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Purpose
This paper aims to advance a total quality management (TQM) model for the open government data (OGD) initiatives undertaken by the governments. As an example, the paper investigates the national OGD portal of India (www.data.gov.in) and provides implications of the proposed TQM model for the Indian case.


Design/methodology/approach
The TQM model for the OGD initiatives (16 dimensions in terms of drivers, enablers and results) is derived from the extant literature on the principles of TQM and OGD. The proposed model is used for drawing implications for the Indian OGD initiative.


Findings
The application of TQM model for the OGD initiative in India would help in quality maintenance and sustainability. The quality of the OGD portal should be improved by taking the TQM model as a point of reference.


Practical implications
Ensuring quality of the datasets is important for any OGD initiative. The proposed TQM model leaves insights for the practitioners (policymakers and administrators) to implement the TQM model in the OGD policy initiatives. This would lead to increased trust, transparency and accountability.


Social implications
Through the integration of the TQM model in the OGD initiative of the country, a wider section of the stakeholders may tap the qualitatively advanced datasets for value creation. Citizen participation and engagement would increase with the integration of the TQM model in the OGD initiative.


Originality/value
While management of quality in the OGD initiatives has been underlined in the extant OGD-focused literature, the utility of applying TQM principles in OGD initiatives has not been conceived so far. The present study seeks to contribute towards the extant literature on TQM and OGD with the identification of the TQM model for the OGD initiatives.

PurposeThis paper aims to summarize the open government data (OGD) research which has been become an increasingly engaging domain for the academic community.Design/methodology/approachScanning the literature on OGD, the paper underlines the different strands observable in the OGD-based research. The paper concludes with research pointers, limitations and implications for practitioners.FindingsOGD has been investigated from different angles, and there is a need for more empirical investigation across contexts.Originality/valueThe paper serves as a reference point for OGD research.

PurposeThe paper aims to "re-use" the Open Government Data (OGD) published by the Election Commission of India (ECI). Bihar's performance across General Elections, 2014, and Bihar Legislative Assembly Elections, 2015, is compared, wherein the role of contestants' demographic profiles in determining their vote share is being investigated.Design/methodology/approachHypotheses are derived based on the impact of contestants' demographic profiles (age, marital status, social category, political party affiliation, educational qualification, availing telephone and email facility, criminal antecedents) on their vote share. Following a quantitative approach, multiple regression and logistic regression are used to draw inferences from the data contestants' affidavits – sourced from the ECI website.FindingsResults show that contestants' demographic profiles impact their vote share in the elections. While the ECI website is a viable source for re-using the data available there, data are not available in a user-friendly format and this leads to difficulty in being re-used by different stakeholders.Originality/valueAcademic research on OGD re-use is negligible, and the present study seeks to contribute towards extant literature by underlining the significance of re-using OGD by drawing inferences from the data accessible via ECI.

Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the role of "perceived risks" in adopting mobile government (m-government) services in India.


Design/methodology/approach
Conceding that "privacy risks" are one of the major factors that influence the adoption of e-services, the impact of "perceived risks" alongside "social efficacy," "influence" of significant others and "attitude" on the adoption of m-government services in India has been underlined here. Specifically, the study has been conducted with 311 actual m-government users and constructs have been derived from existing theories like Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) and Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Multiple regression analysis has been conducted to analyze the data focused on constructs as: Perceived Risks (PR), Influence (I), Self-efficacy (SE), Attitude (ATT) and Behavioral Intention to Adopt m-government services (BI).


Findings
Results show that while the respondents perceive that adoption of m-government services is risk-free and safe, there is no impact of the interpersonal relationships on m-government adoption. There is more inclination to adopt m-government services conceding that the respondents perceive that they have the self-efficacy to operate such services. M-government services are being tapped regularly by the respondents and there is more inclination to adopt m-government services among the public sector employees and self-employed respondents in comparison with the ones who are students or unemployed. In terms of age, those in the age group of 31–50 are more inclined to adopt m-government services in comparison with the rest.


Originality/value
Exploration of "perceived risks" and other factors has been less in the context of m-government studies. The present study fills the gap in two ways: first, it undertakes the investigation in a developing country conceding that empirical studies on m-government adoption are few in Indian context, and second, it throws light on the role of "adoption" of m-government services in contrast with the "use" of e-government services.

