Rethinking the Crucial Impact of ICT in Civil Society Organisations Working in FOI and OGD Fields

Abstract

In less than a decade, the concept of accessing governmental information has been extended beyond mere access to information (via Freedom of information/FOI legislation) to demands for raw digital data, known as Open Government Data (OGD). This paper seeks to fill the gap in terms of knowledge regarding international Non-Governmental Organisations working on the access to and use of governmental information and data, as key players in policy diffusion processes. By analysing the crucial impact of ICT in these organisations, the different influence in each of the fields and within them can be clearly understood. While the analysis of some of the common features allows for the a first level of distinctions between both field, the research on the passage of bureaucratic organisations to post-bureaucratic organisations, borrowed from managerial studies, provides the elements to understand the differences between organisation working in the same field. By analysing the crucial impact of ICT in these organisations, the different influence in each of the fields and within them can be clearly understood.