Data Inventories pilot: calls for APS agencies, staff to participate

The Office of the National Data Commissioner (ONDC) is calling on APS staff, departments and agencies to participate in the Data Inventories Pilot project.

The pilot project to develop data inventories for 20% of Australian government agencies will provide the foundation for a public, searchable catalogue of government-held data assets.

According to ONDC, there are opportunities for: Australian Government agencies that would like to work with a co-design team to develop or improve their data inventory and high-performing APS staff at the APS5-6 level, preferably with a background or interest in data, who would like to join ONDC for a period to be part of the project team.

“The Australian Government has made some big commitments to improving access to and use of government data and understanding what we have is an important part of that,” said Adam Harris in the latest ONDC update. Harris leads a team from the Australian Bureau of Statistics that is embedded in the ONDC.

“The Data Inventories pilot program is expected to develop a consistent approach to documenting data assets held across Australian Government agencies,” he said.

Over the period 2022 to 2024, the Data Inventories project will see small co-design teams deployed to selected Australian Government agencies to help build or update their data inventories.

These data inventories will include key common descriptors that will be drawn into a searchable catalogue of government-held data assets.

“There is tremendous potential to be realised through increasing the transparency of government data holdings and promoting safe sharing and use of these data. Creating a searchable catalogue of government-held data is a great step towards this goal,” Harris said.

The catalogue of government-held data will not hold the data assets that it describes, rather it provides a starting point for those wishing to seek out government data and apply to the relevant data custodian for safe access to the data.

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