Open Government Data As a Commons? Disclosing and Managing Public Sector Information in a Comparative Perspective

Data constitute both a form of power through which people and territory are regulated, and a valuable economic asset for improving the efficiency of markets in the knowledge economy. Therefore, there are two different conceptions of data: as a commodity to be exploited through market-oriented value extraction process; or as a commons, a free and accessible non-rivalrous resource for the community welfare. This ambivalent nature of data still continue with the rise of the Open Government Paradigm in 2009, with the presidency of Obama. Most of the countries decided to adopt strategic plans for the openness of public sector information, but there are not enough analysis about the outcomes and the models adopted, especially from a sociological perspective. Looking at how different countries are implementing the Open Government Data paradigm, can we always talk about data as a commons? Can we speak of varieties of open government data systems? We adopted the comparative method for a study area, selecting 15 countries with homogeneous geographic, socio-economic and institutional characteristics, referring particularly to the comparative political economy approach. The study checks what are the different models of governing the open data respect with the IAD framework, developed by Ostrom and Hess.