Global open data leaders give NSW lessons in data sharing - Government News

"The report provides suggestions on how NSW can move further towards open government and open data.

These include recommendations to:

• Publish a complete catalogue of all datasets, including restricted datasets
• Moving from a legislative framework authorising data release to one that proactively encourages it
• Mandating departments to open specific datasets and set quotas for datasets to force collaboration
• Identify which datasets are important economic drivers for growth in regional areas and prioritise these
• Mandate departments to create machine-readable standardised formats for datasets to allow analytics and linked data applications
• Explicitly fund departments opening up high-value datasets in machine-readable format
• Adopt an anticipatory regulatory approach that promotes open data but ensures ongoing evaluation and assessment of security and privacy risks
• Develop in-depth guidelines on anonymisation and de-identification
• Identify workforce skills/knowledge gaps and opportunities to work with local government and other government agencies
• Adopt an incubator model where an open data company is embedded with an agency to co-develop ideas and applications on models, or engage with entities such as Code for Australia to bring in ideas and expertise

The research underpinning the report was guided by a steering committee comprising NSW agencies and experts, including the Data Analytics Centre, Department of Premier and Cabinet, Data61, the Department of Finance, Services and Innovation and the Department of Justice. "