Open data platforms: Design principles for embracing outlaw innovators

• We report an ADR study of a public institution whose joint effort with outlaw innovators led to a new open data platform. • We offer novel design principles for embracing outlaw innovators and resolving related public–private tensions. • We show that public–private dialogue is possible by transcending to citizen-value creation as a higher-level goal. • We argue that public institutions must cater to diverse data demands of external developers to stop illegal scraping. • We uncover that public institutions benefit from a single data infrastructure equaling internal and external needs. Open data platforms freely provide citizens with access to public data, thus enabling improved governance transparency, enhanced public services, and increased civic engagement. However, unlocking the potential of this digital transformation strategy requires that public institutions manage the tension between public and private interests. Furthermore, even when public institutions break down traditional barriers for citizens’ access to data, the potential users often lack the knowledge to leverage it in meaningful ways. Open data platforms therefore tend to fall short of expectations. Leveraging a 10-year action design research study (ADR) in the Swedish Transport Administration (STA), this paper develops design principles for creating value-generating open data platforms in the public domain. The ADR project was initiated to assist STA in its efforts to deal with outlaw innovators who scraped train data from different websites to develop travel apps. Through three iterative design cycles that eventually led to the formation of a new open data platform, the outlaw innovators increasingly became valued partners in the digital transformation process. Theorizing this development process, this paper offers three design principles that provide guidance to public institutions aspiring to digitally transform by making public data accessible. We also reflect upon how these institutions might mitigate the risks associated with partnering with outlaw innovators in the pursuit of an open data strategy.