The open data movement has been growing in profile and popularity in recent years. The DataVic Access Policy is the Victorian government’s own mandate to departments and agencies to promote the release of data for public benefit.
The July meeting of the IPAA ICT Community of Practice welcomed Greg Gough, the Manager of the DataVic Access Policy, and one of its principle architects.
The journey towards complete openness and transparency in government data is long and challenging, as it requires a fundamental change of both culture and attitude. Government data is often sensitive and access is frequently governed by statute, so our historical default position has been to err on the side of caution, restricting access unless specifically required to do otherwise.
The DataVic Access Policy turns this position on its head, with the first principle being ‘Government data will be made available unless access is restricted for reasons of privacy, public safety, security and law enforcement, public health, and compliance with the law.’
The most evident manifestation of the DataVic Access Policy is the recently-redeveloped Victorian Government Data Directory, at DataVic which now hosts more than 6,500 datasets in machine-readable format for download. Datasets containing geospatial information are particularly important, as these can be combined with other data more easily.
These static datasets are just the beginning, however, as most value can be derived from data which can be extracted and interpreted in real-time, via an Application Programming Interface (API).
The release of data via the Public Transport Victoria (PTV) API has been the catalyst for a range of web and mobile applications, and development in this area continues.
To promote the use of government data, a range of initiatives have been undertaken and continue to be planned, including Meetups, Hack events, competitions and challenges.
The DataVic Access Policy sets a range of expectations on departments and agencies, to identify, release, manage and report on their datasets. Ultimately, we are the custodians of public data, and it’s our responsibility to make it available to improve efficiency and drive innovation.
Reposted and updated from IPAA News.