Open Government Data Licence in Hong Kong 香港開放政府資料特許之研究

Principal investigator: Dr. Lee, Jyh An (The Chinese University of Hong Kong Faculty of Law)

Co-investigator: Dr. Yahong Li (HKU) and Dr GUAN, Wenwei (City University of Hong Kong)

Funded by Research Grants Council (RGC) General Research Fund at HKD 561,992.  Project is expected to complete in December 2020.

About the project: This project uses Hong Kong as a case study to understand the design and implementation of OGD licences. Hong Kong has implemented OGD policies. In addition, it has endeavoured to create an entrepreneur-friendly business environment. This study will first investigate policy considerations for the design of OGD licences by studying government documents and interviewing government officials in Hong Kong. This study will also use the design and implementation of OGD licence terms as a lens through which the different policy priorities and values underpinning OGD policies can be interpreted. Lastly, the proposed project will investigate the relationship between OGD licences and the commercial reuse of OGD. By observing innovative businesses built upon OGD, and interviewing entrepreneurs, this study aims to illustrate how the restrictions in licensing terms shape new data business models. The overall findings of this proposed project will produce a body of empirical evidence and have crucial theoretical implications for the future study of relevant IP issues, governance of public sector information, and OGD and government information policies generally. Moreover, the outcome of this study may help Hong Kong assess the effectiveness of its OGD policy.