| Open government data(OGD)is booming globally.Meanwhile,more and more countries are utilizing OGD to accelerate transparent government construction,to enhance social governance,to stimulate economic development,and to promote technological innovation.The utilization of OGD is also highly valued in China.For example,the State Council has issued a number of relevant documents including the Outline for Promoting the Development of Big Data,aimed at promoting the open sharing of government data and its application in government management and the digital economy.Moreover,The Opinions of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council on the Construction of a More Perfect Market-Oriented Allocation System for Factors,released on April 9,2020,promoting the open sharing of government data,enhancing the value of social data resources,and strengthening data resource integration and security protection were emphasized as the most important activities to accelerate the cultivation of data element market.All the above policies and announcements demonstrates the significance and urgency of applying OGD.General Secertary Xi Jinping has repeatedly proposed to “implement the National Big Data Strategy and accelerate the Construction of Digital China”,“vigorously develop the digital economy and accelerate the development of digital industrialization and industrial digitalization”,“involve Big Data in promoting the level of modernization of national governance”.Therefore,studying how to effectively make use of OGD is a major social reality issue,which is align with the national strategy.Another driven problem is that,compared to other developed countries,the OGD utilization in China emerges late,leading to many issues.A theoretical framework is needed to guide the research of OGD and its applications.To bridge this gap,this dissertation focusses on investigating the obstacles and safeguard mechanisms for the use of OGD,based on which we will also provide a comprehensive and practical strategy to solve the current issues in OGD.Since the use of open government data involves a variety of stakeholders,is affected by various barriers and the relationship between these barriers,Meanwhile,stakeholders are closely connected with various barriers during the OGD utilization.For the purpose of improving the efficiency of the use of open government data in China,this dissertation draws on the ideas of pluralistic co-governance in the collaborative governance theory.In detail,we first identify the stakeholders of China’s open government data utilization,then use the collaborative governance model to identify and classify the obstacle factors.Based on the same idea,we also build a network between different obstacle factors,and construct a collaborative governance guarantee mechanism the use of OGD in China.The research activities can be summarized as follows:(1)Construct a collaborative governance model to OGD utilization in ChinaThis research first analyzes the feasibility and necessity of OGD utilization collaborative governance in China.It also compares the characteristics of cross-department collaborative analysis model,SFIC model,comprehensive model of collaborative governance,and collaborative model of government service provision.Based on the collaborative model of government service provision and the actual scenario of China’s open government data utilization,we construct China’s open government data utilization collaborative governance model.This model takes the obstacles in Chinese OGD utilization process as orientation and OGD utilization guarantee mechanism as a practice guide.Factors influencing collaborative governance are summarized from the six dimensions of external environment,collaborative goals and willingness,data supply and demand collaboration,organization and management collaboration,interactive collaboration,and collaborative effectiveness.Under the guidance of this model,the research carries out the identification and analysis of stakeholders in the use of OGD,identifies obstacles in the process of OGD and its utilization.It further guides the development of semi-structured interviews,social network analysis,and construction of guarantee mechanism.(2)Analysis of stakeholders and roles of OGD utilization.The chapter firstly analyzes the OGD utilization process with the open data value chain proposed by the European Union.On this basis,the government departments,enterprises and data development teams,non-profit organizations,citizens,and other stakeholders involved in OGD utilization are analyzed.Subjects and their responsibilities are clarified.To further understand the stakeholders’ roles in utilization process,this chapter analyzes the roles of OGD utilization stakeholders and divided them into data provider who is responsible for data collection and verification;data aggregator who summarizes the data;data developer / enricher who develops and uses the data to catalyze the data products and services;relevant security provider who provides funds,technology and hardware support;users of data products and services who directly use the OGD products or services.This finding lays a foundation for identifying barriers to OGD utilization.(3)Identify obstacles to the use of OGD in ChinaBased on the government service providing model,the content analysis is used to identify the stakeholders and obstacles in the process of OGD utilization in China.They are divided into six categories: external environment,collaborative goals and willingness,data supply and demand collaboration,organization and management collaboration,interactive collaboration,and collaborative effectiveness.On this basis,a face-to-face semi-structured interview is conducted with government departments,enterprises and data development teams,non-profit organizations,and citizens in Shanghai,Guiyang,Wuhan,Shenzhen,Ningbo,etc.Obstacles in the process of open government data utilization are identified.Seven new obstacles were discovered during the interview:Low data credibility;The data acquisition and utilization require certain conditions;The government should give more guidance on the scenario of opening government data applications;The data application rules and regulations are unclear;The financial and human support required from the maintenance of the information system are insufficient.Finally,44 obstacle factors in the use of OGD in China are concluded.(4)Establish a dependency network for barriers to OGD utilization in ChinaAfter clarifying obstacles faced by stakeholders in the use of OGD,the interrelationship between obstacles is generated by interviews.Through social network analysis,an OGD utilization barrier dependency network is constructed.By using Ucinet and Gephi software,visualization graphs are generated.With the help of network indicators including out-degree,degree difference,ego network size,betweenness centrality,out-status centrality,and brokerage,key barriers with high influence in the barrier network are located.The intermediary centrality index is used to evaluate the importance of barrier interaction and determine relationship between key barriers.On this basis,the causal relationship behind these key barriers is discussed.(5)Put forward the cooperative governance guarantee mechanism of OGD utilization in ChinaOn the basis of the dependency network of barrier for OGD utilization in China,the key barriers and the relationships are identified among the network.Referring to Chinese development situation,this paper proposes a collaborative governancemechanism for OGD utilization in China.The first solution is to apply coordinated development strategy among different systems,including improving the legal systems and policy systems,strengthening platform construction,and maintaining the information system;Second,promote the coordination of purpose,including increasing awareness of OGD’s value,recognizing the role of collaborative governance in data utilization,balancing the OGD utilization goals of stakeholders.Third,achieve synergy between data supply and demand,including ensuring the supply a quantity of data with good quality,strengthening alignment of data supply and demand,and strengthening data security and privacy protection.Fourth,strengthen organization and management coordination,including establishing a strong leadership coordination mechanism,optimizing the government’s cross-department coordination mechanism,improving the evaluation and supervision mechanism,and setting up a reasonable and effective incentive mechanism.Fifth,pay attention to interactive collaboration,including carrying out a full range of publicity to the public,providing diversified ways of participation,promoting the participation of non-profit organizations,improving participation capabilities,and clarifying the data application system.Lastly,enhance synergy,including the development of competitive data products and services,promoting the implementation and sustainable development of data applications,and establishing a long-term mechanism for open government data utilization. |
