This book exploresthe power of greater openness, accountability, and transparency in digitalinformation and government data for the nations of Southeast Asia. The author demonstratesthat, although the term “open data” seems to be self-explanatory, it involvesan evolving ecosystem of complex domains. Through empirical case studies, thisbook explains how governments in the ASEAN may harvest the benefits of opendata to maximize their productivity, efficiency and innovation. The book alsoinvestigates how increasing digital divides in the population, boundaries tocivil society, and shortfalls in civil and political rights threaten to arrestopen data in early development, which may hamper post-2015 development agendasin the region. With robust open data policies and clear roadmaps, member statesof the ASEAN can harvest the promising opportunities of open data in theirparticular developmental, institutional and legal settings. Governments, policymakers, entrepreneurs and academics will gain a clearer understanding of the factorsthat enable open data from this timely research.
