstract

As governments develop open data strategies, such efforts reflect the advent of the Internet, the digitization of government, and the emergence of meta-data as a wider socioeconomic and societal transformational. Within this context the purpose of this article is twofold. First, we seek to both situate and examine the evolution and effectiveness of open data strategies in the Canadian public sector, with a particular focus on municipal governments that have led this movement. Secondly, we delve more deeply into-if and how, open data can facilitate more open and innovative forms of governance enjoining an outward-oriented public sector (across all government levels) with an empowered and participative society. This latter vantage point includes four main and interrelated dimensions: (i) conceptualizing public value and public engagement; (ii) media relations-across traditional intermediaries and channels and new social media; (iii) political culture and the politics of privacy in an increasingly data-centric world; and (iv) federated architectures and the alignment of localized, sub-national, and national strategies and governance mechanisms. This article demonstrates how each of these dimensions includes important determinants of not only open data's immediate impacts but also its catalytic ability to forge wider and collective innovation and more holistic governance renewal.

Accountability and monitoring government in the digital era: Promise, realism and research for digital‐era governance

“…In an OECD working paper, Ubaldi () suggested the supply of open data is not enough for increasing transparency and economic and public value, which will also require empowering and increasing the capacity of ecosystems of external users and intermediaries, which includes data scientists, data journalists, scholars, and firms and non‐profits working in this niche . Likewise, Roy () suggests creating a “national architecture” for open data and related initiatives and fostering more collaboration and participation in the governance ecosystem. It would facilitate and lever social media, allow for sharing information in new ways, foster social and public activism, and potentially lead to integrated perspectives on fragmented government service delivery and policy development systems (p. 422).…”

“…In their study of social media use by Canadian, Australian and US governments Deschamps, McNutt, and Zhu () concluded that “Despite some experimentation by the public sector, the use of Web technologies to enhance collaborative interaction between government, stakeholders and citizens remains limited” (p. 1). Roy () reviews examples of engagement initiatives (mainly municipal), identifying clashes between traditional, top‐down, control‐oriented approach with Gov 2.0 themes of more social‐media‐drive collaboration, social participation, and public activism.…”

“…Canadian researchers have taken up key themes and stand among leading contributors to the international literature. With a few exceptions (Small ; Mao and Adria ; Gruzd and Roy ), Canadian researchers have not undertaken systematic quantitative research but have conceptualized and reflected on accountability, and chronicled and appraised key initiatives and different stresses on governments (for example, Brown ; Francoli ; Clarke and Francoli ; Jarvis , ; Clarke and Margetts and Roy −16). This suggests we have the base for a promising program of research over the next few years, which might include these themes and initiatives: Using accountability information .…”

Digital government and service delivery: An examination of performance and prospects

“…The provision of open data is an example, where new service relationships and platforms are devised in externalized networks of participative engagement driven by information holdings previously viewed by public sector authorities as proprietary and protected assets (Roy 2014c; 2016). Building upon efforts in various US locales, the movement began locally in Canada as well, with many municipalities following Edmonton's lead in creating open government frameworks including apps competitions to spur both open data usage and apps development in ways that create public value (ibid.).…”

Best Practices and Methodologies to Promote the Digitization of Public Services Citizen-Driven: A Systematic Literature Review

“…These days, most governments have a renewed focus on citizen happiness and engagement, and a well-planned digital government environment offers greater opportunities for building collaborative and participatory relationships among all relevant stakeholders [3].…”