Exploring the factors that influence adoption of open government data for commercial service ...

388 Pages·2017·5.5 MB·English

by  Giovanni Maccani

Exploring the factors that influence
adoption of open government data for

commercial service innovation in cities

Giovanni Maccani

PhD 2016
ii
Exploring the factors that influence
adoption of open government data for

commercial service innovation in cities
Giovanni Maccani
Thesis for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Maynooth University, Maynooth, Co. Kildare, Ireland
School of Business
September 2016

Head of School: Professor Peter McNamara
Supervisor of Research: Professor Brian Donnellan
Co-Supervisor of Research: Doctor Markus Helfert

iii
Abstract
City councils produce large amounts of data. As this data becomes available, and as information and
communication technology capabilities are in place to manage and exploit huge amount of data, open
government data is seen as becoming more and more valuable in several contexts. Information
Systems (IS) research on open data has been primarily focused on its contribution to e-government
inquiries, government transparency, and open government. Recently, open data has been explored as
a catalyst for service innovation as a consequence of claims around the potential of such initiatives in
terms of additional value that can be injected into the worldwide economy. Subsequently, there is an
active open data services academic conversation among IS researchers. Notwithstanding this, the
evidence of impacts of open data adoption is largely scattered and anecdotal. A systematic literature
review study highlighted the underexplored users’ perspective within this field. On the other hand,
previous research demonstrates that existing IS adoption theories should be extended as currently “a
large part of the variance in the use of open data technologies is not yet explained” (Zuiderwijk et al.
2015, p.437). To address these gaps, an interpretive multiple case study was carried out to explore
the factors that influence the adoption of open data for commercial service innovation in cities. In
particular, factors influencing this process were inductively derived from the in-depth investigation of
three organizations that achieved sustained adoption of open data for the delivery of commercial
services across different cities and industries.
This research contributes to the IS open data services debate by proposing a model of factors
perceived by open data services businesses as the most relevant in explaining adoption of open
government data for commercial service innovation in cities. Adopting an inductive reasoning
approach through qualitative methods enabled the generation of thick descriptions that were
extracted, clustered, defined, and validated for each component of the model. This approach was
critical to capture the complexity of the open data ecosystem perceived by those re-using this data.
With respect to IS adoption theories, by positioning the cross-case findings within those theoretical
elements defined in the literature as predicting adoption of IS, a new enriched model has been
formulated and is proposed as a contribution to this theoretical debate. Furthermore, this research
demonstrates the suitability of interpretive multiple case study research to inductively generate
knowledge in this field.
I expect that the findings of this study will be leveraged for stimulating and encouraging successful use
of open data, therefore increasing the value of this source as a catalyst for service innovation.
Recommendations to city councils are also proposed from the findings of this research.
iv
Acknowledgements
Both my parents, Claudio and Franca, have worked very hard to ensure I have every opportunity in
life. This is as much a product of their work as it is mine. This extends to my brother Federico who has
never ceased to support and love me.
My heartfelt thanks to Paulina for her unwavering encouragement and fate as well as her patience
and understanding.
I would like to express my profound sense of gratitude to my supervisors Professor Brian Donnellan
and Doctor Markus Helfert for their constant constructive insights and inspirations throughout the
course of this PhD project.
I am grateful to Prof Piero Formica who introduced me to Maynooth University, Intel Corporation, my
supervisors of research, and, more generally, to the research world. It was because of Piero that I have
started this program.
I acknowledge that this work wouldn’t have been possible without the greatly thoughtful help from
Prof Anne Huff across all stages of my PhD research program.
A special thanks to Dr David Prendergast, Jim Kenneally, and Prof Martin Curley from Intel for their
input and for the great opportunities they have given me during these years.
Thanks to my annual reviewer Prof. Robert Galavan, Dr. Paul Donovan, and Dr. John Cullen for their
time in seriously reviewing my work and for providing incredibly valuable feedback.
I especially thank Edward O’Connor for being a great friend during this period. Thanks also to Tadhg
Charleton and Reka Petercsak.
I appreciate and acknowledge the contributions to this research from the Business Informatics Group
(BIG) at Dublin City University and particulalry I would like to thank Dr Martin Meyer, Dr
Plamen Petkov, Phelim Murnion, Dr Karen Carey, Patrick Brandtner, Dr Shuyan Xie, Dr Owen Foley, Dr
Mouzhi Ge, and Dr. Lukasz Ostrowski.
Sincere thanks to all participants in this research; to all interviewees, Dublin City Council, and
particularly thanks to all the representatives of the cases for their precious, serious, and proactive
collaboration.
Last but not least, I would like to acknowledge the generous support and funding received from the
Irish Research Council and Intel Corporation for the award which made undertaking my doctoral study
possible.

