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· Purpose: Governments create large amounts of data. However, the publication of open data is often cumbersome and there are no standard procedures and processes for opening data. This blocks the easy publication of government data. The purpose of this paper is to derive design principles for improving the open data publishing process of public organizations. · Design/methodology/approach: Action Design Research (ADR) was employed to derive design principles. The literature was used as a foundation, and discussion sessions with civil servants were used to evaluate the usefulness of the principles. · Findings: Barriers preventing easy and low-cost publication of open data were identified and connected to design principles, which can be used to guide the design of an open data publishing process. Five new principles are 1) start thinking about the opening of data at the beginning of the process, 2) develop guidelines, especially about privacy and policy sensitivity of data, 3) provide decision support by integrating insight in the activities of other actors involved in the publishing process, 4) make data publication an integral, well-defined and standardized part of daily procedures and routines, 5) monitor how the published data are reused. · Research limitations/implications: The principles are derived using ADR in a single case. A next step can be to investigate multiple comparative case studies and detail the principles further. We recommend using these principles to develop a reference architecture. · Practical implications: The design principles can be used by public organizations to improve their open data publishing processes. The design principles are derived from practice and discussed with practitioners. The discussions showed that the principles could improve the publication process. · Social implications: Decreasing the barriers for publishing open government data could result in the publication of more open data. These open data can then be used and sti, Engineering Systems and Services, Technology, Policy and Management

Purpose: Scant attention has been given to the role of enterprise architecture (EA) in relationship to risk management in information system development projects. Even less attention has been given to the inter-organizational setting. The aim of this paper is to better understand this relationship. Design/methodology/approach: The relationship between EA and project failure/success is investigated by – through a workshop – creating a retrospective view on the use of architectures in large and complex ICT-projects. Findings: Failure factors can be grouped in organization network, people, process, product and technology categories. The findings show that a disappointingly limited number of public sector development projects make sufficient use of architecture as a risk management instrument. Architectures should be considered both as a risk-mitigating instrument and as an organizational shaping routine to reduce project failure and manage risk in organization networks. Research limitations/implications: A single workshop with a limited number of participants was conducted. The findings need further refinement and generalization based on more empirical research investigating the relationship between architecture and project failure. Practical implications: Architecture should give explicit consideration to risk management and help to draw attention to this. Governance mechanisms need be defined to ensure that the organizations’ members become aware of both architecture and risk management. Risk management and EA have similarities, as they are both an instrument and an organizational shaping routine. Originality/value: Governments collaborate more and more in organizational networks and for that reason often multiple organizations are involved in information system project developments. Enterprise architecture as a risk mitigation instrument has not, to date, been given attention. Paper type: Research paper, Infrastructure Systems & Services, Technology, Policy and Management

Purpose – In the process of transformation, governments have to deal with a host of stakeholders and complex organizational and technical issues. In this viewpoint paper, an argument is made in favour of using gaming and simulation as tools designed to aid the transformation and reengineering of government. Based on the argument, a research agenda is proposed. Design/methodology/approach – The approach taken is a combination of literature research, argumentation and illustrations. Findings – Simulation and gaming have the potential to be used to activate and involve stakeholders at all layers of government in transformational efforts. These tools should be closely connected to visualization and interaction options, to facilitate communication and participation. Because the various stakeholders involved have different views and different approaches, it is both necessary and difficult to involve them in identifying problems and developing solutions. Given the considerable potential of these tools, more research is needed on the use and development of participative simulation and gaming tools. Research limitations/implications – Although gaming and simulation have been used in many domains, they have yet to be tried in the area of e-government. More research is needed into the instruments that can help governments in their transformation processes. Practical implications – E-government projects should be supported by tools such as gaming and simulation to facilitate the participation, involvement of and communication among the various relevant stakeholders, to create a shared understanding of the problems and of future scenarios. Originality/value – The primary value of this viewpoint lies in the analysis of the potential opportunities of gaming and simulation in terms of transforming and reengineering government and the research agenda that follows from this analysis. Paper type - Viewpoint, Infrastructure Systems & Services, Technology, Policy and Management