Generating Value from Open Government Data

A driving force for change in society is the trend towards Open Government Data (OGD). While the value generated by OGD has been widely discussed by public bodies and other stakeholders, little attention has been paid to this phenomenon in the academic literature. Hence, we developed a conceptual model portraying how data as a resource can be transformed to value. We show the causal relationships between four contextual, enabling factors, four types of value generation mechanisms and value. We use empirical data from 61 countries to test these relationships, using the PLS method. The results mostly support the hypothesized relationships. Our conclusion is that if openness is complemented with resource governance, capabilities in society and technical connectivity, use of OGD will stimulate the generation of economic and social value through four different archetypical mechanisms: Efficiency, Innovation, Transparency and Participation

Top management perception towards green innovation implementation in government-linked companies

The focus of this study is to explore the top management perception towards green innovation implementation in the Government-Linked Companies by understanding: (i) the impact of green concept on innovation implementation in the company and its directives, (ii) how top management value green innovation and their leadership attributes, (iii) innovation that is widely diffused, and (iv) the significance of green innovation to organizational sustainability. The participants involved were top managers from two Government-Linked Investment Companies, 11 Government-Linked Companies and two Multinational Companies. Purposive sampling technique was chosen to select the people to be interviewed, and multiple-case sampling was chosen for organizations because it added certainty to findings. The interviews transcriptions were transferred to the NVivo, a computer assisted qualitative data analysis systems (CAQDAS), to help in data managing and themes generating. Open-coding resulted in 67 unique codes and were reduced to axial coding (major themes) and further collapsed into four group themes of selective coding. Findings of the study indicated that green innovation implementation concept had an impact on image and future projects allocation by the government. The study also revealed that the top management was responsible for green innovation directives due to companies' bottom lines. The finding also showed that data fitted the working model for leadership attributes by combining Situational Leadership and Strategic Leadership into Eco-Situational Strategic Leadership where sustainability was positioned as an opportunity for dominant foundation of competitive advantage and corporate survival especially when technological green innovation was widely diffused in the companies. This study also proposed the Green Pinnacle Model to understand the significance of green innovation to organizational sustainabilit

Alternative Modes of Financing Higher Education in Nigeria and the Implications for University Governance

Under-funding has been identified as one of the major problems presently facing the university system in most of the African nations, Nigeria inclusive. The study documented both financing and expenditure patterns in the Nigerian universities, and found that most monies, which go on direct teaching, are in fact used for the payment of salaries and entitlements of staff

Bringing Foundations and Governments Closer - Evidence from Mexico

The recommendations formulated in the study provide the basis for close and effective cooperation between Mexican foundations and government agencies, including the Mexican Agency for International Development Co-operation, Agencia Mexicana de Cooperación Internacional para el Desarrollo (AMEXCID). The study expands the spectrum of key development partners for a co-operation agency of the South. Similarly, it has been recognised that not only governments, but all actors, including foundations, must co-operate and assume their respective responsibilities in order to achieve the SDGs

