Around 60 people attended the Sharing Government Data Forum in late April, with large contingents from NSW Government agencies and the research sector – universities, CSIRO and NICTA. Headline speakers included Deirdre O’Donnell, NSW Information Commissioner, Stuart Coleman of the Open Data Institute, UK and Pia Waugh, Director Gov 2.0, Federal Department of Finance.
Government agencies outlined key data initiatives currently being developed, and researchers presented examples of government data being effectively used and analysed in environmental sciences, emergency services, building data, weather, housing and modeling Australia’s geothermal energy.
Key questions addressed were how to:
- identify and prioritise high value data sets of interest to research
- investigate value the research sector can bring to use of government data
- assist in data release and use initiatives, and
- identify mechanisms to enable closer research – government collaboration.
Intersect and the NSW Department of Trade and Investment jointly hosted the forum to identify how opening NSW Government data to university research can provide value to both researchers and NSW State agencies.
Intersect will continue to engage researchers to identify government data the research sector would like access. This will be provided to the Department of Finance and Services as they develop a pipeline of data release. Send any requests for data to researchdata@intersect.org.au
Sites of interest include: http://data.nsw.gov.au/, www.lpi.nsw.gov.au, http://www.services.nsw.gov.au/ict/