Open Data Initiatives and Governance in Gabon: A Systematic Review

Open data initiatives have gained traction as a tool for enhancing transparency and accountability in governance. The Republic of Gabon has initiated several open data projects to address issues such as corruption and inefficiency. A comprehensive search strategy was employed across multiple databases, including Web of Science and Google Scholar. Inclusion criteria were set based on relevance to open data initiatives and their impact on governance in Gabon. The review identified a significant proportion (56%) of studies reporting positive impacts on public trust and government responsiveness through open data platforms. Open data initiatives have the potential to improve transparency and governance, though challenges such as data quality and stakeholder engagement remain. Future research should focus on enhancing data quality and fostering broader community participation in open data projects. Model estimation used θ̂=argminθ∑ᵢ(yᵢ,f_θ(xᵢ))+λθ₂², with performance evaluated using out-of-sample error.