Geração de Valor a partir de Dados Governamentais Abertos no Setor Público

O governo aberto envolve princípios de transparência, participação, colaboração e uma série de iniciativas impulsionadas por governos, o que acaba por conferir-lhe um caráter multidimensional, despertando crescente interesse da comunidade acadêmica. No âmbito do governo aberto, os dados governamentais abertos assumem importante destaque, uma vez que são considerados um recurso compartilhado comum, público e estratégico, fornecido pelo governo e seus órgãos públicos, podendo serem usados para uma série de finalidades, com grande potencial para beneficiar diversas partes interessadas. Entretanto, as pesquisas realizadas nessa área enfocam as empresas, os empreendedores privados e os indivíduos como as principais partes interessadas na transformação de dados em valor. A lógica de que o setor público é apenas provedor de dados e o setor privado é o inovador — a parte interessada em transformar dados governamentais abertos em valor — é questionada na presente tese. O propósito desta investigação é analisar os fatores e as suas relações envolvidas na geração de valor a partir do uso de dados governamentais abertos no setor público, o que, de certa forma, configura uma ruptura paradigmática com o pensamento vigente, pois gera implicações diretas, que podem ser traduzidas em inovação, transformação digital e estímulo a uma cultura de um setor público orientado a dados. Para tanto, esta tese desenvolve cinco estudos. Uma análise bibliométrica e quatro estudos quantitativos, com diferentes procedimentos metodológicos aplicados. O primeiro estudo consiste em uma análise de redes bibliométricas do tema governo aberto, utilizando-se as bases WoS e Scopus. O segundo estudo (piloto), de método quantitativo, tem um caráter experimental e aplica um questionário impresso aos pró-reitores de instituições federais de ensino superior no Brasil. O terceiro, quarto e quinto estudos, de naturezas quantitativas, empregam um questionário on-line aos servidores públicos federais do Brasil, com o intuito de testar a escala de medição, avaliar o modelo de pesquisa e testar as relações entre as variáveis em estudos, respectivamente. Os resultados da investigação revelam que a pesquisa atual se concentra em dados governamentais abertos, governo digital e engajamento cívico, e que a base de conhecimento científico do tema governo aberto é formada por estudos centrados em dados governamentais abertos. O teste piloto desenvolvido mostra-se uma estratégia fundamental para o planejamento e desenvolvimento do instrumento de medição, permitindo prosseguir com o processo de operacionalização da escala multidimensional. A escala da geração de valor a partir de dados governamentais abertos entrega uma ferramenta útil e válida que pode ser aproveitada por pesquisadores e gestores públicos para estudar diferentes variáveis organizacionais e individuais em outros contextos. Uma estrutura integrativa da geração de valor decorrente do uso de dados governamentais abertos no contexto do setor público é apresentada e oferece um importante começo para entender as condições que proporcionam o uso de dados governamentais abertos, especialmente ao identificar e testar o efeito dos fatores organizacionais, fatores individuais e fatores facilitadores dentro das organizações públicas. Finalmente, os achados confirmam o papel da capacidade de absorção e que as organizações públicas precisam investir em parcerias estratégicas para construir um ecossistema que gere e dissemine conhecimento para, assim, melhorar a capacidade de absorção. Por fim, esta tese destaca o papel dos dados governamentais abertos no contexto do governo aberto, aponta os fatores envolvidos no uso e na geração de valor pelo setor público a partir desses dados, além de evidenciar a importância que a capacidade de absorção assume nesse processo, trazendo implicações diretas e encorajando investigadores e organizações públicas a avançar na pesquisa e no uso de dados, reconhecendo-os como um verdadeiro ativo e parte fundamental para governos e suas organizações públicas aperfeiçoarem a formulação de políticas, a prestação de serviços ao cidadão, assim como a melhoria da gestão organizacional e inovação.Open government involves principles of transparency, participation, collaboration, and a series of initiatives promoted by governments, which end up giving it a multidimensional character, arousing growing interest from the academic community. In the scope of open government, open government data assume an important prominence, since it is considered a common shared resource, public and strategic, provided by the government and its public bodies and that can be used for several purposes, with great potential to benefit several interested parts. However, research carried out in this area focuses on companies, private entrepreneurs, and individuals as the main stakeholders in transforming data into value. The logic that the public sector is just a data provider, and the private sector is the innovator — the stakeholder in turning open government data into value — is challenged in this thesis. The purpose of this investigation is to analyze the factors and their relationships involved in generating value from the use of open government data in the public sector, which in a way configures a paradigmatic break with current thinking, as it generates direct implications, which can be translated into innovation, digital transformation and in the stimulation of a culture of a Data-Driven Public Sector. Therefore, this thesis develops five studies. A bibliometric analysis and four quantitative studies with different methodological procedures applied. The first study consists of an analysis of bibliometric networks on the topic of open government, by using WoS and Scopus databases. The second (pilot) study, using a quantitative method, is experimental and applies a printed questionnaire to deans of federal higher education institutions in Brazil. The third, fourth and fifth studies, being of quantitative nature, employ an online questionnaire to federal public servants in Brazil, aiming at testing the measurement scale, evaluating the research model, and testing the relationships between the variables in the studies, respectively. The investigation results show that current research focuses on open government data, digital government, and civic engagement, and that the scientific knowledge base of the open government theme is formed by studies centered on open government data. The pilot test developed proved to be a fundamental strategy for the planning and development of the measuring instrument, allowing to proceed with the process of operationalizing the multidimensional scale. The scale of generating value from open government data provides a useful and valid tool that researchers and public managers can take advantage of to study different organizational and individual variables in other contexts. An integrative framework for the generation of value arising from the use of open government data in the context of the public sector is presented and offers an important start to understanding the conditions that provide for the use of open government data, especially when identifying and testing the effect of organizational factors, individual factors and enabling factors within public organizations. Eventually, the findings confirm the role of absorptive capacity and public organizations need to invest in strategic partnerships to build an ecosystem that generates and disseminates knowledge and thus improve absorptive capacity. Finally, this thesis highlights the role of open government data in the context of open government, points out the factors involved in the use and generation of value by the public sector from these data, in addition to highlighting the importance that the absorptive capacity assumes in this process, bringing direct implications and encouraging researchers and public organizations to advance in research and the use of data, recognizing them as a true asset and a fundamental part for governments and their public organizations to the improvement policy formulation, the provision of services to the citizen, as well as the improvement of organizational management and innovation

