The role of open data in the digital economy: a data science and economic perspective

Abstract

This thesis explores the economic effect of open data released mainly by governments (OGD) on entrepreneurship. First, we use optimization techniques to develop a formal theoretical model that allows us to study the relationship between (OGD) and the choice of individuals to become entrepreneurs or employees. In order to test this hypothesis, we adopt an interdisciplinary approach developing an empirical model using econometric and data science techniques. We collect data from macroeconomic indicators and we create a sample composed of 135 countries from 2013 to 2016 to examine the empirical connection between entrepreneurship and (OGD). Our model shows that changes in (OGD) are correlated with positive changes in the global entrepreneurship and development index (GEDI), this effect is more remarkable in high-income countries. Our estimates suggest that a 1% increase in the index of (OGD) leads to increases of 0.11% in the GEDI index. Second, this research focuses on exploring how companies in Europe are using (OGD) in order to innovate and create new products and services. This work also exposes the business models adopted by these entrepreneurs. For this purpose, we use the data collected by the Open Data Incubator for Europe (ODINE) project from 2015 to 2017 and we implement a text mining approach due to the unstructured of this data. Our results show that the adoption of (OGD) by entrepreneurs is more perceptible in Southern and Northern than Western and Eastern regions of Europe and mainly in high-income countries. Another finding is that the companies that are transforming (OGD) into business proposals are mainly related to the technology sector. Besides, we identify a wide range of companies offering value proposition based on (OGD) as a core idea, some of these companies are not only looking for an economic impact but also they are focusing on the social and/or environmental field. Finally, this investigation presents a list of risks and challenges described by entrepreneurs who are using this digital asset as part of their production process. We found that data quality is the main concern for entrepreneurs. An argument is based on entrepreneurs description stating data quality plays a crucial role in terms of (OGD) demand, this means that if the quality is not improved over time stakeholders could stop using this digital asset.

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ORCID for Nicholas Gibbins: orcid.org/0000-0002-6140-9956

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