[OKFN-AU] Introduction / Open Local / FixMyStreet Australia

[Andrew Perry]

Hi all

Looking forward to everything that will come out of linux.conf.au over 
the coming days and in particular the Open Government mini-conf - wish I 
could make it!

I am a lawyer who has been using and promoting Open Source software for 
the past 15+ years and participated in various Open Government 
initiatives for the last 3-4.  I have founded an organisation, Community 
Builders Australia, that primarily assists non-profits with the 
implementation of open source CMS/CRM/DMS (Drupal/CiviCRM/Alfresco) but 
has also been developing a database of Australian Federal and State 
politicians for use by NFPs in their lobbying activities and we're also 
developing a "Where to Vote" mobile app to help people find their local 
polling booths and find out more about the candidates.

I have a blog post at www.foclaw.org.au that outlines my philosophy of 
"Sustainable Sharing".

Last year I decided it was time to deliver on some of the things that we 
have been working on and talking to stakeholders about, so Open Local 
<http://www.openlocal.org.au> was born.

Yesterday, to celebrate Australia Day, Open Local launched FixMyStreet 
Australia at http://nsw.fixmystreet.org.au

As the domain name suggests, FixMyStreet is currently servicing NSW, 
with Victoria (and other States) to come online next month.

As part of implementing FixMyStreet, Open Local has also implemented a 
MapIt server that lets you browse various areas covering the nation 
including ABS Commonwealth Electoral Divisions, State Electoral 
Divisions and Local Government Areas: Type in your postcode in the form 
of http://mapit.openlocal.org.au/areas/pc6000.html for 6000, click on 
the result and you can see what I mean.  You can then see what other 
areas cover or overlap it using the navigation on the page.

We plan to build on it to make other ABS information more readily 
available and actionable.

I am particularly interested in the policy and practicalities of open 
source / open data / open government models.

I look forward to participating in the group.

If you are in NSW, please post any issues in your street on FixMyStreet 
and let us know how you go getting a response from your Council.

Regards


Andrew

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