[@OKau] A Missing Link

Fri May 8 01:07:42 UTC 2015

Ironically the Federal agency I am currently working in blocks the link to
the Sunlight Foundation report due to Scribd being 'untrusted'.

I've recently dealt with four other Australian Government agencies that are
unable to reach the OKFN, OGP, OpenAustralia & Sunlight Foundation websites
and other key resources on open data as they are classified by the agency
web filtering services as "political" or "high risk".

This was explained to me at one agency as due to a tightening of
classifications in 2014 to prevent public servants from accessing
'unnecessary content'.

It's hard to convince public servants of the benefits when they can't
directly access the necessary information for decision-making.

Cheers,

Craig

_________________________________________________

Craig Thomler

http://egovau.blogspot.com
http://twitter.com/CraigThomler
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*Mobile:* 0411 780 194 (*International:* +61 411 780 194)
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On 8 May 2015 at 10:05, Alex (Maxious) Sadleir <maxious at gmail.com> wrote:

> The Sunlight Foundation has collected 100 case studies to "illustrate the
> social impact of open data and digital transparency initiatives in
> different countries, cities and communities".
>
> http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2015/05/05/a-new-approach-to-measuring-the-impact-of-open-data/
>
> On Fri, May 8, 2015 at 9:47 AM, Steven De Costa <
> steven.decosta at linkdigital.com.au> wrote:
>
>> No!
>>
>> Don't get drawn into a hostage negotiation ;)
>>
>> That argument is one where the data holder will say, "Show me proof I'll
>> get value, then I'll release the data".
>>
>> Instead, we need to keep the conversation on the data itself.
>>
>> However, if you must preemptively demonstrate value I think there are two
>> sensible and non distracting ways to do it.
>>
>> 1. The macro economic argument. Talk about the economy, information
>> goods, theory of the firm and transaction costs - all in broad terms. When
>> you do this you can then find evidence of other changes in the
>> (information) economy to cite as examples.
>>
>> 2. The micro economic argument. Talk about the shift in
>> government-citizen dynamics brought about by modern communication mediums
>> and the learned behaviors of digital natives. You can then cite examples of
>> large changes in consumer behaviour born from peer to peer networks, social
>> networks and consolidated consumer markets (amazon, app stores, etc).
>>
>> If a government agency is serious about working out the best areas where
>> the release of data will improve the economy within their jurisdiction, or
>> enable more effective G2C and C2G interactions then they should consider
>> employing economists and statisticians to develop econometric models which
>> demonstrate the likely value of releasing data. They should also consider
>> what stimulation they'd need to provide to ensure that a supply-demand
>> relationship emerges to maintain the long term value they expect to create.
>>
>> Cheers,
>> Steven
>>
>>
>> *STEVEN DE COSTA *|
>> *EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR*www.linkdigital.com.au
>>
>>
>>
>> On 8 May 2015 at 09:10, Ben Searle <bensearle54 at gmail.com> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi,
>>>
>>> An open data related thought based on a number of years working in the
>>> data management space across different levels of government.
>>>
>>> Most government organisations and individuals in those organisations
>>> understand the benefits of making their data available to the public.  That
>>> debate has generally been won.  But, most organisations are suffering
>>> reduced budgets and appreciate that they must expend some resources to
>>> comply with the open data philosophy.  This costs their organisation.  But
>>> what benefit do they get back from releasing their data?
>>>
>>> Generally not much direct benefit, other than complying with broad
>>> government objectives.  So, what is their answer to the question of “whats
>>> in it for me?”….generally not much.  Until we can effectively answer that
>>> question the supply side of open data will continue to be limited and we
>>> will continue to have data released purely to increase data set numbers and
>>> meet KPI’s but will that data be useful?  Based on current activities, much
>>> of the existing open data would not be consumed by organisations wishing to
>>> generate digital products.
>>>
>>> What is missing?
>>>
>>>
>>> Ben Searle
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> Email:    bensearle54 at gmail.com
>>> Mobile:  +61 (0) 400 453 601
>>>
>>>
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>>>
>>>
>>
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>
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