State-of-the-art in open data research: Insights from existing literature and a research agenda

Abstract

With the proliferation of mobile network, mobile devices, and Web of things, many industries, including government departments, private firms, and research communities, offer more transparency through releasing data. The resultant effort offers a new paradigm—open data—still at infancy stage. Despite the rising research initiatives explaining its benefits and challenges and demonstrating policy conception and project details, no systematic survey of extant literature on open data has been performed. Hence, there is need for studies that examine open data on a holistic canvas, assess the current status of research, and propose future directions. Here, we conduct a review of extant literature to ascertain the current state of research on open data, and present an extensive exploration for 11 types of analyses: contexts, perspectives, level of analysis, research methods, the drivers, benefits, barriers, theory/model development, the most productive journals, authors, and institutions. Additionally, we present several future research agendas. This study also explains the implications to assist researchers, policymakers, and journal editors.