Dr Ian Oppermann, NSW Chief Data Scientist and Seer Data & Analytics board member leads this knowledge-sharing and information session ahead of the commencement of our Community Data Sharing Roadshow.
Ian shares why now is such a pivotal moment in the Community Data Sharing movement. Shifts in the authorising environment, policy agendas, and progressive removal of barriers are laying the foundations to enable sharing of Government and Business-held data in a safe, secure and scaleable way for community-led decision making. Ian is joined in this session by Kristi Mansfield, CEO and Co-founder of Seer Data & Analytics; and Amity Durham, a Strategic Adviser – Public Sector at Amazon Web Services.
Macro shifts
New international data sharing standards are emerging to calibrate controls to risk over the data lifecycle and ensure organisations can deploy repeatable, standardised assessments of risk and quality control. Ian is leading this standards work internationally for Australia.
Making Government data accessible and shareable with communities to improve outcomes is part of the Australian Government’s commitment to the principle of self-determination and community-led decision making, a vision shared by Seer Data & Analytics, our customers and partners.
The Australian Data Strategy recognises data as a national asset, critical for driving innovation and effective decision-making, and sets the vision to create a data-driven society.
The Community Data Sharing Roadshow will bring together community, backbone, policymaker, and data leaders to increase the understanding of how digital technology and data can be democratised to support local decision making for healthy and thriving communities. Key aims for this series are to:
- Share learnings with senior policy and data leaders in government and non-profit sector to support the sharing of restricted business and government data with communities for local decision making
- Inspire senior policy makers and program designers to become willing, able and allowed to support data access and sharing to place based approaches that empower communities to solve local challenges.
Why now?
Australia has the opportunity to lay the data sharing infrastructure foundations that will enable fiscal and social reform while connecting, enabling, and empowering all Australian communities. The key barriers within government that existed previously that meant people were either unwilling, unable or not allowed to share data have now started to shift and dissolve.
Dr Ian Oppermann
NSW Chief Data Scientist, Seer Data & Analytics Director
Kristi Mansfield
CEO & Co-founder Seer Data & Analytics
Amity Durham
Strategic Adviser – Public Sector Amazon Web Services (AWS)
Appetite for government transparency, openness, and data sharing has never been greater. This is exemplified by Priority Reform 4 of The National Agreement on Closing the Gap and demonstrated by current projects including; the Australian Government Department of Social Services Stronger People Stronger Places, Department of Education Connected Beginnings, and Department of Premier and Cabinet Tasmania to steward and share Government data assets directly with communities for understanding and action. National alignment of political leadership and the Treasurer’s Entrenched Disadvantage Package presents an opportunity to accelerate this momentum.
The Data Availability and Transparency Act 2022 provides a sound regulatory framework for Government agencies to share data. Australia is defining and demonstrating best practice in data sharing through development of standards by the Australian Computer Society, and development of the Dataplace Platform by the Office of the National Data Commissioner for cataloguing Government data assets, facilitating and recording data sharing agreements. The community sector is ready to participate and build capacity aligned with these national and international standards.
The vision of the Australian Data Strategy is to “create a national ecosystem of data that is accessible, reliable and relevant and easily used to power our national endeavour and become a modern data-driven society by 2030”. The strategy recognises that the digital technologies necessary to achieve this vision are available now. The success of grassroots community initiatives such as Maranguka in Bourke, receiving and managing data shared from Federal, State, and local partners under a sound governance framework and secured by Seer Data, can be repeated in and by communities all over Australia to improve outcomes and effect change.
