Investigating the barriers faced by stakeholders in open data development: A study on Hong Kong as a “smart city”

The drive towards open data aims at improving government transparency, motivating citizen participation and unlocking commercial innovation. However, various intertwining barriers hinder the adoption of open data. They are stemming from legislation and licensing, technology and operation, use level, institution and governance, as well as economic considerations. Through the use of social network analysis (SNA), this study identified 43 barriers faced by stakeholders in an open data project in Hong Kong and investigated their interdependencies. Hong Kong was selected as a representative case due to its relatively low ranking in the Global Open Data Index (24th) and poor data quality. It was found that the lack of an open data policy should be tackled as a matter of priority to provide technical guidance for the public sector, ensure data quality and achieve expected outcomes. It is also necessary to improve the IT literacy/mindset of the public sector, refine the governance structure relating to the delivery of open data initiatives, encourage engagement from private entities and provide a feedback loop for users. This study explored the interrelationships between various barriers to open data adoption and proposes practical recommendations to enhance open data development in the context of emerging “smart cities”. •The adoption of open data has encountered five categories of barriers faced by different stakeholders.•A barrier which is not properly solved can predispose other barriers within the project.•The lack of open data policy should be tackled as a matter of priority in Hong Kong.•Open mindset and IT literacy within the government organizations remain to be improved.•Other practical recommendations were proposed to enhance open data development in the context of emerging “smart cities”.