Australian Government Open Information Access Report

Greetings from Canberra, where Professor John McMillan, the Australian Information Commissioner just launched the report "Open public sector information: from principles to practice".  The commissioner pointed out that agencies have difficulty with the accessibility for the disabled of their documents and do not have metadata for many documents. Another challenge was agencies implementing the government's policy of open access being the default. Professor McMillan was speaking at an event organized by NICTA as part of "Open Data Day".

Open public sector information: from principles to practice

Report on agency implementation of the Principles on open public sector information

February 2013

Contents

1. Foreword
2. Background to the PSI survey
   1. Outline of this report
3. 1. Summary of findings
   1. Overview of key challenges
   2. Priority areas for action
4. 2. Results
   1. Open PSI Principle 1: Open access to information – a default position
   2. Open PSI Principle 2: Engaging the community
   3. Open PSI Principle 3: Effective information governance
   4. Open PSI Principle 4: Robust information asset management
   5. Open PSI Principle 5: Discoverable and useable information
   6. Open PSI Principle 6: Clear reuse rights
   7. Open PSI Principle 7: Appropriate charging for access
   8. Open PSI Principle 8: Transparent enquiry and complaint process
5. 3. Analysis
   1. Strong agency leadership
   2. Strategic management of PSI assets
   3. Public engagement
   4. Information management
   5. Using Web 2.0 to support open PSI
   6. Open licensing
   7. Charging for access to PSI
   8. Complaints and enquiries processes
   9. PSI issues for galleries, libraries, archives and museums
   10. Keeping abreast of international developments
6. Appendix A – PSI survey methodology
   1. Survey implementation
   2. Focus groups
   3. Interim results
7. Appendix B – Summary of UTS intern research project: Access to and use of public sector information: The academic reuser perspective
   1. Background
   2. Process
   3. Findings and recommendations
8. Appendix C – Definitions

Opening Government Data in Australia

NICTA are hosting "Opening Government Data in Australia – Next Steps" with the Australian Information Commissioner, in Canberra at noon on Friday, 22 February 2013. Other Australian events for "Open Data Day" are Hack for Education and Environment at UTS in Sydney and "Maleny2013".

Opening Government Data in Australia 

Description:

To support and encourage the International Open Data Hackthon (http://opendataday.org/), the Australian Information Commissioner, NICTA/eGov Cluster and the Office for Spatial Policy are doing a launch event about next steps for opening up government data in Australia.
Recording: This event will be recorded and published online after the event.
Date: Friday 22 February 2013
Time: 12:00 - 13:00
RSVP : Eventbrite

Schedule:

12:00 – The OAIC will launch their latest publication, Open public sector information; from principles to practice and Australian Information Commissioner Professor John McMillian will discuss:

• agency successes in implementing the Principles on open public sector information
• the challenges to be overcome
• the opportunities for agencies to increase the value of public sector information
• action the OAIC will take to assist agencies to further implement the Principles
• international developments in the open government movement

12:20 – Helen Owens from the Office of Spatial Policy – will discuss progress on opening government geospatial data and specifically the Foundation Spatial Data Framework.

12:35 – The eGov Cluster will present some recent projects using government data for public benefits and innovation, and will discuss how governments can collaborate with the private sector.

12:50 – A short Q&A panel session with the speakers about opening government data in Australia.