To Örebro University

It has been widely acknowledged recently that the research field of eParticipation suffers from lack of comprehensive theoretical contributions, insufficient depth, and inconsistency in definitions of central concepts. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the field researchers find it difficult to consolidate their theoretical groundwork and further theory building in the eParticipation domain. This paper reports a literature study of conceptual publications on the subject of eParticipation/eDemocracy in the time frame of 2007–2009. Its objectives are to track recent theoretical development in the field, to reveal constraints and limitations to researching the area, and to offer some suggestions for further inquiry. The results show that most theories currently used in conceptual eParticipation research originate from the fields of Political Science and Media and Communication Studies. But together with this, contemporary eParticipation authors contribute to strengthening the field with some “in-house” models and frameworks as well. Central problems with eParticipation research concern immaturity of the field, topical gaps, and biased assumptions. The review shows that the themes of recent publications can be grouped into three major categories: stakeholders, environment, and applications and tools. It also finds some interconnections between these categories; however, in general the coupling technology–stakeholders–(participatory) environments is weak.

The European Citizens’ Initiative is designed to make European democracy more direct by allowing citizens to propose (including electronically) legal acts to the Commission. The present paper offers a conceptual model for the analysis of this eParticipation case, and other similar e-petitioning practices, which is not biased by political ambition or technological determinism. The operational framework proposed aims to understand the nature of communication between citizens, governments, and the civil society among other stakeholders in the contemporary media landscape by using the concept of genre systems for this purpose.

The European Union recently launched an innovative participatory mechanism allowing its citizens across Europe get together and set the agenda for policy-making in Brussels. The tool - the European Citizens' Initiative - was labelled as "most direct and digital" ever in the history of European democratic experimentation as it made it possible to collect signatures (of which it is required not less than 1 million) in favour of an initiative via the internet (e-collection). Launched on I April 2012 the ECI was met with major enthusiasm in Brussels, but soon stumbled over serious difficulties as the organisers on the ground were unable to set up their online collection systems. The present paper looks into this ICT-related crisis from the point of reference of e-democracy theory based on the findings of a qualitative case-study. As a deliverable, it offers an understanding of factors and stakeholder rationales which shaped the design and implementation of the digital dimension of the ECI (iECI). (C) 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Purpose: This paper aims to investigate which organizational measures can facilitate the use of open data. Implementation of open government data initiatives is commonly supply-driven, as it is difficult to predict the possible uses and users of data. Nonetheless, the value of open data materializes only upon its use – either to achieve societal benefits or economic value.

Design/methodology/approach: First, a list of organizational measures to facilitate open data use from the literature is collated. Then, four case studies to examine the challenges faced in practice when implementing them are carried out. The case sample includes two types of organizations (statistical agency and municipality) in two country settings (Sweden and The Netherlands).

Findings: Public organizations find it challenging to set up support for open data users having various requirements and skills. Most public organizations have no or limited interaction with data users and are often selective with regards to with whom and how to communicate.

Research limitations/implications: Given the fragmented and emerging state of research on open data use and engagement, to date no systematic framework existed which would be dedicated to user engagement strategies. The authors systematized the literature and identified the themes pertaining to this issue. Their contribution is a list of measures for public organizations to improve open data use.

Practical implications: An important deliverable of this research is the list of possible organizational measures, which can be used by public managers to plan their open data engagement strategies. The authors suggest that data publishers adopt a problem-oriented approach for selecting which data to publish and put more efforts into stimulating stakeholder participation.

Originality/value: The novelty of this study lies in the fact that it addresses a previously overlooked area of open data research, namely, the use of open data and ways to stimulate it.

Open government data offers great potential for innovation and growth in various sectors of societal life. The use of open data is expected to power the development of new or enhanced services and products. However, in practice service innovation on the basis of open data is in its infancy; furthermore, there is limited knowledge about the adoption of open data by businesses. This study investigates: What are the driving factors of open data adoption by businesses for service innovation? To get insights into this issue we conduct a survey of businesses in Sweden and the Netherlands who have experimented with open data. Our study is explorative since open data innovation is an emerging research direction. We find that the driving factors motivating businesses to innovate with open data differ widely, however on average innovativeness of the company and its expertise and skills play an important role. We also conclude that facilitating conditions are viewed by businesses as an influential driver, but they are not given enough attention by data providers.