Australia's first 3rd Generation open data site - from the ACT

The ACT government today announced the soft-launch of their new open data site,  dataACT, through their equally new  Government Information Office blog.

In my view this is now the best government open data site in Australia.

What makes it the best?

• Data is available in a range of common reusable formats - from JSON and RDF through RSS and XML - as well as CSV and XLS for spreadsheet users.
• Visualisation tools are built into the site, so data is not only useful to data scientists and programmers, but to the broader public who can chart and map it without having to leave the site.
• The built-in embed tool allows people to take the data and rapidly include it in their own site without any programming knowledge.
• Users can reorder the columns and filter the information in the site - again without having to export it first, and
• discussions are built into every dataset by default.

It follows a 'generational' path for open data I've been talking about for awhile.

Most open data sites start as random collections of whatever data that agencies feel they can release as a 'quick win', to meet a government openness directive. They then progressing through more structured sites with rigour and organisation, but still only data, through to data and visualisation sites which support broader usage by the general community and finally into what I term 'data community sites', which become collaborative efforts with citizens.

In my view dataACT has skipped straight to a 3rd Generation data site at a time when other governments across Australia are struggling with 1st or 2nd Generation sites.

Well done ACT!

Now who will be the first government in Australia to get to a 4th Generation site!

Read on for my view of the generations of open data sites:

1st Generation: Data index

• Contains or links to 'random' datasets, being those that agencies can release publicly quickly. 
• Data is released in whatever format the data was held in (PDF, CSV, etc) and is not reformatted to web standards (JSON, RDF, etc).
• Some datasets are released under custom or restrictive licenses.
• Limited or no ability to discuss or rate datasets
• Ability to 'request datasets', but with no response process or common workflow

2nd Generation:  Structured data index

• Some thought regarding selective datasets, but largely 'random'
• More standardisation of data formats to be reusable online
• More standardisation of data licenses to permit consistent reuse
• Tagging and commenting supported (as in a blog for the site), with limited interaction by site management
• Workflows introduced for dataset requests, with agencies required to respond as to when they will release, or why they will not release, data
• Ability to list websites, services and mobile apps created using data

3rd Generation: Standardised data index

• Standardisation of data formats with at least manual conversion of data between common standard formats 
• Standardisation of data licenses to permit consistent reuse
• Tagging and commenting supported, with active interaction by site management
• Data request workflows largely automated and integrated with FOI processes
• Ability to filter, sort and visualise data within the site to broaden usage to non-technical citizens
• Ability to embed data and visualisations from site in other sites
• Ability to list, rate and comment on websites, services and mobile apps created using data

4th Generation: Data community

• Strategic co-ordinated release of data by agencies to provide segment-specific data pictures of specific topics or locations
• Standardisation of data formats with automatic conversion of data between common standard formats
• Standardised data licenses
• Tagging, commenting and data rating supported, with active interaction by site management and data holding agencies
• Data request workflows fully automated and integrated with FOI processes with transparent workflows in the site showing what stage the data release is up to - (data requested, communicated to agency, considered by agency, approved for release, being cleaned/formatted, legal clearances checked, released/refused release)
• Support for data correction and conversion by the public
• Support for upload of citizen and private enterprise datasets
• Ability to filter, sort and visualise data, including mashing up discrete datasets within the site to broaden usage to non-technical citizens
• Ability to request data visualisations as a data request
• Supports collaboration between hackers to co-develop websites, services and mobile apps using data
• Integrates the capability to run hack events - potentially on a more frequent basis (form/enter teams/submit hack proposals/submit hacks/public and internal voting/Winner promotion)

5th Generation: Integrated data platform

• A common platform for all national, state and local data, with the capabilities for each jurisdiction to make use of all Generation 4 features.
• Integrated mapping environment for all levels of government, enabled with all available open data.

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Register now for the next Canberra Gov 2.0 free lunchtime event - 19 September 2012

It's time to register for the next (free) Government 2.0 lunchtime event in Canberra - this time featuring Matthew Gordon from OurSay.org and Gina Beschorner from the Department of Human Services.

Matthew will be talking aboutOurSay’s approach to public engagement in government and business decision making, drawing upon experiences holding forums with government agencies, political candidates, local government, media corporations and industry.

Gina will be providing a view on how DHS manage their consultation blog - speechbubble and discuss their social media monitoring and activities responding to customers in forums and blogs.

The event is on at DEEWR's lecture theatre on Marcus Clarke Road on Wednesday 19 September from 12:30 - 1:30pm.

For more information and to register, go to http://gov2septact.eventbrite.com/

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Empowering science with Web 2.0

Science and the scientific process is core to the delivery of modern government, with its focus on evidence-based policy and sound social research.

So it's about time we had an organisation in Australia focused on exploring how the arrival of Web 2.0 and Gov 2.0 is affecting science - how it is conducted, reported and used, how citizens engage in it and governments fund it (apparently the Australian Government believes this too - the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science, Research and Tertiary Education is involved with the launch event).

'sciencerewired' is being launched by media140 Australia as a new organisation dedicated to exploring the intersection of the internet and science, starting with a one day event in Adelaide on 11 October this year.

This will involve participatory workshops, case studies and strategies for developing effective digital science communication and citizen science programmes.

Attendees will learn about the latest insights and strategies in social media, crowd-sourcing methods, community management, remote digital technologies and big data and how they can and are being applied to science communication and citizen science.

