Which data should be publicly accessible? Dispatches from public managers

Abstract

Open government data (OGD) seeks to promote transparency and accountability by enabling public access to government data. While public managers are increasingly supportive of OGD initiatives worldwide, researchers note that they also carefully select which data to release to balance openness with traditional values of professionalism and secrecy as well as concerns about cyber incidents and privacy. Understanding the factors that influence this micro-level choice is important to make valuable types of data publicly accessible. Using 2018 survey data from a nationally representative sample of 2500 department heads in 500 small and medium-sized US cities, we look at variation in public managers' level of comfort with making different types of government data open - from criminal records to government employee salary data. We find that managerial comfort reflects historic practices of public accessibility and privacy concerns with individual data. Managers who believe OGD creates positive outcomes for society are more comfortable with publicly disclosing all types of data. We also find variation across department types, suggesting fragmented views towards OGD within public organizations.