[@OKFNau] BudgetAus data finally put to use!

Mon Jan 27 08:08:14 UTC 2014

I have worked on budget data visualization projects previously as well, and
one of the biggest challenge is not in how the data is represented, but how
to interpret the budget information, especially during changes of
government or policy changes. Most data visualizations do this on a more
superficial level that shows the distributions of the dollars, but I think
it is more important to see the impact and effect of how these changes
affect the people.

Anyway, I think any effort towards making information more transparent and
useful for people is a step in the right direction, and hopefully more
people are contributing to this type of work. I guess another important
question also is just how accurate and reliable the data we get really is?

On Sun, Jan 26, 2014 at 10:18 AM, Rosie Williams <budgetaus at hotmail.com>wrote:

> Thanks Silvana,
>
> I missed this thread on budget data when it was originally posted to
> data.gov.au https://datagovau.ideascale.com/a/dtd/BudgetAus/19785-26233 but
> am very happy to see some public support for BudgetAus.
>
> Hopefully the thread can be used to improve understanding between
> government and people such as myself who use government data (not to
> mention users).
>
> I've had an offer to help enter budget data on budget night but I still
> need to know precisely what is going to be published otherwise it makes it
> very difficult to say anything concrete about what can be accomplished on
> the night and unfortunately people tend to judge the project by what is
> available on May 14 despite that to my mind this is a very small aspect of
> the value of the project.
>
> Budget data is very complex and trying to get it all in and correct on one
> night when it is broken down to program component level and appropriation
> type and including all forward funding years, equity injections and other
> odds and ends is a complex job.
>
> It has been my observation that a lot of people don't understand the
> difference between a project like theopenbudget.org and a project like
> BudgetAus in terms of the scale & complexity of the work and therefore why
> the needs of my project ought to be given any credibility when certain
> aspects of the data can be reproduced within a short time-frame by another
> project. Not that I'm trying to take anything away from The Open Budget
> team, just correcting any latent perceptions that one project can
> substitute for the other.
>
> I think this lack of insight has hampered support for what I have done but
> there are people coming forward now who do appreciate the differences, one
> of whom I have worked with quite extensively to better understand the
> complexities of accounting within the budget.
>
> Getting some momentum behind a project like BudgetAus as I now feel is
> happening is important because without it, the needs and benefits of such a
> project are very easily ignored and that is a loss to society.
>
> Rosie Williams BA (Sociology)
> Founder & Developer InfoAus.net
>    ABN 90 345 143 783
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>
>
> > From: silfumega at gmail.com
> > Date: Thu, 23 Jan 2014 22:03:04 +1100
> > To: okfn-au at lists.okfn.org
> > CC: data-driven-journalism at lists.okfn.org
> > Subject: Re: [@OKFNau] BudgetAus data finally put to use!
> >
> > Hi Rosie,
> > just checked the article. Great piece!
> > This article is a clear example of some of the many things that can be
> > done with open data.
> >
> > Keep up the great work!
> > Silvana
> >
> >
> >
> > On Thu, Jan 23, 2014 at 12:48 PM, Silvana Fumega <silfumega at gmail.com>
> wrote:
> > > Sounds great! I'll check it later
> > >
> > >
> > > Sent from my iPhone
> > >
> > > On 22 Jan 2014, at 5:56 pm, Rosie Williams <budgetaus at hotmail.com>
> wrote:
> > >
> > > AusOpinion author Paul Davis @davispg published this article today
> using
> > > graphics he created based on data from BudgetAus (my online searchable
> > > database containing the federal budget).
> > >
> > > I'm really pleased to see the data put to use in addressing news
> issues as
> > > they arise. Paul's article deals with the welfare reforms that were
> > > announced in yesterday's media so that is a very fast response indeed!
> > >
> > > Please find Paul's article at
> > > http://ausopinion.com/2014/01/22/is-it-really-a-review/
> > >
> > > Rosie Williams BA (Sociology)
> > > Founder & Developer InfoAus.net
> > > ABN 90 345 143 783
> > > Home | Blog | Twitter | BudgetAus FB | eXpenseAusFB
> > > | BudgetAus | eXpenseAus | KnowYourPlace | InfoAus Shop
> > >
> > >
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> >
> >
> > --
> > Silvana Fumega
> > PhD Candidate
> > University of Tasmania
> > Tel: +61 448486500
> > @SilvanavF
> >
> > Private Bag 89
> > Hobart - TAS 7001
> > Australia
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