The open data train rolls on. Many states (and a territory) have data catalogues and now 3 states (SA, QLD, NSW) and the federal government (data.gov.au) have moved to a CKAN platform.

CKAN data catalogues are exciting because they provide a way not only to find and access the data but actually utilise it. Through a rich understanding of the content of data, they allow on the fly visualisation. For example, mobile developers can query the data directly from the government provided infrastructure.

There is still much work to be done in building the tools to allow interoperability and reinforce best practice in data publishing. For example, the data.gov.au roadmap which details specific functionality including better reporting on uses, richer metadata and new ways to both add and use data more efficiently. It is hoped these will provide greater accessibility of data to the wider community.

That’s why we are announcing a CKAN User Group to harness the communities connected with OKFNAu to drive better outcomes in data infrastructure. We hope to share with you our experiences and best practices to further enable open data in Australia and for the benefit of the global open data movement.

You can ask questions and stay up to date with developments about CKAN and Data Applications/Platforms on our mailing list http://lists.ckanau.org/mailman/listinfo/ckanau or contribute tools by becoming part of our GitHub organisation https://github.com/organizations/ckanau