Affiliations: VU University, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
Note: [] Corresponding author: Henk Koerten, VU University, De Boelelaan
1081, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands. Tel.: +31 020 59 86740; Fax: + 31 020
598 6765; E-mail: [email protected]
Abstract: The success of Google Maps suggests that free access to public
sector information (PSI) contributes to a prosperous economy. Although
considerable attention has been paid to the legal and economic aspects of
policies on public sector information (PSI), also known as open data (OD), the
organizational consequences regarding the nature and shape of the public sector
are rarely anticipated. We develop a framework to analyse organizational
settings by comparing policies and outcomes of PSI reuse in EU member states.
In many discussions on PSI reuse, government is treated as a unitary phenomenon
with a single voice. We found considerable differences among EU member states
concerning the implementation of PSI policies and indications that they are
connected with the nature of the public sector in a specific state. Therefore
we suggest that policies on PSI reuse to stimulate economic prosperity should
be developed which take the specific national setting into consideration. When
national government develops policies aimed simply at disclosing PSI without
paying attention to the development of PSI reuse arenas, it runs the risk of
unleashing narratives of control within the public sector, preventing them from
releasing the innovative potential that PSI reuse intrinsically possesses.
Keywords: Public sector information reuse, Europe, public administration, organizational change