The Power Dynamics of Big and Open Data

At a recent CDI brown-bag discussion on data-intensive development, we hypothesised a mirror-image power dynamic between big data and open data.

Open data has an inherent tendency to redistribute power from the few (who originally hold the data) to the many (who can now access the data).  It supports sousveillance.  Big data has an inherent tendency in the opposite direction.  It gathers data about the many but only the few have the power to capture, store, process, interpret and use that big data.  It supports surveillance.

The extent to which these are inherent affordances of these data systems vs. the extent to which these tendencies are inscribed into those data systems is a matter for further debate.  But what it does suggest is that big data per se is more reproductive than transformative of power inequalities within society.  Think of the way in which major users of big data – social media platforms, e-business multinationals, telecommunication companies – operate.  Their uses of big data reinforce inequality much more than they challenge it.

One way to address this is to reverse the power dynamic flow shown above: big data must become open data.  This could happen in various ways:

• Big data as open data: big datasets are made openly available online in accessible format (as in all cases, with due consideration for data privacy and security).
• Big data as shared data: big datasets are made available to particular organisations (e.g. those of civil society).
• Big data as small data: sub-sets of big datasets are shared with the sources of that data for their use (e.g. the particular communities or groups from which the big data derived).

But what will make a reversal happen?  To understand this, we need to study open data motivations: what causes organisations to open their datasets?  Reviewing our knowledge of open data, we could not find examples of intrinsic motivations driving adoption of open data.  Instead, drivers to opening of big datasets seem likely to be extrinsic:

• For public sector owners of big data, domestic political economy (e.g. local campaigns for access to data; economic benefits from creation of a local data economy) and external political economy (e.g. encouraging foreign investment through a reputation for openness).
• For private sector owners of big data, government regulation to force opening of datasets, or shareholder/consumer pressure.

Without such extrinsic pressures and the openness that ensues, big data may not deliver its developmental potential.

Follow @CDIManchester

 

Stakeholder Analysis of Open Government Data Initiatives

Many different actors are involved in open government data (OGD) initiatives, and it can be hard to understand the different roles they play.

Stakeholder analysis can help, such as mapping onto a power-interest grid (see example below).  This analyses stakeholders according to their power to impact the development and implementation of open government data, and their level of interest in OGD.  The former measured via a typical sources-of-power checklist: reward, coercive, legitimate, expert, personal, informational, affiliative.  The latter measured via text analysis of stakeholder statements.

Primary stakeholders are “those who have formal, official, or contractual relationships and have a direct and necessary… impact” (Savage et al., 1991:62). Others who affect or are affected by OGD but less formally and directly and essentially, can be categorised as secondary.

Applying this to Chile’s open government data initiative produced the mapping shown in the figure.

 

We can draw two conclusions.  First, that OGD in Chile has been mostly determined from within government. Second, that it has otherwise been shaped rather more by international than national forces.

Three absent stakeholders can be noted:

• The local private sector is not an active part of the ecosystem at present, restricting options to derive economic value from OGD.
• Citizens are not active in discussion or use of open government data, restricting options to derive political value from OGD.
• Multinational firms and investors are not directly involved, but have a tertiary role: they are an audience to whom the presence and progress of OGD is sometimes projected.

In sum, this is an “inwards and upwards” pattern of open government data which is shaping OGD’s trajectory in the country.  Government is the “sun” and other stakeholders merely “planets”, so that perspectives and agendas within government dominate. One agenda is to broadcast signals of democracy to the outside world.

In facing “upwards” to these external stakeholders, what matters most is an appearance of transparency. This can be satisfied by the presence of datasets, some empowerment and accountability rhetoric in pronouncements, and membership of the Open Government Partnership and adherence to its minimum standards. This is not to say that government stakeholders care nothing for delivery of results; simply that the external audience-related incentives are much stronger for appearance than fulfilment.

Stakeholder analysis should therefore be a fundamental tool for open government data researchers and practitioners; helping them to understand the identities, strengths and weaknesses of key OGD actors.

This research is reported in more detail in: Gonzalez-Zapata, F. & Heeks, R. (2015) The multiple meanings of open government data: understanding different stakeholders and their perspectives, Government Information Quarterly, 32(4), 441-452

Follow @CDIManchester

The Multiple Meanings of Open Government Data

Many different stakeholders are engaged with open government data (OGD) initiatives, and they understand OGD differently.  In what way?

Recent research from the University of Manchester’s Centre for Development Informatics identifies four different perspectives that derive from OGD’s conceptual foundations (see figure):

• The bureaucratic perspective – associated with ideas of government data – sees OGD as a government policy that uses greater data management efficiency and effectiveness to improve public service delivery.
• The technological perspective – associated with ideas of open data – sees OGD as a technological innovation that improves the functional qualities of government data infrastructure.
• The political perspective – associated with ideas of open government – sees OGD as akin to a fundamental right that will empower citizens and improve transparency and accountability of government to citizens.
• The economic perspective – emergent from the ideas of open government data itself – sees OGD as a means to create additional economic value through new products and services.

This perspectives model was applied – via template analysis of text from reports and interviews – to analyse open government data in Chile, which was one of the second cohort of Open Government Partnership members.

Analysis showed a dominance of bureaucratic and political perspectives. The technological and economic perspectives are present but they are not really incorporated into the mainstream discourse around policy and strategy on OGD in Chile. This reflects the lack of voice for technical experts and private firms within that discourse.

Looking at the two principal perspectives, there is the sense of a mirror image. The bureaucratic perspective is strongest within government and is shared to some degree by international organisations and local activists. The political perspective is strongest outside government via international organisations and local activists and is shared to some degree by government stakeholders.

Within government, the political perspective is used particularly for outwards messages around the values of OGD that are broadcast to international stakeholders.  But the bureaucratic perspective prevails in internal discourse around the administration and implementation of OGD.  With the bureaucratic perspective therefore dominating implementation, it can be argued that the political perspective reflects aspiration but the bureaucratic perspective reflects reality; a reality that has therefore not yet fully delivered on the political or economic potential of OGD.

Using this analytical model as a lens to examine specific OGD contexts will help those involved understand themselves, those they work with, and how best to manage the different identities and values of all OGD stakeholders.  We therefore invite others to repeat this perspectives analysis in other countries.

This research is reported in more detail in: Gonzalez-Zapata, F. & Heeks, R. (2015) The multiple meanings of open government data: understanding different stakeholders and their perspectives, Government Information Quarterly, 32(4), 441-452

Follow @CDIManchester