Challenge for new minister: If open data is changing the world, what's holding things back here?

Following the ministerial reshuffle on Saturday, Angus Taylor is Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister for Cities and Digital Transition. On digital government, he replaces Communications Minister Mitch Fifield appointed last September. 

Mr Taylor's Twitter account states

"Rhodes scholar. Business consulting and agriculture background @mckinsey and Port Jackson Partners. Passionate about good government"

So roll out the red carpet as discussion gets underway about access to information, public data, public integrity, use of technology, better services and public resources, in the context of developing Australia's Open Government Partnership National Action Plan.

Lots of room for your thoughts, ideas, suggestions and observations. Join the Open Government Partnership Network, or tell the Prime Minister's department directly what you think.

On access to government data, below two reports about opportunities for giant steps forward and another close to home about how the Federal government's "capacity to fully derive value from public sector data is constrained by competing priorities and the lack of an overarching strategy" and a plan what to do about it.


Worldwide 
The GovLab (@thegovlab), in collaboration with Omidyar Network (@OmidyarNetwork) has published detailed open data case studies that seek to provide understanding of the various processes and factors underlying the demand, supply, release, use and impact of open data. Conclusions:

• Open data is improving government, primarily by helping tackle corruption, increasing transparency, and enhancing public services and resource allocation.

• Open data is also empowering citizens to take control of their lives and demand change; this dimension of impact is primarily mediated by more informed decision making and new forms of social mobilization, both in turn facilitated by new ways of communicating and accessing information.

• Open data is also creating new opportunities for citizens and organizations, by fostering innovation and promoting economic growth and job creation.

• Open data is playing an increasingly important role in solving big public problems, primarily by allowing citizens and policymakers access to new forms of data-driven assessment of the problems at hand. It also enables data-driven engagement producing more targeted interventions and enhanced collaboration.

 Australia 
The Bureau of Communications Research report Open Government data and why it matters now on the impact of open government data tends to focus on economic impacts with not much attention to other positives that feature prominently in the GovLab report.

The Bureau reveals open government data has potential to generate up to $25 billion per year.or 1.5 per cent of Australia's GDP. Conclusion:
 
"Open government data invariably has a net economic benefit
While there is little consensus on the magnitude of the economic benefits of open government data sets, it is apparent that they provide substantial current and potential net benefits to the economy and society.
In Australia, the estimated economic value of open government data sets range from a lower boundary of $500 million to an upper boundary of $25 billion—per year. Globally, the potential value of open data (both public and private) could be up to $4 trillion per year. Significant benefits associated with open government data include improved government services, more efficient operations and business practices, better information exchange, and more engaged citizens, as shown by the sample projects and initiatives discussed in this report.

The maximum public benefit will accrue from free provision of raw government data, or at the most pricing data at the incremental cost of provision
Given that the government collects a significant amount of raw data in the course of its usual operations—for example the provision of broadband and public transport services —much of the fixed cost associated with data collection is already incurred. Net public benefits of open government data are likely to be maximised by pricing at zero or, at the most, the incremental cost of provision (short-run marginal cost), reflecting its public good characteristics of being non-rivalrous and non-excludable.

Value-adding in open government data is generally better left to the private sector   
The rationale for the Australian Government’s provision of open data is strongest for raw data. Raw government data is likely to exhibit the strongest public good characteristics, and hence the broadest benefits from its release. In general, net public benefits will be greater if significant value adding (beyond provision in machine-readable form) is left to the market, as the market sector will generally have more informed insights in identifying what value-add is of benefit to the users. The private sector, especially in developed industries such as ICT, generally have a more established capability and capacity in transforming raw data into products and services that could be introduced in the market. 

Certain government data sets that are likely to have more significant economic impacts
Some of the potential high-value data sets held by governments that have been identified to date are spatial data, health data, transport data, mining data, environmental data, demographic and social data, and real-time as well as past emergency (e.g. bushfire) data."

Australia
Then there's the report on Public Sector Data Management published by the Department of Prime Minister in December 2015. Conclusions:

"Data is under-utilised in the APS. 

Currently, the Commonwealth’s capacity to fully derive value from public sector data is constrained by competing priorities and the lack of an overarching strategy:

• There is no clear mandate for the Commonwealth to use and release public sector data.

• There are barriers (perceived and real) to sharing data within the Commonwealth and with jurisdictions to improve policy and service delivery.

• The APS lacks sufficient incentives, skills and organisational arrangements to capitalise on its data.

• The Commonwealth does not have a strong culture of publishing data to foster economic opportunities."

The recommendations in the report set out an 18 month timetable of actions to change the way government does business by setting up the right frameworks, systems and capability to use, share and value data.

