[Aust-NZ] What Open Government can learn from us Open Source folks

[David Collins]

Hello, Cameron.

The document looks good, and I like the recent edits.  I would like to
offer the perspective of a free-lance developer, who is using open spatial
data from the Australian government, and the 7 state governments. In the
process of developing an app, I am increasing accessibility to that
government data, and making it more valuable.

The point I'd like to make is that for my project, state government data is
at least as important as federal government data. For example, the best
roads, water ways and geographic names data is held by the states.
Fortunately, most of the states have embraced Creative Commons, and for the
majority of the states, all of their useful data is available as CC BY,
which means it can be used in a commercial product.  For a couple of states
though, this is not yet the case.  In this situation, the pricing excludes
low-cost app developers like myself from accessing the best available
topographic data, resulting in the data being only available to those with
big budgets, which of course include corporations like Apple, Google, ESRI,
etc.

I have briefly looked at the Digital Transformation Agency web-site, to see
who they engage with.  It includes a fairly diverse list, but I have not
been able to find reference to any consultation with the state governments.

https://www.dta.gov.au/who-we-are/how-we-engage/

   - Digital 10
   - PMO roundtable
   - Non-government sector
   - OECD digital economy
   - Open Government Partnership

A quote from their web-site - '*Our agency was set up in 2015 to help
government departments and agencies undergo digital transformation.*'  Does
this only include the federal government?

I do not feel that I operate at the right level to write up a
recommendation in this document, but am happy for you to utilise some of
these thoughts if you think any of the points are relevant.

Regards,

*DAVID COLLINS*
*Geologist & Developer*


*Trilobite Solutions*

http://trilobite.solutions

*Woodville, **NSW, Australia, 2321*
*Phone: +612 4930 5839*


On Tue, Feb 27, 2018 at 8:52 AM, Cameron Shorter <cameron.shorter at gmail.com>
wrote:

> The Australian Government has asked for feedback on how they are going at
> Open Government, and I've started a draft response. I'm really keen to make
> sure that this response is well constructed because I think that if
> listened to, understood, and acted upon, then we can make a huge difference
> to the effectiveness of Open Government worldwide - and by extension, to
> Open Source as well.
>
> If you have a chance to read and provide review comments, I'd be very
> grateful. Email me directly to get review access.
>
> (It will take ~ 10 minutes to read. Longer if you take time to think about
> how things should be reworded and consider what is missing and should be
> included.)
>
> https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jNdh4_A_cIpaHqLRFOgpvAY3
> JSo0Ueraam39UHFOGHs/edit#heading=h.5zu4u4o3l7zi
>
> --
> Cameron Shorter
> Technology Demystifier, Learnosity
> Open Technologies Consultant
>
> M +61 (0) 419 142 254
>
> _______________________________________________
> Aust-NZ mailing list
> Aust-NZ at lists.osgeo.org
> https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/aust-nz
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