The State of Open Government Data in GCC Countries

Three countries of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) (i.e. Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates (UAE)) have launched official Open Government Data (OGD) initiatives and started offering public data openly on their national portals. These initiatives are part of a new phase of the eGovernment programs in these three countries. This case study explores and compares the current status of these initiatives in an effort to understand the key driving forces behind launching the initiatives, the countries' approach to launching and managing them, the major challenges facing them and their plans to overcome them, and their future plans for sustaining and improving their open data initiatives. We also use data from interviews with the government officials in charge of these initiatives in Saudi Arabia and UAE to evaluate how these countries perceive the Open Government Partnership (OGP) as an example of a key global OGD initiative. Our analysis showed similarities in the countries' motivations to open up their governments, driven by the potential economic returns. We found that the current status of these countries' OGD portals (in terms of richness of the published data and its strategic value) does not match the desired standards. Although the studied countries follow different approaches in managing their OGD initiatives, they face the common challenge of poor cooperation between government agencies, which is mainly caused by cultural barriers, variations in agencies' readiness, a lack of necessary policies and legislation, and uncertainties about the value of OGD for these agencies. To overcome these challenges, and to improve and sustain the OGD initiatives over the long term, we offer the following specific recommendations: develop a national OGD strategy to align OGD activities with the overall national agenda, build a framework that clearly defines the major components of OGD, such as the roles and responsibilities of government agencies and other stakeholders, and all aspects related to data gathering and publishing on the portals. We also recommend building up an open data community across government and non-government sectors to act as a platform for exchanging OGD knowledge and practices. In addition, we recommend expending more effort to fill the legislation gap, adopt and adapt international practices, and promote continuous learning and development.