A comparison of national open data policies: lessons learned

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive cross-national comparative framework to compare open data policies from different countries and to derive lessons for developing open data policies. Open data policies guide the opening and stimulate the usage of public data. However, some countries have no or less developed open data policies, in this way missing the opportunity to reap the benefits of open data. Design/methodology/approach – Literature review and case studies were conducted to extend an existing comparison framework, and the framework was used to compare open data policies of the UK, the USA, The Netherlands, Kenya and Indonesia. Findings – The comparison of open data policies highlighted several lessons that can be learned, including actions regarding a robust legal framework, generic operational policies, data providers and data users, data quality, designated agencies or taskforces and initiatives and incentives for stimulating demand for data. National policies should...