Social enablers and constraints related to the publication and use of open government data in a developing country

Abstract

The promise of Open Government Data (OGD) rests on the publication, availability, use and reuse of government data. This research focused on how social factors such as data ownership, network creation and power enabled or constrained the publication and use of OGD in Ghana, a developing country in West Africa. Ghana’s government data was expected to be both legally and technically open. However, socially constructed behavioral patterns and practices such as power, data ownership and network creation played critical roles in influencing the institutionalization of OGD in Ghana. An interpretive descriptive case study analysis helps understand how social processes influenced the institutionalization of OGD publication and use in Ghana. Giddens’ Structuration Theory was used as the main theoretical lens in this study because of its ability to investigate the dynamic interplay between social agency and social structures. Findings from the study indicated that power within Ghana’s OGD ecosystem is associated with legitimatized practices and behaviors such as data ownership, culture and networks.