Open data ecosystems in smart cities… What if?

We believe that the autopoietic view, which is closely linked to the view of open data futurists, should be integrated in e-government research and will be necessary to realize open data’s grand objectives. However, in the... [ view full abstract ]

We believe that the autopoietic view, which is closely linked to the view of open data futurists, should be integrated in e-government research and will be necessary to realize open data’s grand objectives. However, in the open government data (OGD) literature, there are currently no case studies on autopoietic OGD ecosystems. As a first step to fill this gap, this article reports on a focus group with open data and smart city managers. By means of a thought experiment, the focus group participants discussed what an autopoietic OGD ecosystem could look like in a smart city context. This operationalization resulted in a characterisation of the autopoietic view in five dimensions: the platform’s dynamics over time and contextual responsiveness, the enabling actors, the interactions and communications, government intervention, and sustainability.