News

Feedback on NZGOAL

Source: In Development Blog, State Services Commission, New Zealand

Google comments on NZGOAL (NZ Government Open Access and Licensing framework)

Wellington: 8 March 2010

The New Zealand State Services Commission (SSC) has issued a news release titled: “NZGOAL submissions” and the In Development Blog hosted by SSC has posted a blog topic titled: “Google comments on NZGOAL (NZ Government Open Access and Licensing framework)”.

These announcements provide an update about feedback received to the draft New Zealand Open Access and Licensing framework (NZGOAL) released during August 2009 which invited feedback and discussion. The draft NZGOAL report provided guidance for State Services on open access and non copyright information and open licensing of copyright works. In both cases, with a view to allowing their re-use by others (but does not apply to personal or other sensitive information). This represented another phase in the New Zealand State Services project on Open Government Information and Data Re-use Project.

The In Development blog topic about feedback by Keitha Booth states:

“The State Services Commission and Department of Internal Affairs are now finalising the New Zealand Government Open Access and Licensing framework (NZGOAL) which will then be put to Cabinet for consideration. In doing so, we are incorporating excellent feedback from State Services agencies and the public. Much of this was received at meetings and presentations and during one-on-one discussions. The main exception to that was the comprehensive and very helpful submission received from Google.

The feedback and that submission were very informative and wide-ranging, covering, amongst other matters, the description and scope of the restrictions, attribution requirements for datasets, implementation and cultural change advice, and ongoing administration of NZGOAL once released. There was also keen interest in which agencies will adopt NZGOAL and how it will be administered.

Government agencies have also been testing NZGOAL’s Review and Release Process. This has confirmed that licensing is new territory for many agencies. A simple yet sufficiently comprehensive NZGOAL, sample attribution text, implementation assistance and ongoing training will be critical factors for high uptake.

Google’s submission notes that

“Opening up government-held data and information for wider use has the potential to release a wave of innovation and creativity, with significant benefits for the public in terms of better access to public services, and for government, through cost savings and better public engagement and input to policy formulation”

With Google’s agreement, the State Services Commission is releasing this submission publicly. It is hoped that this will encourage further debate on opening up government-held information and the benefits of the Internet as a platform to release this information.

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Access the Google Submission to the State Services Commission on the Draft New Zealand Government Open Access and Licensing Framework (NZGOAL), 20 pages.

The Google submission is supportive of NZGOAL and comments:

“NZGOAL is a very useful framework, consistent with international trends to encourage open government. Google is broadly supportive of the licences and tools described in the NZGOAL. We support the NZGOAL’s proposal to adopt existing Creative Commons New Zealand law licences, rather than attempting to draft a new set of licences. The Creative Commons licences are well-designed, well-established, and internationally recognised. (page 1).

The submission is comprehensive and discusses many relevant issues related to licensing government data and about NZGOAL proposals along with recommendations for NZGOAL. There is also reference and discussion of open government data initiatives elsewhere; for example, the UK Cabinet Office Digital Engagement Blog and data.gov.uk, the American data.gov, Australian Gov 2.0 Taskforce and the Vancouver City open data motion.

Some of the main topics discussed include types of licences, implementing cultural change, government role in releasing data and formats and monitoring of licensing changes – all issues for New Zealand and other jurisdictions considering Creative Commons licensing.

In a section on ‘Central Repository of Data’, the submission report states:

While the SSC does not appear to be advocating that there be a central point of entry for accessing data, the idea is often considered and implemented by governments, and here we offer some views on the issue. The SSC’s outlook accords with our preference, to allow data to be released by each Agency as and when that Agency can do so, and thereby best ensure a timely release of that information.

We consider that the first objective of government in this field ought to be the creation of open access to further categories of government information, including navigability to that information, rather than a slower, broader and more expensive standardised and centralised data repository. Creation of a central point of entry for accessing data (e.g., the data.gov model), is sometimes referred to as the “cathedral” model and which can involve a huge, ambitious, centralized undertaking. By contrast, a more decentralised “bazaar” of Agency sites presents a flexible and economical model that can support a more timely release and greater evolutionary change. The bazaar enables different Agencies to move at different speeds to open up public sector information, one set at a time.9

The http://theyworkforyou.co.nz/ site is a good example of a non-government attempt to make Hansard and Bills more navigable and therefore useful. Navigation might be based principally or solely on search, third party data mash-ups or other third party vendor solutions if the market was considered likely to develop user experiences that are intuitive; We consider the ‘bazaar’ model to be a useful, cost-effective and realistic approach for New Zealand to adopt. We note that Open NZ provides useful sets of data and is developing ideas for how Government information may be made more accessible and available to New Zealand citizens – for example, recently at the NZ Open Government Data Barcamp and Hackfest on 29 August 2009. The SSC has itself begun collating a similar useful list of datasets provided by various Agencies. Either of these initiatives may evolve into a more centralised approach, but in general, Agencies should be releasing data as soon as possible in open format, while recognising that a more centralised approach may develop over time (page 13).”

The main headings of the Google submission reflect the scope covered in the Submission and are as follows: