<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><sec><h3>Purpose</h3><p>This paper aims to assess if the extent of openness and the coverage of data sets released by European governments have a significant impact on citizen trust in public institutions.</p></sec><sec><h3>Design/methodology/approach</h3><p>Data for openness and coverage have been collected from the Open Data Inventory 2018 (ODIN), by Open Data Watch; institutional trust is built up as a formative construct based on the European Social Survey (ESS), Round 9. The relations between the open government data features and trust have been tested on the basis of structural equation modelling (SEM).</p></sec><sec><h3>Findings</h3><p>The paper reveals that as European governments improve data openness, disaggregation, and time coverage, people tend to trust them more. However, the size of the effect is still small and, comparatively, data coverage effect on citizens’ confidence is more than twice than the impact of openness.</p></sec><sec><h3>Research limitations</h3><p>This paper analyzes the causal effect of Open Government Data (OGD) features captured in a certain moment of time. In upcoming years, as OGD is implemented and a more consistent effect on people is expected, time series analysis will provide with a deeper insight.</p></sec><sec><h3>Practical implications</h3><p>Public officers should continue working in the development of a technological framework that contributes to make OGD truly open. They should improve the added value of the increasing amount of open data currently available in order to boost internal and external innovations valuable both for public agencies and citizens.</p></sec><sec><h3>Originality/value</h3><p>In a field of knowledge with little quantitative empirical evidence, this paper provides updated support for the positive effect of OGD strategies and it also points out areas of improvement in terms of the value that citizens can get from OGD coverage and openness.</p></sec></abstract>

PurposeThis paper aims to assess if the extent of openness and the coverage of data sets released by European governments have a significant impact on citizen trust in public institutions.Design/methodology/approachData for openness and coverage have been collected from the Open Data Inventory 2018 (ODIN), by Open Data Watch; institutional trust is built up as a formative construct based on the European Social Survey (ESS), Round 9. The relations between the open government data features and trust have been tested on the basis of structural equation modelling (SEM).FindingsThe paper reveals that as European governments improve data openness, disaggregation, and time coverage, people tend to trust them more. However, the size of the effect is still small and, comparatively, data coverage effect on citizens’ confidence is more than twice than the impact of openness.Research limitationsThis paper analyzes the causal effect of Open Government Data (OGD) features captured in a certain moment of time. In upcoming years, as OGD is implemented and a more consistent effect on people is expected, time series analysis will provide with a deeper insight.Practical implicationsPublic officers should continue working in the development of a technological framework that contributes to make OGD truly open. They should improve the added value of the increasing amount of open data currently available in order to boost internal and external innovations valuable both for public agencies and citizens.Originality/valueIn a field of knowledge with little quantitative empirical evidence, this paper provides updated support for the positive effect of OGD strategies and it also points out areas of improvement in terms of the value that citizens can get from OGD coverage and openness.

Government Data Openness and Coverage. How do They Affect Trust in European Countries?

San Antonio Catholic University of Murcia

Faculty of Law and Business Administration

Journal of Data and Information Science

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

PurposeThis paper aims to assess if the extent of openness and the coverage of data sets released by European governments have a significant impact on citizen...

Government Data Openness and Coverage. How do They Affect Trust in European Countries?

Article Category: Research Paper

Published Online: Jan 27, 2021

Page range: 139 - 153

Received: Aug 12, 2020

Accepted: Nov 19, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jdis-2021-0010

Keywords
Open government data, Open data, Trust, Public policy

© 2021 Nicolás Gonzálvez-Gallego et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Government Data Openness and Coverage. How do They Affect Trust in European Countries?

Article Category: Research Paper

Published Online: Jan 27, 2021

Page range: 139 - 153

Received: Aug 12, 2020

Accepted: Nov 19, 2020

DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/jdis-2021-0010

KeywordsOpen government data, Open data, Trust, Public policy

© 2021 Nicolás Gonzálvez-Gallego et al., published by Sciendo

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Keywords
Open government data, Open data, Trust, Public policy