Do open government data (OGD) portals show signs of knowledge management (KM) practices? An empirical investigation

Open Government Data (OGD) is a build-up of the data accumulated in the government organizations pertaining to the structural and functional dimensions and it is imperative for OGD to be high-value for facilitating value creation and innovation. The present study purports to provide a launchpad to the aforementioned truism by advancing the concept of Open Government Data Capital (OGDC) resting on the principles of Knowledge Management (KM) given that the high-value OGD can result only with the engagement of the concerned administrative agencies in knowledge sharing for being made accessible for wider use via dedicated web portals. To drive home the arguments, an empirical investigation is conducted with four top-notch countries, viz., Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the United States, in terms of the quantitative evaluation of their OGD portals’ quality and inferences are drawn as to how OGDC may be furthered with the provision and maintenance of high-value datasets. Thus, it is shown that the Australian OGD portal is qualitatively robust and leads in terms of OGDC which may be beefed up with more integration of the KM practices in terms of the inter-governmental agencies’ coordination and the other countries are lagging behind in terms of the quality parameters. While little attention has been paid towards the integration of KM in the OGD realm, the present study is a step forward in this direction.