Exploring open data system promotion strategies in stakeholders' narratives: A qualitative study

In recent years, the need to address open data and ways to develop it has been studied significantly. Open data refers to data that is freely available to the public and can be used, reused, and redistributed. In other words, open data refers to the dissemination of non-personal and non-confidential data that is available to the public and the general public has the ability and right to know, use, and redistribute this data. The availability of open data has led to an increase in research using artificial intelligence for various applications. In addition, open data has been recognized as a catalyst for machine learning (ML), especially in air pollution prediction, traffic forecasting, urban design, and transportation feature analysis. This has facilitated knowledge discovery by considering the fundamental principles of open data, including discoverability, accessibility, interoperability, and reusability, and has improved the possibility of developing individual and social decision-making. In fact, the availability of open data allows researchers and developers to collect relevant and diverse data inputs for their machine learning models and enables them to analyze and extract insights from large data sets. Governments around the world record and store a lot of data, but until recently, most of this data was only made available to the public through ad hoc reports or after formal requests and through lengthy processes. However, in recent years, there have been efforts to increase public access to this data and emphasize the importance and benefits of access to this data for people and even governments. For example, open government data portals were launched in different countries to publish accurate and relevant data and supporting laws were also passed. For this reason, in the process of developing open government data, one of the important discussions is their preparation and implementation, because if open government data is implemented and implemented correctly, it can be an effective tool for empowering citizens to view, use and republish government data. Since the concept of open government, open government and open data policymaking are currently recurring concepts in the field of governance, the need to develop and improve data at the national level has also become a significant necessity. The present study aimed to explore the lived experiences of the beneficiaries of the open data system of the strategies needed to improve the open data system. The qualitative research approach was conducted with a phenomenological strategy. Potential research participants included legislators, academic experts and high-tech business owners. According to the theoretical saturation rule of data, the research participants included 21 people. In fact, the data reached theoretical saturation with 21 participants. Data collection was carried out using the narrative interview method (individual and group); On this basis, the narratives of key experts on the strategies needed to develop open statistical data and the main themes were determined. The data analysis method was using thematic analysis. This means that the data were analyzed, conceptualized, and put together in a new way. The validity of the data was also examined using two techniques: audit trail and detailing. In addition, the data were given to two observers to check the acceptability of the codes, and agreement was reached on the results. The results of the data analysis showed that in general, the perceptions and concerns of the participants were around 6 organizing themes, including strengthening inter-agency interaction, the need to develop the infrastructure needed for data dissemination, the need for precise policymaking and drafting and amending laws, providing quality to open data, the need to pay attention to private data and high flexibility in the confidentiality of government data, the need to change individual and organizational attitudes in data dissemination, and 98 themes. According to the research results, policymakers and implementers can promote the open data system by considering this framework and amending existing procedures.