Information Sharing Between the Civil Administration and Citizens: An Implementation Proposal of Open Data Strategy in Japanese Local Governments

Abstract

Administrative services in Japan have become diversified as a result of economic growth. However, as this growth has slowed down in recent years, there is now a need to review such conventional administrative service. Hence, in light of such a social climate, the Japanese government has been advocating an open data strategy (ODS) for administrative information ever since 2012. The aim of this study is to propose policies favorable to the promotion of ODS in local governments. In order to understand the current status of ODS, a survey was carried out based on plans implemented and websites managed by local governments within Tokyo. Additional interviews with local government staff were also conducted. The results showed that over half of the local governments reviewed did not adhere to the open data regulation stated in ODS plan. Furthermore, some content and storage locations of information were accessible exclusively by the person in charge, and some data for possible secondary use were not even available for internal perusal. As policies necessary for the promotion of ODS, this study suggests that information must be circulated openly within each responsible division while a person should be assigned to evaluate whether a piece of information should be made accessible to the public. Apart from creating a division specialized in data-sharing, each governing body should also reorganize itself to allow fluid and prolonged execution of ODS, as well as the initialization of open data measures within the administration.



Author Information
Noriko Kurata, Tokyo University of Science, Japan
Yuko Kurata, Kansai Gaidai University, Japan

Paper Information
Conference: IICJ2016
Stream: Japanese Society

This paper is part of the IICJ2016 Conference Proceedings (View)
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Posted by James Alexander Gordon