Utilization of Open Government Data for Environmental Protection

Abstract

Successful exploitation of Open Government Data (OGD) in domain of environment and environmental protection requires development of the regulations and methods for assessment of quality of OGD with the aim to promote innovation in the public sector and pave the way towards the achievement of smarter government services. OGD have huge potential in this regard. This paper focuses on the assessment of how quality aspect of OGD influences their utilization for obtaining useful information needed for enhancing environmental protection. Our evaluation considers factors such as dataset quality, information value, smartness, and legislative compliance. Research findings suggest that open government datasets pertaining to environmental protection require further refinement to improve their information gain. Furthermore, we discuss legal aspect of open data provision as a valuable factor which can contribute to the successful adoption of open data for environmental protection.