Assessing the use of government open data and the role of data infomediaries: The case of Nova Scotia’s community counts program

Abstract

This study provides a retrospective evaluation of the Nova Scotia Community Counts program, a common platform where aggregated data from many sources mirrors what is generally considered as government open data. The role of Community Counts as a data infomediary added additional value for both data providers and users within informationintensive open data ecosystems. While data literacy is a recurring issue in the open data world, Community Counts should be considered a successful case for engagement with open data, serving as a catalyst to improve data literacy. This study also reveals the importance of harnessing the social benefits of open data, as it provides additional incentive for users to engage in data, thereby increasing open data usage and allowing further value to be realized by a more diverse base of users.