Assistant Minister for Cities and Digital Transformation Angus Taylor today welcomed news of Australia being ranked equal first on the 2016/2017 Global Open Data Index (GODI).
The GODI – published by The Open Knowledge Institute – is an annual global benchmark that ranks how well nations publish open government data against 14 categories. Australia finished equal top alongside Taiwan on the index, which assessed 94 countries.
Assistant Minister Taylor said the GODI ranking confirmed the Australian Government was on track with its commitment to making data more openly available.
“I am delighted, but not surprised, to see Australia being ranked as the best in the world when it comes to open government data,” Assistant Minister Taylor said.
“Data was one of the earliest success stories of this Government as we increased the 500 datasets available in 2013 to more than 20,000 datasets currently – and this has delivered real benefits in innovation.
“For example, the Geo-coded National Address File, which was released by the Government in February 2016, has been used for a wide range of business and operational purposes, such as infrastructure planning, business planning and analysis, logistics and service planning, emergency and disaster response. Another example is the National Map which allows us to better understand datasets for creating new businesses and applications.
“I’m delighted to see that our steadfast commitment to open data has been recognised globally by a renowned independent assessor. We must now ensure that we keep this momentum going in order to fill the gaps highlighted by the global index and build on our initial successes.”
For more information on the Government’s commitment to Open Data, visit the Open Data website.