Analyzing diffusion patterns of big open data as policy innovation in public sector

Abstract

The Fourth Industrial Revolution begins, and policies are being formulated by economies as well as efforts are being made to meet the needs of the current times. Among other technologies which are part of Fourth Industrial Revolution, big open data is also the part of Pakistan's digital policy framework. Scholarship is available to explore and examine the determinants of BOD diffusion and adoption, a little literature is available to understand big open data as policy innovation and its diffusion. Therefore, this study drew on Diffusion of Innovation (DOI) theory and its application to public policy innovation research to examine patterns of BOD policy innovation diffusion at government and public bodies’ level in Pakistan. These patterns are based on policy declaration timing by the governments, policy adoption timing, development of technological applications, and proactively released datasets statistics in public bodies. An Event History Analysis was carried out to examine BOD policy innovation diffusion patterns. Results showed that Federal government is the innovator for the policy innovation diffusion across different governments and subsequent public bodies. It was also found that efficacy ranking of public bodies is quite low in terms of developing BOD technological platforms and proactive release of datasets in large quantities. Therefore, government and policy-makers should focus on effective implementation of big open data policy innovation in Pakistan to equip with 21st century needs.