[Paper Review] Open data adoption in Australian government agencies: an exploratory study

Mohammad Alamgir Hossain, Caroline Chan|arXiv (Cornell University)|Jun 8, 2016

E-Government and Public Services19 citations

TL;DR

This exploratory study investigates barriers to open data adoption in Australian government agencies through interviews with 11 employees across six agencies. Using content analysis, it identifies six key antecedents influencing open data adoption and extends organizational behavior theory on technology diffusion, offering actionable insights for policymakers and managers.

ABSTRACT

Australia is among the leading countries that envisaged releasing unclassified public data under open license and reusable format with no further restriction on re/use. But, according to the Australian Information Commissioner John McMillan, Australia's progress on open data is 'patchy' and 'transitional'. He also evidenced that although a few agencies are proactive and have embraced the movements quite seriously, still there are "many obstacles that worked against effort to make government information and data discoverable and usable" (Hilvert 2013). Despondently, there is little empirical evidence that could explain what makes public departments not to release public data. Driven by the nature of the research, this study conducted an exploratory field study in Australia by interviewing eleven employees from six different government agencies. Applying content analysis technique, this study identifies six important antecedents to adoption of open data in public organisations, and proposes future research to test their relationships. As the main theoretical contribution, this study extends organisational behaviour toward technology diffusion. The findings of this study incite policymakers and managers to think about and prepare future strategies on open data developments.

Motivation & Objective

• To understand the factors hindering open data adoption in Australian government agencies despite national policy support.
• To identify organizational and systemic barriers that impede the release of public data in reusable, open formats.
• To explore the motivations and challenges faced by public sector employees involved in data management and release.
• To contribute to organizational behavior theory by extending its application to technology diffusion in public sector contexts.
• To inform future policy and strategic planning for open data initiatives in government organizations.

Proposed method

• Conducted an exploratory field study involving semi-structured interviews with 11 employees from six Australian government agencies.
• Employed content analysis to systematically analyze interview transcripts and extract recurring themes and patterns.
• Identified and categorized key antecedents influencing open data adoption based on qualitative data interpretation.
• Used theoretical framing from organizational behavior and technology diffusion literature to interpret findings.
• Proposed a conceptual framework of six antecedents for future empirical testing.
• Reported findings at the Australasian Conference on Information Systems (ACIS 2015), with a formal version published via arXiv.

Experimental results

Research questions

• RQ1 What are the primary organizational and systemic barriers preventing Australian government agencies from adopting open data practices?
• RQ2 How do individual employees and agency cultures influence the decision to release public data openly?
• RQ3 What factors facilitate or hinder the transition to open data in public sector organizations?
• RQ4 How do existing policies and institutional structures impact the implementation of open data initiatives?
• RQ5 What theoretical and practical insights can be drawn to improve open data adoption in the public sector?

Key findings

• Six significant antecedents to open data adoption were identified, including leadership commitment, data quality, legal and privacy concerns, technical capacity, inter-agency collaboration, and policy alignment.
• Despite national policy support, implementation remains inconsistent, with many agencies facing internal resistance and structural limitations.
• Leadership and strategic vision were consistently cited as critical enablers for open data initiatives.
• Legal and privacy concerns emerged as major deterrents, particularly in agencies handling sensitive personal information.
• Inadequate technical infrastructure and lack of skilled personnel were frequently mentioned as operational barriers.
• The study highlights a gap between policy intent and on-the-ground implementation, underscoring the need for targeted capacity-building and coordination.