抄録
Open (Government) Data is in the spotlight lately, attracts international attention especially because of its potential for economic growth. However, many prior research literatures deal with the macro economic impact of Open Data(and especially how opening up Public Sector Information), thus how Open Data can really bring economic growth to the country and how it specifically can be used in the for-profit context has not been closely scrutinized yet and still not clear. This research tries to fill this gap by analyzing micro-level data on the actual usage of Open Data obtained from the leading Open Data initiatives in the U.S., the U.K. and Japan. These datasets show in which area Open Data is most used and how many kind of Open Data datasets are used by a single user. This research finds there are notable differences in the usage pattern of Open Data among those three countries, and it implies that there are two main modes of the Open Data usage: visualization/curation and consulting. The latter tends to require more complex and liberal use of Open Datasets and has better potential for economic viability through the so-called “freemium” business model. As the Open Data policy and its acceptance grows in the country, the latter is occupying more prominent position in the arena of Open Data.