v
Table of Contents
1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................... 1
1.1 Thesis Structure ...................................................................................................................... 2
1.2 Open Data ............................................................................................................................... 4
1.3 Open Data Services ................................................................................................................. 6
1.4 Research Domain and Contribution ........................................................................................ 8
2 SYSTEMATIC LITERATURE REVIEW AND RESEARCH GAP .............................................................. 10
2.1 Eight-Step Systematic Literature Review .............................................................................. 10
2.2 Purpose of the Literature Review, Protocol and Training ..................................................... 10
2.3 Searching for the Literature .................................................................................................. 11
2.4 Data Extraction and Data Synthesis ...................................................................................... 14
2.4.1 Group A – Supply Side ................................................................................................... 15
2.4.2 Group B – Supply and Demand Side ............................................................................. 17
2.4.3 Group C – Demand Side ................................................................................................ 19
2.5 Critical Discussion on Existing Open Data Services’ Literature ............................................. 22
2.5.1 Discussing papers on Adoption of Open Data .............................................................. 23
2.5.2 Research Gap ................................................................................................................ 27
2.6 Research Question ................................................................................................................ 28
2.7 Chapter Summary ................................................................................................................. 29
3 RESEARCH APPROACH AND METHODOLOGY ............................................................................... 30
3.1 Philosophical Underpinnings ................................................................................................ 31
3.1.1 Choosing a suitable Research Philosophy ..................................................................... 33
3.1.2 Social Constructionism .................................................................................................. 35
3.2 Research Reasoning .............................................................................................................. 37
3.3 Research Approach ............................................................................................................... 38
3.4 Choosing a suitable Research Methodology ......................................................................... 39
3.4.1 Action Research ............................................................................................................ 40
3.4.2 Ethnographic Research ................................................................................................. 40
3.4.3 Grounded Theory .......................................................................................................... 41
3.4.4 Phenomenological Research ......................................................................................... 42
3.4.5 Narrative Research ........................................................................................................ 42
3.4.6 Case Study Research ..................................................................................................... 43
3.5 Rationale behind Adopting Multiple Case Study Research .................................................. 43
3.6 Theories on Adoption of IS and their role within this study ................................................. 45
vi
3.6.1 Role of theory in inductive multiple case studies ......................................................... 45
3.6.2 Reflections on current adoption theories and positioning within this study ............... 47
3.7 Multiple Case Study Research Protocol ................................................................................ 51
3.8 Case Study Selection ............................................................................................................. 53
3.9 Single Case Study Protocol .................................................................................................... 55
3.10 Data Collection Methods ...................................................................................................... 58
3.10.1 Observation – Informal Meetings ................................................................................. 58
3.10.2 Documents Analysis ...................................................................................................... 59
3.10.3 Qualitative Interview .................................................................................................... 59
3.10.4 The Semi-Structured Interview Protocol ...................................................................... 61
3.10.5 Addressing Potential Pitfalls of the Method ................................................................. 64
3.10.6 Single Cases – Validation ............................................................................................... 66
3.11 Trustworthiness of Multiple Case Study ............................................................................... 67
3.12 Single Cases: Qualitative Data Analysis ................................................................................. 68
3.13 Single Case Study Report ...................................................................................................... 73
3.14 Cross-Case Analysis ............................................................................................................... 74
3.15 Cross-Case Analysis Philosophical Consistency ..................................................................... 75
3.16 Merging the Cases Findings and CCTA Development ........................................................... 76
3.17 Validation across Cases ......................................................................................................... 78
3.17.1 Validation Participants .................................................................................................. 79
3.17.2 Review of the Preliminary Cross-Case Findings and additional Data Collection .......... 82
3.17.3 Review of Retained Variables ....................................................................................... 83
3.18 Positioning Cross-Case Assertions within the Literature ...................................................... 84
3.19 Chapter Summary ................................................................................................................. 85
4 CASE STUDY A REPORT .................................................................................................................. 86
4.1 Introduction to Case A .......................................................................................................... 86
4.2 Contextualization of Methods .............................................................................................. 89
4.3 Case A Analysis ...................................................................................................................... 91
4.3.1 External Factors Analysis ............................................................................................... 91
4.3.2 Perceptions Analysis ..................................................................................................... 92
4.3.3 Adoption Process Analysis ............................................................................................ 93
4.3.4 Validation Meeting ........................................................................................................ 94
4.4 Case A Findings ..................................................................................................................... 95
4.4.1 External Factors............................................................................................................. 95
vii
4.4.2 Perceptions ................................................................................................................. 105
4.4.3 Adoption Stages .......................................................................................................... 113
4.5 Case Study A Conclusions: Adoption Factors Variables and Links ...................................... 115
