Using Open Data to Support Organizational Capabilities in Dynamic Business Contexts

In essence, Open Data (OD) is the information available in a machine-readable format and without restrictions on the permissions for using or distributing it. Open Data may include textual artifacts, or non-textual, such as images, maps, scientific formulas, and other. The data can be publicized and maintained by different entities, both public and private. The data are often federated, meaning that various data sources are aggregated in data sets at a single “online” location. Despite its power to distribute free knowledge, OD initiatives face some important challenges related to its growth. In this paper, we consider one of them, namely, the business and technical concerns of OD clients that would make them able to utilize Open Data in their enterprise information systems and thus benefit in terms of improvements of their service and products in continuous and sustainable ways. Formally, we describe these concerns by means of high-level requirements and guidelines for development and run-time monitoring of IT-supported business capabilities, which should be able to consume Open Data, as well as able to adjust when the data updates based on a situational change. We illustrated our theoretical proposal by applying it on the service concerning regional roads maintenance in Latvia.