Open Government Data

So much potential……

Department of Internal Affairs

Why Open Data?

Economic & social

outcomes

Transparency &

democratic outcomes

Efficiency outcomes

• Business can use it to add

value, innovate & create new

products to spur economic

growth

• Communities and people

can use it to:

• develop useful

applications/new

services

• make informed

decisions about the

government services

they use

• make personal

decisions that improve

their quality of life

• It provides information about

sustainability and risk.

• It reports on the

performance of an agency or

service.

• It provides details of

government funding and/or

expenditure

• It provides an evidence base

informing & encouraging

external participation in

policy development

• It supports cross-sector

service delivery, e.g. other

agencies & NGOs can use it

to improve their services

• Releasing it for re-use could:

• make it easier for

government agencies

to work together

• reduce the cost of

providing an existing

government service

• reduce the cost of

accessing and

processing this

information for existing

users

National health challenge – US example of

inspiring innovation

• Challenge: what can be done to reduce

obesity

• Data shows:

• More low income people are obese

• only low quality food outlets in low income

neighbourhoods

Solution an innovative service (not

just an app)

NZ Example - Truckometer

Monthly ANZ Truckometer and GDP levels

860

910

960

1010

1060

1110

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012

Jan04 =1000

27

28

29

30

31

32

33

34

35

36

GDP (RHS)

Monthly ANZ Truckometer

advanced 6 months (LHS)

Real 95/96 $bn

Sources: ANZ, NZ Transport Agency, Statistics NZ

• ANZ economists have found a

strong correlation between

traffic volumes and GDP

• Traffic flows give a 6 month

heads-up on the direction the

economy will

• NZTA and Stats NZ had no

idea the data was being used

in this way

More NZ Examples…

District Health Boards using

Charities data

Over 7,000 Charities work in the Health Sector

Enable innovation – release data!

Make sure it’s:

• Accessible on the web (via data.govt.nz)

• Licensed for re-use

• A non-proprietary format

• Machine readable

Machine readable

• Machine-readable data are structured and

predictable, with well established and known

ways to query and consume it using software

code.

• CSV, XML, ATOM, JSON, KML…

• Any table or graph can easily be output as a

CSV file

Quotes from IOGDC 2012

Washington DCRufus Pollock:

“Haven’t yet met someone who has built an app using just one data set”

David Eades:

“We have to stop talking about how to release open data and start

thinking strategically about how we’re going to use it”

“Open Data is like the glowing suitcase in the Pulp Fiction movie – you

never see what’s actually in the suitcase, but what’s in it is not important,

its what happens all around it that’s important”

Jeanne Holm:

“The work we are all doing is changing the world”

Questions? Come see me in my

office…