Open Government Data: A European Perspective - Information and Communication Technologies in Public Administration - page 12

1.4.3 Quality Analysis

Following Kučera et al. (2013), we analyzed the quality of OGD catalogues. Taking as
a model the concept of quality defined by Batini et al. (2009), OGD catalogues were
examined to determine whether they make data searching easier and more precise,
that is, whether the information thus provided is accurate, complete, consistent, and
timely. Under these premises, the following dimensions were analyzed (see Figure 1.3):

◾

Free information: One of the premises of any open data is that the informa-
tion should be made available to users free of charge. In the context of OGD,
this premise is even more relevant because the data are public. In addition,
the fact that society has unrestricted access to all public information can be
interpreted as a favorable indication of the quality of the OGD catalogue.

◾ Data accuracy: The content of the data must match the information described

in the catalogue (Kučera et al., 2013).

◾ Timeliness: The data must be up to date (Kučera et al., 2013).

◾

Glossary or list of terms: A list should be provided of the words/abbreviations
most commonly used and their definitions (Kučera et al., 2013).

◾

Possibility of incorporating new data: Kassen (2013) noted that OGD can be
used to promote public participation. Thus, allowing users to incorporate addi-
tional information into OGD catalogues can enhance their quality, provided
that this new information is of value to society. Therefore, apart from consider-
ing feedback channels in the functional analysis, it is also necessary to determine
whether there exists an application allowing users to add new data to the OGD.

1.4.4 Content Analysis

The studies by Alexopoulos et al. (2013) and Kučera et al. (2013) examined how
data are provided in OGD portals and the quality of the catalogues presented.
However, they did not take into consideration the type of information disclosed,
the categories into which the information is grouped, the filters used to locate
the information, the total volume of data, or the number of agencies involved.
Accordingly, and to determine how the information provided by each OGD is
grouped and filtered, we analyzed the content of OGD catalogues, examining the
following dimensions (see Figure 1.4):

◾ Categories: In accordance with the provisions of PSI Directive 2003/98/EC
(EC, 2003) and following Alexopoulos et al. (2013), the PSI made available
in OGD portals for use, processing, and reuse is classified into the following
main fields (see Table 1.2): business, geographic, legal, meteorological, social,
transport, and other.
◾ Number of catalogues: This indicates the total number of catalogues available
in each OGD portal.