Metadata quality matters in open government data (OGD) evaluation! An empirical investigation of OGD portals of the GCC constituents

Abstract

Purpose The study seeks to investigate the quality of metadata associated with the open government data (OGD) portals of the six Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) constituents – Bahrain (BH), Kuwait (KW), Oman (OM), Qatar (QA), Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) and United Arab Emirates (UAE). Design/methodology/approach A quantitative framework, supported by extant literature, is adopted to assess the metadata quality of the six OGD portals of the GCC constituents. Findings Among the six GCC countries, QA has the most advanced OGD metadata quality followed by KSA, UAE, OM, BH and KW. Furthermore, the OGD metadata quality (MQ) of UAE and OM stand at the same pedestal whereas BH and KW OGD portals are lagging behind. Originality/value While the OGD quality has been investigated in extant literature, the MQ of the OGD portals for the GCC countries has not been investigated so far – the present study seeks to plug this gap.