Open Data Policy Innovation Diffusion: An Analysis of Australian Federal and State Governments

Abstract

Despite previous studies on comparing open data policies and identifying their challenges, little is known about open data policy innovation diffusion in Australia, one of earlier adopters of open government/open data policies and a leading e-government nation worldwide. Drawing on innovation diffusion theory and its application to public policy innovation research in political science, we examine Australia's open data policy diffusion patterns at federal and state government levels. Australian early adopters of open data policies are positively associated with the level of openness of their open data portals. Portal openness is measured by the number of public datasets proactively and systematically published through their data portals. They are also positively associated with the efficacy of policy entrepreneurs, which are lead departments/agencies responsible for pushing open data policies against the existing barriers in the governments. Their efficacy is measured by the relatively high rank in the measure of open data portal openness.