Taskforce bullish on data.gov.au

James Riley
Wednesday, 15 July 2009 09:24

IT Policy - Government Tech Policy

The shiny new Government 2.0 Taskforce in Australia will hand off its recommendations for which public sector data sets should be shared openly through the Internet to the soon-to-be-established Office of the Information Commissioner.

And the Taskforce is already looking at models for how that data should be shared, and may head down the same path as the Obama adminstration in the US through the creation of a data.gov.au website.

Taskforce chairman Nicholas Gruen told iTWire much of the work of the Taskforce would be taken up by the new Information Commissioner – including the model for implementing data sharing.

Plans for establishing the Office of the Information Commissioner, which was allocated more than $20 million in the May Federal budget, were started by former Special Minister of State John Faulkner before he was moved to Defence.

The Office will support the activities of the Privacy Commissioner, the soon to be named Freedom of Information Commissioner, and the Information Commissioner, who will ultimately decide what Government data can be shared and how.

The Bill that would create the new office is currently in Draft Exposure form and is expected to be put to the Parliament by the end of the year.

Dr Gruen said the six month timetable for reporting back to Government on how its 2.0 processes should be shaped was tight but achievable.

“There is never enough time for these things,” Dr Gruen said. “But six months is what we have, and it is enough to get substantial work done in this area.”

Dr Gruen said there were transparency and process advantages in having decisions about data sharing made by a statuatory body, rather than through a Government Department or agency such as the Australian Government Information Management Office.

He said that by establishing the Taskforce itself, Government had accessed a broader set of views and expertise on 2.0 issues than if it had simply handed the task of investigation to a unit with a federal department.

Among the early action items for the Taskforce would be to look where it will allocate some of the $2.45 million in funding it has been given to disburse. The Taskforce is looking for ideas and entrepreneurs to explore new ideas for Government 2.0 work.