[@OKFNau] Examples of Use of Commercial Government Data

Thu Mar 19 01:15:22 UTC 2015

When I was working within govt I did see some positive change in recent
times in NSW. For example by setting up procurement processes to help
agencies get the right tech skills in for small jobs rather than always
looking at massive systems builds. And making it simpler for smaller
players to get into govt contracts.

With your point, Hugh, about getting your data house in order, I'm not sure
people in govt truly see that as a value driver? It would be nice if they
did! To many it seems like a massive undertaking especially when you look
at the number of 80s and 90s era weirdo systems that are about, and its
hard for the keen people to make a case for it in terms of tangible
benefits. Then the question becomes; couldn't the agencies just make
imperfect datasets available instead and label them as such? Often their
bosses won't let them because they're worried about privacy breaches and/or
embarrassing things 'getting out'.

Generational change and senior staff who understand technology would help.
Bring on the digital bureaucrats!

On Thu, Mar 19, 2015 at 2:54 AM, Steven De Costa <
steven.decosta at linkdigital.com.au> wrote:

> You folks are cool :) great discussion going on here.
>
> After being in Kiev and spending a lot of time with Government officials
> there I now realize just how lucky we are in Australia. Ukraine has 1,200
> government services and of those only two are currently delivered via a
> digital medium.
>
> There is zero bureaucratic latitude to do anything outside the law so
> every process change starts with a change to legislation.
>
> Having said that I still hold to the belief that eGovernment is inevitable
> and open data that is generated by transparently operated digital
> government services is the 'killer app' for today's democracy.
>
> I expect the Federal Digital Transformation Office will help create a wave
> of change through all levels of Australian Government and digital
> bureaucrats will become the norm in all agencies.
>
> Going 'native' now has a new meaning.
>
> Hoots!
>
>
> On Wednesday, March 18, 2015, Tennessee Leeuwenburg <
> tleeuwenburg at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi Lachlan,
>>
>> In my frustrated moments, I think that about the whole world, not just
>> government :). I think it's amazing when anyone manages to find a way to be
>> successful through openness, and it's the way of the future. If only we
>> could get there :)
>>
>> You may say I'm a dreamer, but I'm not the only one...
>>
>> -T
>>
>> On 16 March 2015 at 15:02, Lachlan Musicman <datakid at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> I deserve that rebuke and I think Pia makes a good point. But it's
>>> also true that from *outside* government, it can be hard to be
>>> anything but cynical, and I am not often seeing that change of
>>> attitude that you claim - as someone bubbling with impatience on the
>>> outside, I see feet draggers and excuse makers. I think that different
>>> levels of government (Fed, State, Local) probably have different
>>> opinions and different levels of commitment as well. I know I should
>>> be differentiating between them, but in reality, I just see a wall of
>>> Government.
>>>
>>> Good to see the discussion take off ;)
>>>
>>> Cheers
>>> L.
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> ------
>>> The totalitarian society envisioned by George Orwell in 1984 should
>>> have arrived by now. The electronic gadgets are here. The government
>>> is here, ready to do what Orwell anticipated. So the power exists, the
>>> motive, and the electronic hardware. But these mean nothing, because,
>>> progressively more and more so, no one is listening. The new youth
>>> that I see is too stupid to read, too restless and bored to watch, too
>>> preoccupied to remember. The collective voice of the authorities is
>>> wasted on him; he rebels. But rebels not out of theoretical,
>>> ideological considerations, only out of what might be called pure
>>> selfishness. Plus a careless lack of regard for the dread consequences
>>> the authorities promise him if he fails to obey. He cannot be bribed
>>> because what he wants he can build, steal, or in some curious,
>>> intricate way acquire for himself. He cannot be intimidated because on
>>> the streets and in his home he has seen and participated in so much
>>> violence that it fails to cow him. He merely gets out of its way when
>>> it threatens, or, if he can't escape, he fights back. When the locked
>>> police van comes to carry him off to the concentration camp the guards
>>> will discover that while loading the van they have failed to note that
>>> another equally hopeless juvenile has slashed the tires. The van is
>>> out of commission. And while the tires are being replaced, the other
>>> youth siphons out all the gas from the gas tank for his souped-up
>>> Chevrolet Impala and has sped off long ago.
>>> ----
>>> The Android and the Human, Philip K. Dick
>>> sourced from
>>> http://boingboing.net/2015/03/10/philip-k-dicks-androids-blu.html
>>>
>>>
>>> On 15 March 2015 at 11:22, Pia Waugh <pia.waugh at gmail.com> wrote:
>>> > Hi all,
>>> >
>>> > Just a quick one:
>>> >
>>> > On Fri, Mar 13, 2015 at 3:30 PM, Lachlan Musicman <datakid at gmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>> >
>>> >> Government officials. I cannot express how grateful I am that there
>>> are
>>> >> people in this organisation who can talk pretty because I just want
>>> to break
>>> >> their kneecaps and push them into puddles with a sneer.
>>> >
>>> >
>>> > It'd be really cool if people could remember that "government
>>> officials" are
>>> > not a faceless enemy. There are a lot of us working in government to
>>> improve
>>> > things, and comments like this certainly don't help. If you make it a
>>> > "you're either with us or agin us" then you make it very hard to
>>> > collaborate, educate or change the status quo. Personally I'm finding
>>> > attitudes are changing within Australian governments (fed,
>>> state/territory
>>> > and local) quite rapidly and I'm cautiously optimistic things will
>>> continue
>>> > to get better. Meanwhile, I guess we'll start issuing knee protectors
>>> as
>>> > standard issue across the public service ;)
>>> >
>>> > Cheers,
>>> > Pia
>>> >
>>> > _______________________________________________
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>>> > okfn-au at lists.okfn.org
>>> > https://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/okfn-au
>>> > Unsubscribe: https://lists.okfn.org/mailman/options/okfn-au
>>> >
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> --------------------------------------------------
>> Tennessee Leeuwenburg
>> http://myownhat.blogspot.com/
>> "Don't believe everything you think"
>>
>
>
> --
> *STEVEN DE COSTA *|
> *EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR*www.linkdigital.com.au
>
>
>
>
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