Open Government

Research Note: Is Your Government Open or Closed? October 2011 16 Department Mission The Office of the Information Commissioner (Key role: Freedom of Information Commissioner) Responsible for freedom of information, privacy protection and advice to government on information management policy. Gov 2.0 Accomplishments of the Australian Government Parliamentary Secretary Kate Lundy, a long time advocate for the power of ICT innovation to transform industries across the whole economy, has been focusing her attention for several years on the potential of 2.0 technology to improve government policy processes and service delivery. She pressed the case for the creation of a Gov 2.0 Taskforce which subsequently recommended government adopt measures ranging from making public sector data more available to citizens, to choosing 2.0-style technology to better engage with the citizenry. In 2010, Outgoing Finance Minister Lindsay Tanner followed through on the taskforce‟s recommendation to make a declaration of open government. The declaration helped create a public sector culture that promotes transparency and openness, and encourages collaboration. It also supports initiatives like the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner and promotes the use and re-use of government data. The office in charge of the Gov 2.0 agenda for several years has been the AGIMO which has increased online collaboration by the services it now provides to agencies and citizens. Their online forum, Govdex, is aimed at providing a resource for public servants to discuss Gov 2.0 projects and the lessons learned from implementing them. The community is a place where public servants can ask questions, share experiences and collaborate with colleagues, with guidance set by the Australian Public Service Commission. AGIMO has also supported the repository that provides an easy way to find, access and reuse public datasets. Thus far there are 542 datasets from multiple Australian jurisdictions, and government agencies have begun to publish data using formats and licenses which allow the data to be reused in new applications by the public. The Department of Broadband, Communications and Digital Economy has established Digitalbusiness.gov.au, a resource for small business and community organizations in Australia that want to learn more about the benefits of an online presence and how to go about developing one. The site has been developed to help maximize the benefits of the digital economy for all Australians. It will also be used as a platform for specific interactive discussions on topics relevant to digital businesses and community organizations.