The IPC supports Open Data Day, 6 March 2022

The IPC is proud to celebrate Open Data Day, 6 March 2022.

Open Data Day celebrates the benefits of open data and encourages open data policies in government, business and society. 

Open data means that any information stored digitally that an organisation holds should be made freely available. An open data strategy can be adopted by any organisation, whether government or non-government.

The IPC celebrates open data because responsibly sharing data enriches the way we live through better decisions, better services and better customer experiences. Open data empowers citizens to gain new insights that improve how we live, work and solve problems.

Elizabeth Tydd, IPC CEO and NSW Information Commissioner, is also the NSW Open Data Advocate. Ms Tydd provides advice to Government agencies regarding non-personal data that can be presented as open data and released to the public. Ms Tydd is also involved in the Open Government Partnership in Australia, which develops National Action Plans to help make the government more transparent, accountable and publicly engaged. 

Australia's Third National Action Plan 2020-2022 is committed to open data by improving the public sector's data sharing. Government data offers an important opportunity for innovation in government services, economic enterprise, research and development and transparency. Greater availability of data held by the government increases transparency and openness.

The Open by Design commitment outlined in the plan, aims to:

• improve the accessibility of information held by government, or under government contractual or outsourcing arrangements, through the development of the key features for a nationally consistent approach to the proactive release of information commonly sought by members of the Australian community or which they identify as valuable and/or necessary for open and accountable government.

To learn more about open data this Open Data Day, read the IPC's Open Data Information Access Guideline or view the IPC's Open Data: Opening our World Infographic.

Further, you can search open data sets from the NSW State Government by visiting data.nsw.