Open Data Standards: Vertical Industry Standards to Unlock Digital Ecosystems

Abstract

Standards are considered an essential means to facilitate value creation from open data. Despite this importance, we find that empirical studies of open data standards have not been conducted in proportion to its importance. In particular, the literature has insofar been silent about why specific standards are chosen and how these standards are implemented. To this end, we report from an action research project with the Swedish public transport industry, where open data standards were both chosen and implemented. Consistent with the literature, we find standards were selected based on expected increased attractivity for re-users. Also, and more surprisingly, we found that open data standards were chosen as a means to harness resources in adjacent digital ecosystems. Finally, our findings convey that implementing open data standards may hamper the possibility to publish datasets, with its original qualities.