The event's themes will include:

• Active and passive citizen science strategies and platforms
• Managing and growing active science communities
• Remote learning technologies, connecting people across borders
• Dialling down the jargon, how to talk science to non-scientists
• Big data and visualising complex concepts
• The democratisation of science
• Gamification (theory of gaming and applications to science)
• Using tablets, iPads and moblie devices in science communication
• Blogging for science and using video and audio effectively

Speakers will include representatives from ScienceAlert, The Labshare Institute, theSkyNet, VIVOmiles, Atlas of Living Australia, RiAus, Veritasium and other innovators and digital pioneers in the field of citizen science, science education and communication.

sciencerewired is hosted in partnership with the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science, Research and Tertiary Education, Royal Institute of Australia, COSMOS Magazine, iiNet, TechNYou and media140 Worldwide.

Find out more and see the full event programme online. 

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The Rise of the Fifth Estate - a good yarn worth reading

This morning I read Greg Jerico's book 'The Rise of the Fifth Estate' which chronicles the rise of political blogging and social media reporting in Australia.

Some of you may remember Greg better as Grog of Grogs Gamut, a blogger and former public servant, known for his detailed analysis of political and sporting matters.

He was outed by The Australian back in 2010, a matter covered widely by both mainstream media and the blogosphere at the time.

I had already been reading Greg's keen insights into Australian politics for some time - and he was exposed after attending the Media 140 conference, which I also attended and spoke at.

Greg's situation was a key test for how the Australian Public Service and our politicians handled public sector bloggers. Despite some time lag, it was handled well, with Greg's right to blog on a personal basis supported within his Department, Prime Minister and Cabinet.

This based on the APS code of conduct, which allows public servants to participate in politics, provided it doesn't compromise their ability or perception of being non-partisan.

Many people rallied around to support Greg at the time, including myself. It can be very lonely being a public servant and a blogger - and public sector workplaces do not necessarily understand, yet, how to provide appropriate support during this type of event.

Greg subsequently left the public service, though he has continued to blog. Subsequently he's worked on television programs and written for ABC's The Drum, while working on his book.

This gets me to the point of this post, reviewing Greg's newly released 'The Rise of the Fifth Estate'.

His book is written in Greg's easy to read, yet well-evidenced style (with the odd chart), which makes it an easy and accessible read, yet with a good deal of depth and analysis.

In it he tells the story of the start of Australia's political blogosphere, analyses its players and looks at the interplay between journalists and politicians, particularly on Twitter.

His book also chronicles the 'war of bloggers' that mainstream journalism, particularly News Ltd, have waged on the "anonymous armchair amateurs" of the blogging world, including his own experience as well as those of others.

He also draws some commonsense conclusions, cutting through the hype and mystique that the journalistic profession have used to justify their own specialness and detailing the convoluted mental gymnastics and lack of self-reflection that some mainstream journalists have employed to explain why real journalism can't come from a blog.

The Rise of the Fifth Estate is really the first book in Australia to chronicle the opening stages in the rising media culture ways, as old media strains to remain relevant and profitable in the face of new modes of journalism.

Given the cuts at Fairfax and News Ltd lately, this comes at a good time to help explain a little more about why events are unfolding as they are.


I did, however, ultimately feel a little let down by Greg's 'Fifth Estate'.

He's told a good yarn, in the best journalistic vernacular, a good current history and analysis of the past and present of the rise of the blogging and Twitter as political and political journalism tools.

However I was hoping for a few more glimpses into the future, some of his insights as to how the Fourth and Fifth estates might find a workable balance that profits both, with a maximum of mutual understanding and a minimum of ongoing friction.

In conclusion, I heartily recommend 'The Rise of the Fifth Estate' as a good read and as a great record of the first few years of what is proving to be a period of turbulent change for journalism and political communication.

However, don't buy it expecting any kind of model of how to build a collaborative journalistic model, involving both professional journalists and citizens, new media and old media, into the future.

For this we'll have to wait for Greg's next book (that's a hint Greg!)


You can read the first chapter of 'The Rise of the Fifth Estate' for free at Grogs Gamut.

For other reviews see:

• Dragonista's blog, Grog’s Rise of the Fifth Estate
• Fancy Goods, Eloise Keating, BOOK REVIEW: The Rise of the Fifth Estate (Greg Jericho, Scribe)
• The Monthly Quadrant Review, FakePaulKeating: The Rise of the Fifth Estate by Greg (@grogsgamut) Jericho

There's also an interview with Greg on ABC Radio National, Social media and blogs: the fifth estate?

The Canberra book launch is on 30 August at Paperchain in Manuka. For other launches (currently underway), see Greg's publisher, Scribe.

CAVEAT: Note that I helped Greg with some curation of the list of political blogs and supported Greg with some contacts and ideas. As a result I am named a couple of times in the book.

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Good model social media guidance from the Communications Council of Australia

The Communications Council of Australia last week released a 'Social Media Code of Conduct' (PDF).

The news was also covered in Mumbrella, who cover detail I won't cover here.


It is quite a sound document and written in plainer English, making it a great model for government agencies seeking to provide social media guidance to staff.


It is really guidance, rather than a 'Code' (which the Council explicitly states), and represents what they believe are the base level requirements in social media guidance for employees and for the use of social media by brands.

The guidance is also beta, developed by volunteers and subject to ongoing revision and improvement - which is probably just as well given they don't take into account the recent ruling of the Advertising Standards Board.

However it's a good starting point and well worth keeping on your radar.

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