5 CASE STUDY B REPORT ................................................................................................................ 118
5.1 Introduction to Case B ........................................................................................................ 118
5.2 Contextualization of Methods ............................................................................................ 122
5.3 Case B Analysis .................................................................................................................... 124
5.3.1 External Factors Analysis ............................................................................................. 124
5.3.2 Perceptions Analysis ................................................................................................... 125
5.3.3 Adoption Process Analysis .......................................................................................... 126
5.3.4 Validation Meeting ...................................................................................................... 127
5.4 Case B Findings .................................................................................................................... 128
5.4.1 External Factors........................................................................................................... 128
5.4.2 Perceptions ................................................................................................................. 142
5.4.3 Adoption Stages .......................................................................................................... 155
5.5 Case Study B Conclusions: Adoption Factors Variables and Links ...................................... 157
6 CASE STUDY C REPORT ................................................................................................................ 160
6.1 Introduction to Case C ........................................................................................................ 160
6.2 Contextualization of Methods ............................................................................................ 163
6.3 Case C Analysis .................................................................................................................... 165
6.3.1 External Factors Analysis ............................................................................................. 166
6.3.2 Perceptions Analysis ................................................................................................... 167
6.3.3 Adoption Process Analysis .......................................................................................... 168
6.3.4 Validation Meetings .................................................................................................... 169
6.4 Case C Findings .................................................................................................................... 170
6.4.1 External Factors........................................................................................................... 171
6.4.2 Case C Perceptions ...................................................................................................... 186
6.4.3 Case C Adoption Stages ............................................................................................... 198
6.5 Case Study C Conclusions: Adoption Factors Variables and Links ...................................... 200
7 CROSS-CASE FINDINGS ................................................................................................................ 203
7.1 Cross-Case Analysis Process: CCTA Development .............................................................. 204
7.1.1 External Factors CCTA Development .......................................................................... 204
7.1.2 Perceptions Factors CCTA Development .................................................................... 207
7.1.3 Adoption Stages CCTA Development .......................................................................... 211
viii
7.2 External Factors Cross-Case Assertions .............................................................................. 213
7.3 Perceptions Cross-Case Assertions ..................................................................................... 234
7.4 Adoption Stages across Cases ............................................................................................. 253
7.5 Cross-Case Conclusions: Adoption Factors Variables and Links ......................................... 257
8 POSITIONING THE FINDINGS WITHIN THE LITERATURE ............................................................. 259
8.1 Positioning Findings within the Open Data Services Literature .......................................... 259
8.1.1 Positioning External Factors ........................................................................................ 260
8.1.2 Positioning Perceptions .............................................................................................. 267
8.1.3 Positioning Adoption Stages ....................................................................................... 271
8.2 Positioning Findings within the Literature on IS Adoption ................................................. 272
8.2.1 Performance Expectancy ............................................................................................ 274
8.2.2 Effort Expectancy ........................................................................................................ 276
8.2.3 Social Influence ........................................................................................................... 277
8.2.4 Facilitating Conditions ................................................................................................. 277
8.2.5 Innovation Characteristics .......................................................................................... 280
8.2.6 Experience and Attitude ............................................................................................. 281
8.2.7 Output Quality ............................................................................................................ 282
8.2.8 Voluntariness of Use ................................................................................................... 283
8.2.9 Perceived Credibility and Sustainability ...................................................................... 284
8.2.10 Positioning Links .......................................................................................................... 284
8.2.11 Enriched Model ........................................................................................................... 289
9 CONCLUSIONS ............................................................................................................................. 291
9.1 Contributions to Theory ...................................................................................................... 291
9.1.1 Open Data Services Contribution ................................................................................ 291
9.1.2 Contribution to Adoption of IS .................................................................................... 293
9.2 Recommendations for city councils .................................................................................... 294
9.3 Limitations........................................................................................................................... 297
9.4 Future Research .................................................................................................................. 299
REFERENCES ........................................................................................................................................ 303
APPENDICES ........................................................................................................................................ 323
Appendix 1: Case Studies Documents ................................................................................................. 323
Appendix 2: Semi-Structured Interviews Descriptions ....................................................................... 326
Appendix 3: Case Study A Codes and Evidences ................................................................................. 329
Appendix 4: Case Study B Codes and Evidences ................................................................................. 342
ix
Appendix 5: Case Study C Codes and Evidences ................................................................................. 354
Appendix 6: Cross-Case Assertions ..................................................................................................... 369
Appendix 7: Cross-Case Analysis – Finally Retained Variables ........................................................... 374
Appendix 8: Effort Expectancy - Root Constructs ............................................................................... 375

