[@OKFNau] speaking of values...

Thu Mar 19 19:11:29 UTC 2015

That all sounds fair Cobi :)

Venting some frustration is healthy too. Open doors lead to all kinds of
places.

What is the lack of transparency you are talking about regarding okfnau? We
have a Board meeting only just recently set for 31 March. It would be good
to know what you are referring to so it can be sorted out :)

I hope to do a blog post on the board meeting dates soon - probably
Saturday as I'm on flights and such in about an hour.

Happy to also take any questions from anyone on this list into the agenda
too. It should be a good meeting as a bunch of things will be ticked off
and allow for more clarity all-round regarding 2015.

Cheers,
Steven

*STEVEN DE COSTA *|
*EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR*www.linkdigital.com.au

On 19 March 2015 at 15:04, Cobi Alison Smith <cobi.smith at unimelb.edu.au>
wrote:

>  To throw the cat among the pigeons, I’m going to add a couple of points:
>
>
>
> -          I don’t think OKFNau is in a great position to be pushing for
> change right now, given lack of transparency about upcoming plans &
> governance changes in the wake of broader OK changes. It’s easy to
> criticise; it’s harder to lead by example. Consider how hard it is for
> OKFNau to manage this – then consider government departments which have way
> more inertia & less knowledge. Yes, OK folk are volunteers whereas
> government employees get paid, and yes change should and will happen – but
> I think OKFNau is unintentionally complacent in the same way governments
> can be.
>
>
>
> -          I want to echo and amplify Rosie’s comment that you can speak
> but that doesn’t mean people will hear. And when people express frustration
> via jokes about violence, it means those of us who are trying to be heard
> and create change within organizations have to deal with more barriers. The
> last thing we need in Australia is for transparency to be further
> undermined by perceived risks of kneecapping, kidnapping, or any kind of
> bogus security paranoia. Less hostility and more inclusivity please. The
> more folk from government who are on this list asking for help the better;
> making them feel unwelcome via sneers & such isn’t conducive to positive
> change.
>
>
>
> Incidentally, Rosie have you considered a Shuttleworth Fellowship?
> https://www.shuttleworthfoundation.org/applications/ I was being
> encouraged to apply while I was in Geneva last year – I think you deserve
> it much more.
>
>
>
> Cheers, Cobi
>
>
>
> *From:* okfn-au [mailto:okfn-au-bounces at lists.okfn.org] *On Behalf Of *Rosie
> Williams
> *Sent:* Thursday, 19 March 2015 12:19 PM
> *To:* Open Knowledge discussion list for Australia.
> *Subject:* Re: [@OKFNau] Examples of Use of Commercial Government Data
>
>
>
> Just this week I had to try to convince a New Enterprise Incentive Scheme
> business advisor that what I do has value. His first comment to me was ' I
> suspect there might copyright issues'. I then explained to him the
> definition of open data and it's relationship to copyright. He seemed
> unaware of the concept, not to mention a bit sceptical. How he would
> 'advise' me remains to be seen. I spent a fair bit of the time trying to
> explain to him that tenders and grants data are actually different things.
> I didn't get far.
>
>
>
> If I am not able to convince this person of the value of what I do I will
> be put to work cleaning hospitals. I don't mind the work but it would be
> sad if I have to stop doing what is so valuable for society because of the
> lack of appreciation of open data in wider society. I guess when it comes
> to convincing people of something you can speak but that does not guarantee
> the recipient will hear what you say. Still, I live in hope ;-)
>
>
>
> Apologies if you've been visiting BudgetAus this week, I've been making
> huge changes and for long periods and both at home and the library where I
> work the internet has been up and down like a yo-yo.  It's starting to look
> good now though and giving me the opportunity to try new things.
>
> Rosie Williams BA (Sociology)
>
> ________________________________________
>
>
>
>  NoFibs.com.au <http://nofibs.com.au> - Open Data Reporter
>
>  InfoAus.net <http://infoaus.net> - Founder and Developer
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>  ------------------------------
>
> Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2015 02:54:03 +1100
> From: steven.decosta at linkdigital.com.au
> To: okfn-au at lists.okfn.org
> Subject: Re: [@OKFNau] Examples of Use of Commercial Government Data
>
> 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
> >
>
> > _______________________________________________
> > okfn-au mailing list
> > 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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