........................

Hmm, won't go into how opening government data and turning the culture around
gels with closing down the government watchdog charged with promoting that culture change and the oversight of our legislated right to access government information-  legislation oversighted by the Office of Australian Information Commissioner that includes an agency obligation to publish certain information....

And how we address two policy directions pulling against each other in the OGP National Action Plan

A challenge I expect even for a Rhodes scholar with McKinsey and Port Jackson experience. 

So far as I'm aware the words "Open Government Partnership" are yet to pass this Attorney General's lips.

Right to Know Day insights into international best practice tools for open government

IFLA

On Right to Know Day  NSW Information Commissioner Elizabeth Tydd released a report by Professor Anita Stuhmcke of the University of Technology, Sydney commissioned by the IPC that provides an insight into the types of practical mechanisms utilised in selected international jurisdictions to promote open government through information sharing and citizen engagement. 

Despite the title
"Advancing the objects of the Government Information (Public Access) Act 2009 (NSW): an international comparative evaluation of measures used to promote government information release" 
the report is relevant anywhere policy makers (hopefully) and advocates (certainly) are wrestling with the challenge of how to encourage proactive release of government information.

From the Executive Summary

SECTION 3: The Concept of Open Government: History and challenges
"This report bases its findings upon the three characteristics of open government as defined by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD): transparency, accessibility, and responsiveness. Proactive release of government information is a critical plank in building these characteristics.

In Australian jurisdictions there are cultural and organisational barriers to information release. These barriers have become increasingly evident due to the rapidly changing context within which the promotion of government information sharing occurs. Technology has heightened expectations as to efficient release and effective use of government data. However as technology continues to drive change to governance models the government response can be characterised as slow and uncoordinated. In Australia macro and micro policy reform has not grappled with information sharing between agencies nor adequately addressed existing barriers to information release from government agencies to the public. This approach seems set to continue."

(Comment: Is that noise in the background Prime Minister Turnbull coming down the corridor to set the situation right ?)

SECTION 4: Leading International Jurisdictions: How open government should look
"The open government movement is global. Public data is big business and promises a new model of democratic interaction between citizen and government. In 2011 the international Open Government Partnership (OGP) was launched as an initiative by 8 founding governments. Today this includes 65 countries. This report identifies the governments which lead the international open government rankings. The United Kingdom is typically identified as the world leader in this area. The report then uses these comparative jurisdictions to identify:
(a) three switches to encourage inter-agency information sharing (see Section 5); and
(b) eight practical mechanisms to encourage proactive government information release to the public (see Section 6)."

(Comment: PM Turnbull-a great week to end years of dithering and commit Australia to continuing as a member of the Open Government Partnership?

SECTION 5: Encouraging information release in open government: Strategic tangible mechanisms to promote information sharing by government agencies
"In Australia the closed government culture is a barrier to open data policy. This section identifies three switches to overcome the behavioural/oganisational issues which prevent information sharing:
Switch 1
Legislative/structural features that build success: promoting a model of proactive agency information sharing
Best practice UK regulatory model that facilitates exchange of data between agencies (Data Protection Principles and Data Sharing Code of Practice)
Switch 2
Promoting proactive release of government data across organisational walls: Recognise and reward the individual
Promote agency Open Data Champions; individual data release prizes and challenges; and identify agency data ‘boundary spanners’
Switch 3
Build inter-agency trust: the use of soft regulation
Adopt UK ‘Personal Information Promise’; investigate multi-agency models; develop feedback loops on information sharing."

(Comment: follow the UK lead where the legal requirements for data sharing are legally enforceableby the ICO.)

 SECTION 6: Encouraging information release in open government: Strategic tangible mechanisms to promote information release by government to the public
"This project approaches the sharing of government information between agencies and release of government information to the public as initiatives which involve more than putting government data on the Internet. The eight mechanisms identified in Section 6 are:
Mechanisms to promote transparency:
1: Democratize information sharing through using Games Contests, App development and Hackathons (Civic Hacking) to crowd source ideas and promote government information release
2: Measure government performance and encourage citizen rankings
Mechanisms to promote accessibility:
3: Select policy area as the moderator for transparency and usage by combining a bottom-up and top-down approach to select specific data sets for release
4: Use non-government platforms to promote government information
5: Promote republishing and re-using government data
Mechanisms to promote responsiveness:
6: Integrate citizens, consumers and non-government organisations into policy making
7: Ensure sustainable change through the integration of “ecosystems” of key actors
8: Encourage production of government information through individual citizen contributions."

