[Oz-teachers] Government 2.0

[Price, Ken]

"...his response includes a call for ALL fed government info/docs/data
etc, to be made available under a Creative Commons copyright"

I had some involvement in those Gov 2.0 forums about the release of
information from Government agencies.

Like the Creative Commons and NEALS issues discussed here already, this
idea is very well-intentioned: it is based on the idea that if public
funds were used to collect information, then that information belongs to
the public. Sounds fine.

There are some interesting consequences if this approach is followed,
which might be useful for discussion. A couple of real examples  might
help

1) Megan's Law http://www.meganslaw.ca.gov/disclaimer.aspx  - a
government website from the Office of the Attorney-General California
that allos you to name a place (eg a school) and find where the
registerd sex offenders live near that location.  For example, a search
for Anaheim High School shows the home locations of 30 or so convicted
sex offenders living within 2 miles of the school. Or a search near your
house would show similar details.

2) Texas executions - http://www.tdcj.state.tx.us/stat/deathrow.htm
Here you can see who is on Death Row, and a schedule of who's up next
for execution. Past executions (454 of them since 1982) include the
complete offender information and their last statement, and the names in
each case of the media witnesses (Mike Graczyk of Associated Press is a
regular attendee at these executions -I'm not sure I would like to meet
him),  The race of each executed person is also listed along with the
highest grade of education reached - these reveal some interesting
patterns. Next execution is 12 May if you plan to be in the unfortuately
named town of Livingston Texas then. The site claims proudly "Texas
leads nation in the number of executions since death penalty was
reinstated in 1976."

3) House prices
There are numerous payment-based services that allow you to see, for a
given house, the price it fetched when last sold.
A public release of Govt-held house price data would allow the simple
construction of a map interface that allowed anyone to zoom in on a
house (yours say) and see the date and selling price of every time it
has been sold. It might also show the owner. This possibility went quiet
when it was pointed out that it would very quickly allow people to see
all the properties owned by say politicians, and the price paid.

4) Taxation data (tax paid per household)
You're getting the picture I think.

4) School performance
I will leave this one as an exercise for the reader...

Some interesting ideas flow from all this.

ken



> -----Original Message-----
> From: oz-teachers-bounces at rite.ed.qut.edu.au 
> [mailto:oz-teachers-bounces at rite.ed.qut.edu.au] On Behalf Of 
> stephen at melbpc.org.au
> Sent: Tuesday, 4 May 2010 2:23 PM
> To: oz-teachers at rite.ed.qut.edu.au; oztl_net at listserv.csu.edu.au
> Subject: [Oz-teachers] Government 2.0
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> Here's an important development. Today, government minister 
> Mr Tanner released the government's response to the inquiry 
> into Government 2.0
> 
> Apparently, it's full steam ahead. Also, his response 
> includes a call for ALL fed government info/docs/data etc, to 
> be made available under a Creative Commons copyright. That 
> is, virtually freely available for use as being the default position:
> 
> 
> http://www.finance.gov.au/publications/govresponse20report/index.html
> 
> Government Response to the Report of the Government 2.0 Taskforce
> Synopsis
> 
> On 3 May 2010, the Minister for Finance and Deregulation released the 
> Government Response to the report of the Government 2.0 Taskforce - 
> Engage: Getting on with Government 2.0.
> 
> Some key points from the Taskforce's report include:
> 
> *Government 2.0 or the use of the new collaborative tools and 
> approaches 
> of Web 2.0 offers an unprecedented opportunity to achieve more open, 
> accountable, responsive and efficient government. 
> 
> *Though it involves new technology, Government 2.0 is really 
> about a new 
> approach to organising and governing. It will draw people 
> into a closer 
> and more collaborative relationship with their government. 
> Australia has 
> an opportunity to resume its leadership in seizing these 
> opportunities 
> and capturing the resulting social and economic benefits.
> 
> *Leadership, and policy and governance changes are needed to 
> shift public 
> sector culture and practice to make government information more 
> accessible and usable, make government more consultative, 
> participatory 
> and transparent, build a culture of online innovation within 
> Government, 
> and to promote collaboration across agencies. 
> 
> The report included 13 recommendations which are addressed in the 
> Government Response.
> 
> Full Publications
> 
> * Government Response to the Report of the Government 2.0 
> Taskforce PDF 
> Version [ 297 KB] 
> 
> http://www.finance.gov.au/publications/govresponse20report/doc
> /Government-
> Response-to-Gov-2-0-Report.pdf
> 
> * Government Response to the Report of the Government 2.0 
> Taskforce RTF 
> Version [ 715 KB]
> 
> http://www.finance.gov.au/publications/govresponse20report/doc
> /Government-
> Response-to-Gov-2-0-Report.rtf
> 
> Copyright Notice
> 
> Notwithstanding the general copyright licence provided for on 
> www.finance.gov.au, and with the exception of the 
> Commonwealth Coat of 
> Arms, all material presented in this document is provided under a 
> Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Australia licence.
> 
> The details of the relevant licence conditions are available on the 
> Creative Commons website ..
> 
> http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/au/
> 
> Contact Us
> 
> Inquiries regarding the licence and any use of the report are 
> welcome at:
> 
> Director
> Communications and Public Affairs 
> Department of Finance and Deregulation
> John Gorton Building
> King Edward Terrace Parkes ACT 2600
> Email: financepublications at finance.gov.au
> 
>

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