Intermediation as a dissolver of barriers: How intermediaries can help overcome barriers in open data use.

Abstract

The phenomenon of open data has seen an exponential rise in attention over the last years, mainly because of the near-limitless potential. Because of this potential, open data has increased rapidly in importance for many organisations, both public and private. However, the realisation of the full potential of open data has proven to be difficult in practice and has yet to materialise. This is partially caused by barriers that open data users face when they want to use open data.

Open data intermediaries are believed to play a crucial role in unlocking the full potential of open data, by removing these barriers. However, no research has sought to explore the role of intermediaries in removing/reducing barriers experienced by users in the use of open data. This research has therefore analysed different types of intermediaries and linked those types to different barriers commonly found in the (re)use of open data.