Going beyond open data: Challenges and motivations for smart disclosure in ethical consumption

Although the principle of transparency and openness is not new, recent years have brought increased attention to the need for greater government and private sector accountability driven mostly by the open government, smart disclosure and open data movements. But opening data in the government and private sectors brings about a set of challenges that need to be mitigated if we are to achieve greater information access. This paper aims to contribute to a better understanding of the challenges and motivations for data disclosure in the private sector. We used the sustainable coffee supply chain as a case study, gathering data through a workshop and a series of interviews with coffee supply chain participants and other stakeholders. We identified five challenges and six motivating factors facing data producers along the supply chain. These challenges and motivating factors can be further classified into four areas: market dynamics, information policies, data challenges, and technological capability. We believe that these findings can be generalized to inform discussion and policy design in other market areas. The paper concludes with a proposal for possible future steps to promote openness and innovation in the private sector.