An open health data engagement ecosystem model: Are facilitators the key to open data success?

Over the last decade, a rapidly growing open data movement has resulted in government agencies quickly publishing a large volume of data, and the data's subsequent use among a variety of open data consumers. Understanding the activities, actors, technologies and factors enabling open data publication and use has been the subject of discussion among academic researchers and practitioners. However, research is limited, with few empirical studies on open data collecting primary research data from the health domain. To address this gap, we conducted 53 semi‐structured key informant interviews with participants in the open health data ecosystem in a variety of roles. Interview data were analyzed using a grounded theory approach to identify common themes and develop insights into the objectives, activities and desired outcomes of the open health data ecosystem. We found that data facilitators – data advocates, typically external to government agencies – are critical to this process by facilitating open data awareness and successful use. We applied activity theory to examine the facilitator theme and develop a preliminary model of the open health data ecosystem, including the roles, responsibilities and activities of different participants and the role of these facilitators. Our findings suggest that consumers' successful engagement with open health data is fostered by, and perhaps dependent upon, facilitators' activities. These empirically based insights into the structure and workings of the open health data engagement ecosystem can inform jurisdictions' development of open health data engagement strategies thereby improving the success of their open health data initiatives.