Purpose
The purpose of this study is to underscore the significance, drivers and barriers towards re-use of open data sets in the context of Oman's open government data (OGD) initiative.


Design/methodology/approach
Following a qualitative framework, the paper invoked a documentary analysis approach to probe the OGD initiative of Oman. Specifically, the national OGD portal of Oman (https://data.gov.om/) is being investigated in the paper. Furthermore, the paper invokes a theoretical model of "citizen engagement" ("Data over the wall", "Code exchange", "Civic issue tracker" and "Participatory open data model") proposed by Sieber and Johnson (2015) to assess the extent to which open data sets may be re-used.


Findings
As per the theoretical model forwarded by Sieber and Johnson (2015), the OGD initiative of Oman is a cusp between "Data over the wall", "Code exchange" and "Participatory" models. Oman's OGD initiative facilitates the re-use of the open data sets. However, there are challenges in re-using the open data sets as well. The paper underlines the prospects of better re-use of data sets by institutionalizing the OGD initiative across all administrative levels of the country.


Practical implications
This study holds relevance for practitioners and policy-makers in Oman to ensure the re-use of data sets is facilitated for generating public value.


Originality/value
Hitherto, research has underlined the significance of launching OGD initiatives in the West but studies in developing countries are few. The present study seeks to plug this research gap by underlining the significance of OGD re-usage in Oman's context.

Purpose
The paper aims to investigate the national open data portals of Japan, The Netherlands and Saudi Arabia to identify the role of cultural variations in terms of their open data initiatives.


Design/methodology/approach
Following a qualitative approach, Hofstede's cultural dimensions are probed to appreciate the extent to which the cultures of Japan, The Netherlands and Saudi Arabia are different. Thereafter, the national open data portals of the three countries are analyzed in terms of their nature and scope to underline the extent to which there is a match between the cultural characteristics and the extent of commitment and implementation of open data initiative.


Findings
There are cultural dissimilarities across the three countries and the same is reflected in the extent of commitment toward open data initiatives. Saudi Arabia, with its "collectivist" and high "power distance" score, is more reserved in implementing its open data initiative as compared with Japan or The Netherlands. Similarly, The Netherlands, which scores high in terms of "feminity" and "long-term orientation," is more forthcoming in publishing data sets, with many government organizations taking up the initiative of publishing the data sets. Finally, with more degree of "uncertainty avoidance," Saudi Arabia prefers to remain on the safe side by publishing only those data sets that are non-controversial, insensitive and readily available. At the same time, the open data initiatives across the three countries require the adoption of a more rigorous and committed approach to ensure that the goals of transparency and public accountability are better met and there is more reuse of the data sets by improvising the user-friendliness of the interfaces for tapping them.


Research limitations/implications
Taking examples from three countries, representative of the different cultural characteristics, it is desirable that further research be conducted by including more countries and deriving an evaluation framework for analyzing the sustainability of the open data initiatives in terms of their culture.


Practical implications
Governments are encouraged to adopt a more committed stance toward institutionalizing the open data initiatives and policymakers should ensure that the quality of data sets is sustained for maximum reuse of the data sets and for the derivation of public value.


Social implications
Citizens should engage themselves in tapping the data sets for improvising them and contribute toward the existing data sets as well.


Originality/value
Hitherto, there has been focus on the examples of open data initiatives across different countries, but the role of culture was never investigated while analyzing the open data initiatives. This is the first study where the countries' open data initiatives are probed in terms of the cultural variations across the three countries using the cultural dimensions identified by Hofstede.

PurposeWith an increasing thrust upon transparency and accountability in government, e-government platforms are being scaled in many countries to bolster trust of the citizens and to bring about efficiency in public service delivery. Recently, India launched its "Digital India" initiative as an e-government measure. This study aims to gauge respondents' perceptions regarding corruption in public services post-launch of the "Digital India" initiative.Design/methodology/approachA survey was conducted via email, soliciting inputs from 217 respondents following a convenience sampling technique in selected districts of India. Using an institutional theory lens, this study uses a quantitative approach where correlations and hierarchical regression analysis inform the overall analysis.FindingsThe results showed that low transparency, high cost incurred in availing public services, inefficiency in government and favoritism in government are the key determinants that influenced the perception of users about corruption in e-government services. Also, one demographic variable, namely, gender, showed a statistically significant relationship with the perception of corruption in e-government services.Originality/valueHitherto, extant literature is replete with conceptual and theoretical studies on the impact of e-government initiatives on curbing corruption, and there is negligible empirical research in developing countriesvis-à-visthis dimension – the present study seeks to fill this gap. Second, previous research has not used the institutional theory to investigate the efficacy of e-government initiatives; this study uses the framework of the institutional theory framework to substantiate the arguments.

