Open public data (OPD) and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC): challenges and prospects

This paper seeks to assess the nature and scope of open data in government (OPD/open public data) in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries of Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Following a qualitative approach, OPD portals of GCC countries are being studied besides seeking inputs from secondary data sources which are relevant in providing theoretical understanding of OPD. The paper shows that OPD in the GCC countries is in its nascent stage and little academic interest has been shown in this area. Future research should highlight the prospects of OPD implementation in the GCC countries given their strategic importance for many reasons. To ascertain that the OPD implementation gathers pace in the GCC countries, governments need to make more robust strategies in terms of physical and research infrastructure for better data analytics and utility. Hitherto, there has been no study covering the significance and implications of OPD in a GCC context; this is the first study to undertake this as its research theme. Furthermore, academic research on OPD in the GCC countries is lacking; the present study seeks to fill this gap.