(Comment: law review is also necessary - to broaden pro-active publication requirements to reflect 21st century public expectations, and modernise freedom of information still stuck in a 1980s paper world in some jurisdictions. (NSW and Queensland better than the rest but statutory reviews in both states, conducted largely behind closed doors, have disappeared into government black holes.) And ensure there is a clear leader and advocate, and an oversight body with resources and clout to make things happen)

(Good on SBS, BTW). Addendum; So too 612 ABC Brisbane)

Heads up for Open Government!

It didn't take long for the Prime Minister to put down a marker that he is serious about the shift to 21st Century openness.

The Administrative Arrangements Order (pdf) released yesterday sets out changes in ministerial responsibility. "Public data policy" gets a mention for the first time and with "Gov 2.0 and related matters", for years the bailiwick of Finance, is now a function for the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet. The PM and the newly appointed Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Digital Government Mitch Fifield are sure to be very 'hands on.'

"Related matters" presumably signals that the Digital Transformation Office transfers from Communications where the PM as Communications minister got things going.

The PM has ambitions in this field. In a speech in May Mr Turnbull said Australia "should aim to become the world's leading digital economy" and foreshadowed international and national initiatives:

"Governments across the world are at varying stages of their digital transformations so the DTO has an opportunity to collaborate with the world’s leading digital economies. These include, but are by no means limited to the D5 - Estonia, Israel, New Zealand, South Korea and the UK, as well as state and local governments in Australia. I have spoken to Victor Dominello, the NSW Minister for Innovation, and we’re on a unity ticket on the need to collaborate. We will also make myGov available to all other state and local governments at no cost, other than those associated with the initial onboarding." 

In an earlier opinion piece in The Australian Mr Turnbull said Australia would join the D5. 

The D5 Charter (pdf) at 3.5 requires members to belong to the Open Government Partnership.

After years of being in the dark about our intentions the OGP has put Australia on notice that patience is running out and asked for a recommitment by the time of the Global Summit and Ministerial meeting in Mexico next month.

Where else "Gov 2.0 and related matters" takes us remains to be seen, 

The Finance website defines Gov 2.0 as "the use of technology to encourage a more open, transparent and engaging form of government, where the public has a greater role in forming policy and has improved access to government information."

The intersection with Freedom of Information and the Office of Australian Information Commissioner is obvious. 

Given the objects of the FOI act and the functions of the OAIC (once its future is assured and mindful of the continuing need for independence) both fit more neatly with the PM alongside  "Public data policy" and "Gov 2.0 and related matters"  than with the Attorney General. 

Bringing policy in these areas together would provide the opportunity to integrate Open Data and the publishing and access provisions of the FOI act and modernise an act still locked in a written document world as well.

It's never too late to tweak the Administrative Arrangements Order! 

(Additional thought: make it a box set by also taking responsibility for Archives which also sits with the Attorney General for no logical reason.)

 

 

Australia 'positively inclined' to join Open Government Partnership but wait, more consideration needed

On the one hand it was heartening that Minister for Finance Cormann told Senate Estimates last week that the government is "positively inclined" to join the Open Government Partnership. 

On the other, somewhat disheartening that public servants are still "going through all of the considerations that need to be gone through before we make a final decision." 

With no end in sight apparently, Minister Cormann adding the "government will form a view as soon as possible and will take as long as necessary."

Australia was invited to join the OGP, the "international platform for domestic reformers committed to making their governments more open, accountable, and responsive to citizens" in August 2011. Sixty four other governments have joined or are in the process of doing so. Just the ticket for those interested in good government you would think.

It took the Rudd-Gillard governments 21 months to reach the decision in May 2013 to lodge a notice of intention to join the OGP. 

The Abbott government has now spent 17 months since coming to office 'considering' whether to proceed or not proceed to membership. 

Last November the committee was told Finance was doing 'quite a lot of work' on a national action plan (notably,without talking to anyone outside government about it) for completion in December.  

The Department wasn't forthcoming with a copy of whatever they were working on at that time and is yet to respond (meaningfully) to this specific request for the action plan or draft.

Back in November the OGP Support Unit, working on the reasonable assumption that Australia was committed to membership as a result of the May 2013 notice and presumably not having been informed otherwise, wrote to Finance (pdf) advising that the government has "acted contrary to the OGP process for this cycle of action plan development" in failing to lodge a national action plan by July last year. 

We don't know whether their request for clarification "in the near future" on Australia's participation yielded more or something different from what the committee was told last week.
  
At the estimates hearing Senator Lundy switched after three questions about the OGP to another topic, the announcement in January by the Prime Minister and Minister Turnbull about the establishment of the Digital Transformation Office. 