This paper seeks to assess the nature and scope of open data in government (OPD/open public data) in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries of Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Following a qualitative approach, OPD portals of GCC countries are being studied besides seeking inputs from secondary data sources which are relevant in providing theoretical understanding of OPD. The paper shows that OPD in the GCC countries is in its nascent stage and little academic interest has been shown in this area. Future research should highlight the prospects of OPD implementation in the GCC countries given their strategic importance for many reasons. To ascertain that the OPD implementation gathers pace in the GCC countries, governments need to make more robust strategies in terms of physical and research infrastructure for better data analytics and utility. Hitherto, there has been no study covering the significance and implications of OPD in a GCC context; this is the first study to undertake this as its research theme. Furthermore, academic research on OPD in the GCC countries is lacking; the present study seeks to fill this gap.

Abstract. The purpose of this research paper is to review the theories on voting behavior. Apart from providing a brief review of the theories, the main contribution of this research paper lies in drawing a parallel between customer decision-making models of Marketing Management domain in the discipline of Business Administration and invoking the same as a separate theoretical viewpoint here with reference to the voters' decision-making. Finally, the paper gives a model of voting behavior from a cybernetics model perspective wherein the role of social factors as well as personal factors is underlined as to how they influence the individual voter in response to the broader environmental factors like the national and international policy factors.Keywords. Voting behavior, Political parties, Cybernetics.JEL. D72, P20, C70.

Abstract. With the transition of governments to e-governments, the latest measure of ensuring transparency and accountability is through providing more and more access to government data which was hitherto reserved in "silos". This is the process entailed in "Open Governments" and the data thus opened freely is called "Open Government Data" (OGD). The transition of traditional governments to e-governments has been amply covered in extant literature. However, Open Government is regarded as the final culmination of e-government in a bid to restore public accountability and promote transparency in government besides forging government-citizen ties. In this paper, the nature and scope of OGD of Oman is being investigated. Also, the facilitating and hindering factors in tapping OGD are being discussed in the paper. The paper concludes with directions for further research and academic-cum-practitioner implications. The originality of the paper lies in the fact that the nature and scope of OGD has not been investigated in detail as far as Oman is concerned-the present study seeks to plug this gap.Keywords. Open government data, Open data, Oman.JEL. H10, H50, H55.

While 'e-Oman' is a repository of Open Data, its significance in terms of being a potent source for Big Data deserves attention. This paper seeks to underscore how important is the integration of Big and Open Data in e-Oman – the e-government portal of Oman. Drawing evidence from four case studies based on the Higher Education Admissions Center (HEAC) 'e-Portal' – an online portal meant for the payment of electricity bills, traffic fines and visa applications – the paper lends support to the implementation of integration of Big and Open Data which, for a number of purposes, could be better harnessed. Thus, while the paper identifies the opportunities entailed in achieving the integration of Big and Open Data in the context of the case studies chosen for the study, there are concomitant challenges impacting this integration that need to be addressed. Specifically, e-Oman needs to be updated with Open Data and the government needs to take steps to build and maintain a robust physical, human and information infrastructure for harnessing the potential of integrating Open and Big Data in the public sector. The paper concludes with directions for future research.

Open Government Data (OGD) is considered as an important constituent of e-government where the notions of transparency, collaboration and participation are being envisaged. This paper is a step in this direction where the OGD platform (https://data.gov.in/) is being probed using a qualitative and quantitative lens. Research hypotheses are being derived following the popular TOE and UTAUT models and multiple regression informs the quantitative analysis to ascertain OGD usage by end-users. The study shows that OGD usage is popular among the end-users in terms of the number of views and downloads of the datasets. Future research might undertake the empirical investigation of the research hypotheses advanced in the paper.