Monday, November 11, 2013

eDigital at NSW Open Data Forum November 2013

eDigital @ NSW Open Data Forum November 2013
eDigital @ NSW Open Data Forum November 2013
eDigital assisted to the NSW Goverment Open Data Forum on Monday 11th November 2013.

Andrew Constance, Minister for Finance and Services presented the new NSW Open Data Policy which helps facilitate the implementation of best practice open data principles across the NSW
public sector.

Key note speakers included John MacMillan AO, Australian Information Commissioner, OAIC and Elizabeth Coombs, NSW Privacy Commissioner.

Interesting findings:
  • Apps 4 NSWapps4nsw is the first State Government apps competition in Australia. The objective of the apps4nsw competition is to capture innovative ideas using public sector information and data that are useful to the people of NSW.
  • GovHack: Gov Hack Day in Sydney was held in May 2013 were hundreds of hackers joint together to form teams and work together to create best new mash ups, data visualisations and apps with Government data. It is expected for another Hack day to happen next year.

  • Australia Government spend 51 million dollars a year on a Contingency Strategy. 7 million australians with contingency issues. A public Toilet Map app was created.
 

  • GIPA Act establishes an open approach to gaining access to government information in NSW. The objective is to have a Government that is open, accountable, fair and effective, by authorising and encouraging the proactive public release of government information by agencies; giving members of the public an enforceable right to access government information, and ensuring that access to government information is restricted only when there is an overriding public interest against disclosure. The guiding principle of the GIPA Act is the public interest, with a general presumption that disclosure of information is in the public interest, unless a strong case to the contrary can be demonstrated.