Assessing an Open Government Data Initiative. The Case of OpenCoesione

Abstract

Open government comprises the set of actions focused on increasing transparency in the public sector and improving decision-making process. The end result is more effective institutions and more robust democracy. Given these premises, the paper discusses the key findings of an evaluation research on OpenCoesione, one of the first and most significant open government data initiative promoted by the Italian government that provides via a web portal data about the implementation of cohesion investment projects. As literature suggested, the initiative increased transparency towards public expenditure funded by cohesion policies, indicated by the users as the main value produced. The results in terms of participation and collaboration appear less clear: the portal is used as a working tool by experts and public managers and the initiative seem not to have improved the quality of public debate on cohesion policies, remaining as a relevant experience of a single administration.