Is it working? Assessing the value of the Canadian Data Liberation Initiative

This paper examines the assessment of the Data Liberation Initiative (DLI), a data consortium, from the perspective of the program's functionality and fulfilment of stakeholder objectives. Two models are described which help assess how well the program succeeded in doing what it was intended to do, and which provide a measure of the program's impact. This study presents correlational evidence between the volume of research outcomes and the increased access to National Population Health Survey data through the DLI. It is hoped that some of the experiences in this evaluation of DLI might be beneficial in assessing other non‐standard programs.