I believe this addresses the reference gap issue from another perspective, since you can think of an identifier as a reference to a Wikidata item.
Do you agree that Wikidata should become the central linking hub of open knowledge?
If so, I'd be really grateful if you could endorse the *soweego* project:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project/Hjfocs/soweegoOf course, any comment is more than welcome on the discussion page.
Looking forward to your valuable feedback.
Best,
Marco