List of Tables
Table 2.1 Summary of key papers ......................................................................................................... 27
Table 3.1: Summary of key research decisions ..................................................................................... 50
Table 3.2: Cases demographics ............................................................................................................. 55
Table 3.3: SSI protocol step 1, situating the actor ................................................................................ 61
Table 3.4: SSI protocol step 2, individual perceptions on open data ................................................... 62
Table 3.5: SSI protocol step 3, motivations of adopting open data and dataset attributes ................. 62
Table 3.6: SSI protocol step 4, lived experience influential factors ...................................................... 62
Table 3.7: SSI protocol step 5, opinion factors as domain expert ........................................................ 63
Table 3.8: Qualitative interviews’ potential pitfalls .............................................................................. 65
Table 3.9: Single cases data collection summary .................................................................................. 67
Table 3.10: Participants in validation across cases ............................................................................... 82
Table 4.1: Case A's people .................................................................................................................... 87
Table 4.2: Case A, external factors analysis .......................................................................................... 92
Table 4.3: Case A, perceptions analysis ................................................................................................ 93
Table 4.4: Case A, adoption stages analysis .......................................................................................... 93
Table 4.5: Case A Assertion 1, open data and dataset characteristics ................................................. 96
Table 4.6: Case A Assertion 4, city-business collaboration factors ..................................................... 101
Table 4.7: Case A Other External Factors ............................................................................................ 103
Table 4.8: Case A Assertion 8, perceived usefulness of open data .................................................... 106
Table 4.9: Case A Assertion 10, perceived city opportunity ............................................................... 110
Table 4.10: Case A, Cluster I ................................................................................................................ 112
Table 4.11: Case A, Adoption Stages ................................................................................................... 114
Table 5.1: Case B, external factors analysis ........................................................................................ 125
Table 5.2: Case B, perceptions analysis .............................................................................................. 126
Table 5.3: Case B, adoption stages analysis ........................................................................................ 126
Table 5.4: Case B Assertion 1, open data characteristics ................................................................... 129
Table 5.5: Case B Assertion 2, organizational factors ......................................................................... 131
Table 5.6: Case B Assertion 3, organizational skills ............................................................................ 132
Table 5.7: Case B Assertion 4, city-related factors ............................................................................. 134
Table 5.8: Case B Assertion 5, EU open data ecosystem factors ........................................................ 136
Table 5.9: Case B Assertion 6, local community and ecosystem factors ............................................ 137
Table 5.10: Case B Assertion 7, open data service characteristics ..................................................... 139
Table 5.11: Case B Assertion 8, individual factors .............................................................................. 141
Table 5.12: Case B Assertion 9, perceived usefulness of open data ................................................... 142
Table 5.13: Case B Assertion 10, perceived business opportunity ..................................................... 145
Table 5.14: Case B Assertion 11, perceived users’ interest ................................................................ 147
x