Evaluating Public Organizations Using Open Data

Abstract

Information openness and stakeholder involvement through ICT become the driving factors of public organization change. In this article, an ecosystem approach is embraced to study the social sphere organizations (SSOs), such as hospitals, schools, and libraries. SSOs report on their activities by publishing information on the Web which can be used to evaluate the effectiveness and efficiency of these organizations by the public. The opening of data transforms the relationship between SSOs and other stakeholders. In this article, the institutionalization of SSO evaluation system in Russia is studied. The critical role of open data is demonstrated and the inclusion of stakeholders was found to be a key factor to make the evaluation system truly effective. Their study reveals that an ecosystem approach ensures that stakeholder demands are included in SSO evaluation and assessment process. Finally, by summarizing Russian experiences, the authors conclude with problem-oriented recommendations for open government tool application to institutionalize government practices targeted at open government principle implementation.