Secretary Halton told the committee the detail including what functions will transfer from Finance to Communications as a result is under 'active discussion.' (In Yes Minister speak I think this is a notch above the 'under consideration' tag attached to the OGP file. Sir Humphrey once explained one meant 'we've lost the file' the other 'we're trying to find it.')

Open data apparently is somewhere in the mix.

That draft OGP national action plan according to Finance "will take into account the Government’s e-government and digital economy agenda." Maybe Communications will end up with some OGP related functions if the positive inclination to join translates into a decision to do so.

There are no funds for the office in Communications Additional Estimates 2014-15.

However Secretary Halton told the committee it's all to happen as soon as possible.

 

So's a decision on the OGP according to the minister.

We live in hope.

The discussion of the OGP and the DTO at the committee hearing follows.

New light shines on parliamentarians' entitlements

Rosie Williams at InfoAus has turned published government information into something more searchable for transparency and accountability purposes, this time using details published by Department of Finance about use of entitlements by Federal parliamentarians. 

Finance publishes claims/repayments twice a year, six months after the end of each period. They have improved accessibility over time, now presenting information about individual senators and members by state and territory. 

The entitlement picture is still far from complete as outlined in October last year. On the broader issue, the government's reaction to the scandal that came to light at that time was entirely inadequate.

(Publication of information about use of entitlements by the states remains firmly entrenched in the Dark Ages.)

Rosie has provided new search functions (Rosie @Info_Aus is interested in feedback, corrections) that enable easier access to Finance material including by Party and type of expense making these tallies available:
ALP
Coalition
The Greens.
  
By expense type providing comparative tables,among them:

Travelling Allowance
Overseas Travel
Chartered Flights
Telecommunications 


And sure to attract interest the details of Repayments and Adjustments

Rosie turned parts of the Federal Budget Papers into more searchable information with BudgetAus two years ahead of this year's first step by the government to publish data from the 2014-2015 Federal Budget in Excel & CSV formats.

She also developed KnowYourPlace an interface to search the ABS data on Socio Economic Indicators by town, council area, electorate or state.

Nick Evershed at The Guardian, one of the small but growing band of data journalists also utilised Finance material on administrative costs to locate printing, distribution and website costs for each parliamentarian in various time blocks to provide this insight into use of entitlements Politicians billing taxpayers twice for election campaign material 

Turnbull no open data hack

Lots of enthusiasm (as evident from the twittersphere) at GovHack 2014. Winners according to IT News excelled "in the field of using government data in creative and meaningful ways to create applications that help make sense of our social and economic milieu."

Malcolm Turnbull did the honours in Brisbane. If there was a prepared speech it should show up here. Meanwhile the minister explains the intelligence community's interest in our metadata, narrowly defined, during the ITNews Q&A.

Open Data-economic and social benefits

The wrap from a World Bank global policy dialogue event last week on the latest evidence of the economic benefits of Open Data and how it can be applied to advance socioeconomic growth in the developing world:

First, while there are several studies on the economic benefits of Open Data in OECD countries, there are few if any rigorous analytical studies on the economic benefits in developing countries. Although there was no discussion of this, I think that the research efforts of the Open Data Research Network can be a start. Secondly, there is no agreed methodology to evaluate the benefits of Open Data, and there is still no proper impact analysis –i.e. identifying a counterfactual- anywhere. There are plenty of concrete, factual examples of benefits and these show very high rates of return for open data investments, but still no agreed method to measure the overall benefits to an economy. The McKinsey report and the Lateral Economics study are good places to start, but these methodologies are themselves very data-driven and their applicability to data-scarce economies is still to be proven. Third, even though there is no standard methodology, it makes economic logic that increasing the re-use of any data will necessarily increase the return on investment on the data, since the value of the data is not depleted by use (an economist would say that data is a non-rivalrous good). 
Fourth, there was wide consensus that Open Data initiatives are quite inexpensive relative to the magnitude of their potential benefits, and are low-risk endeavors. Putting all of these together, we are not yet in a position to tell a government decision-maker that implementing an Open Data initiative will increase GDP in his/her country or region by a specific percentage or amount. But the evidence does suggest that the return on investment is substantial. And let's not forget that Open Data has non-economic benefits as well, such as transparency, improved service delivery, and increased data sharing in the public sector, which decision-makers should also consider.

On those broader impacts, Alex Howard following a separate thinkfest in Washington last week:

If national governments are going to invest time, money, and public attention on releasing data, they should also focus upon releases that have social benefits as well as economic outcomes..... As I've explored in past columns, publishing open data can increase resilience against climate change, offer insight into healthcare costs and outcomes, protect consumers, and fuel accountability and transparency.