Data Online – it can be so

Lindsay Tanner’s Taskforce 2.0 are getting down to the hard yards of working through how to democratically engage Australia’s public in the cause of more open government. In the way of all collective activity I can imagine they will have a few teething issues to sort through. Some will be administrative, others of a policy nature.

Fortunately those administrative issues should be quickly resolved. The Taskforce has the excellent services of the AGIMO to rely upon and can utilise collaborative tools already operating in the Federal Public Service. This should eliminate the possibility of any suggestion that a vendor (like Microsoft) is seeking to use the Taskforce to promote its products or services.

The bigger policy issues will include the need to come to a clear collective view as to what the goals of the Taskforce will be and how to determine success. This will be a difficult but crucial discussion both because the Government’s investment in the Taskforce is not insubstantial but also because the subject of the Taskforce’s work is important and will be carefully watched by the online and offline world. Such issues may seem unnecessary in a progressive sense but without a clear objective there is a real possibility the Taskforce will fracture into self interest and symbolism.

And as if the Taskforce needed any help from left-field, the inventor of the world wide web, Tim Berners-Lee has set out one very clear path for getting government information online. In an appetisingly short piece published on the last day of last financial year, Mr Berners-Lee proposes the use of Linked Data techniques to connect data in whatever format the data comes in to whatever format in which the data is wanted.

The paper is a brief note that admits the absence of many important topics. It seeks to provide practical technical steps and encourages those interested to participate in Web gatherings or meetup groups. It also notes the work of the W3C eGov Interest Group, for those interested in following the international work in this area.

I can’t imagine it will be long before Sir Tim has an email from the Taskforce Chair inviting him to Australia. It is to be hoped that this Englishman alone will show Australia a few tricks this northern summer.

Simon Edwards, Head of Government Affairs