Opportunities and Differences of Open Government Data Policies in Europe

The paper presents an analysis of the Open Government paradigm connecting it with the big political and social challenges of the traditional democratic institutions. The recent crisis in the representation of interests regarding in particular trade unions or political parties put in evidence the emerging role of the "CitizenConsumer", thanks to the new possibilities offered by the web 2.0. A similar transformation of citizens behavior needs a revision of the culture of public administration from a closed and self-referential system to an open system able to adapt to the pressing bottom-up requests of transparency, participation and collaboration. The following analysis, focused on the Open Data phenomenon from its birth to the recent developments, tries to put in evidence the differences between some European countries, and the emerging gaps, using the neo-institutionalist approach.