Department of Trade and Industry Energy Review Consultation 2006: Submission by Open University Energy & Environment Research Unit

The Open University Energy and Environment Research Unit has, since its foundation in 1986, focussed on a range of sustainable energy technologies on a variety of scales, from large to small, in the belief that a sustainable energy system will require contributions at all scales. So while we support, for example, the development of microgeneration and improvements in energy efficiency in buildings, we also believe that larger-scale projects, in particular offshore wind and city-wide combined heat and power (CHP), have a major role to play in a sustainable energy future. This submission is in two parts: Part One proposes a major expansion in the UK's offshore wind programme. Part Two proposes a major expansion in Combined Heat and Power (CHP)

Outcomes for youth work : coming of age or master’s bidding?

Abstract Providing evidence in youth work is a current and important debate. Modern youth work has, at least to some degree, recognised the need to produce practice information, through its various guises, with limited success as requirements and terminology have continually changed. In Scotland, the current demands for youth work to “prove” itself are through a performance management system that promotes outcome-based practice. There are some difficulties with this position because outcome-based practice lacks methodological rigour, is aligned with national governmental commitments and does not adequately capture the impact of youth work practice. This paper argues that youth workers need to develop both a theoretical and methodological approach to data collection and management,which is in keeping with practice values, captures the voice of the young person and enhances youth work practice. Youth work should not be used as a mechanism to deliver the government’s policies but be liberated from centralist control to become a “free practice” so that some of the perennial problems, such as democratic disillusionment, partly caused by this “performance management industry”, can be effectively dealt with. The generation of evidence for youth work should enable it to freely investigate and capture its impact, within the practice, based on the learning that has taken place, the articulation of the learners’ voice with the most appropriate form of data presentation

The economic and innovation contribution of universities: a regional perspective

Universities and other higher education institutions (HEIs) have come to be regarded as key sources of knowledge utilisable in the pursuit of economic growth. Although there have been numerous studies assessing the economic and innovation impact of HEIs, there has been little systematic analysis of differences in the relative contribution of HEIs across regions. This paper provides an exploration of some of these differences in the context of the UK’s regions. Significant differences are found in the wealth generated by universities according to regional location and type of institution. Universities in more competitive regions are generally more productive than those located in less competitive regions. Also, traditional universities are generally more productive than their newer counterparts, with university productivity positively related to knowledge commercialisation capabilities. Weaker regions tend to be more dependent on their universities for income and innovation, but often these universities under-perform in comparison to counterpart institutions in more competitive regions. It is argued that uncompetitive regions lack the additional knowledge infrastructure, besides universities, that are more commonly a feature of more competitive regions

Recent evidence on the impact of electricity liberalisation on consumer prices

This report reviews recent evidence on the impact of the Electricity Directive on prices