An Assessment of the Quality of Open Government Data in Saudi Arabia

Open government data (OGD) is an e-governance practice that aims to increase public resource efficiency and improve service delivery for citizens. Saudi Arabia launched its first open data initiative in 2011, with the goal of maximizing the economic impact of open data locally. This empirical study aimed to assess the effects of the Saudi OGD initiative by conducting a literature review and monitoring the impact of Saudi state-of-the-art open data. After observation and analysis, a systematic Monitor, Analysis, Action, and Review (MAAR) approach was followed to conduct a proposed solution that addresses quality shortcomings that consequently affect open data reusability. The methodology for creating the proposed solution included selecting, formulating, and weighing the quality characteristics that define a valuable OGD. The proposed solution is a framework for assessing the OGD quality using metrics that are compatible with the Saudi Open Data Portal (od.data.gov.sa). To review this proposed quality assessment framework and test whether it achieved its predicted outcomes, the results of the proposed solution were evaluated using local data samples from the Saudi Open Data Portal.