Submission on Australian Digital Future Directions
Cartman02au (talk | contribs) |
Cartman02au (talk | contribs) No edit summary |
||
| Line 12: | Line 12: | ||
Wikimedia Australia strongly encourages the Australian government to release public sector information (PSI) under an open access scheme. By releasing PSI openly, the government would be facilitating the use of Australian government materials in a variety of contexts, including the Wikimedia Commons [http://commons.wikimedia.org]. We applaud the Australian Bureau of Statistics for its recent move to a Creative Commons licence for all information on its website and would like to see more government departments and agencies moving to a free licence in the future. | Wikimedia Australia strongly encourages the Australian government to release public sector information (PSI) under an open access scheme. By releasing PSI openly, the government would be facilitating the use of Australian government materials in a variety of contexts, including the Wikimedia Commons [http://commons.wikimedia.org]. We applaud the Australian Bureau of Statistics for its recent move to a Creative Commons licence for all information on its website and would like to see more government departments and agencies moving to a free licence in the future. | ||
From our point of view the most important categories of PSIs are: | |||
*Maps | |||
*Photographs of public officials | |||
*Photographs of landmarks, both modern and historical | |||
The best open access formats to promote use and reuse would be non-proprietory digital formats to ensure compatibility with all platforms. | The best open access formats to promote use and reuse would be non-proprietory digital formats to ensure compatibility with all platforms. | ||
| Line 18: | Line 21: | ||
We would like to see Australian government works to be released in a fashion similar to works of federal government employees in the United States, that is straight into the public domain with no restrictions. Should the government be unwilling to do so, we believe that either a Creative Commons or GNU Free Documentation Licence would best facilitate use and reuse. We would discourage against distinguishing between commercial and non-commercial use of PSI on the basis that such a differentiation will limit reuse. | We would like to see Australian government works to be released in a fashion similar to works of federal government employees in the United States, that is straight into the public domain with no restrictions. Should the government be unwilling to do so, we believe that either a Creative Commons or GNU Free Documentation Licence would best facilitate use and reuse. We would discourage against distinguishing between commercial and non-commercial use of PSI on the basis that such a differentiation will limit reuse. | ||
We believe the following to be innovative online uses of PSI: | |||
*Sandwell Borough Council, UK's Gaming the Tibby: aims to get the thoughts of young people about regeneration of a housing estate using an online game based on ordnance survey data [http://www.publictechnology.net/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=18071] | |||
*NASA's MODIS Rapid Response System: Providing near real-time satellite images | |||
*Google Earth: In addition to using maps from private companies, Google also uses some produced by the US government. | |||
* | |||
==3. Developing Australia's Knowledge and Skills Base== | ==3. Developing Australia's Knowledge and Skills Base== | ||
Digital media literacy is going to be an important skill for Australians in the new cultural landscape. Increasing number of Internet users now use Web 2.0 technologies to communicate and exchange information for personal, commercial and educational purposes. According to Alexa [http://www.alexa.com/site/ds/top_sites?cc=AU&ts_mode=country&lang=none], 7 out of the most popular 20 web sites in Australia are those which fit into the Web 2.0 category. | Digital media literacy is going to be an important skill for Australians in the new cultural landscape. Increasing number of Internet users now use Web 2.0 technologies to communicate and exchange information for personal, commercial and educational purposes. According to Alexa [http://www.alexa.com/site/ds/top_sites?cc=AU&ts_mode=country&lang=none], 7 out of the most popular 20 web sites in Australia are those which fit into the Web 2.0 category. | ||
==4. Ensuring Australia's regulatory framework enables the digital economy== | ==4. Ensuring Australia's regulatory framework enables the digital economy== | ||
Revision as of 10:45, 12 February 2009
This is a proposed submission from Wikimedia Australia to the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy on the Digital Economy Future Directions Consultation Paper. The paper is available at http://www.dbcde.gov.au/communications_for_business/industry_development/digital_economy
We are writing with regards to the Digital Economy Future Directions Consultation Paper, released for public comment on 19 December, 2008. Our interest in this paper results from our involvement in the free-culture movement.
Wikimedia Australia was established to promote Free Cultural Works [1] and related open source software systems; increase public awareness, support and participation in projects hosted by the Wikimedia Foundation [2]; and to develop resources to assist Astralian in the creation and maintenance of free cultural works.
It is our belief that information should be available to anyone, anywhere, anytime and for any purpose.
We consider the following to be top issues in the paper for us:
1. Open Access to Public Sector Information
Wikimedia Australia strongly encourages the Australian government to release public sector information (PSI) under an open access scheme. By releasing PSI openly, the government would be facilitating the use of Australian government materials in a variety of contexts, including the Wikimedia Commons [3]. We applaud the Australian Bureau of Statistics for its recent move to a Creative Commons licence for all information on its website and would like to see more government departments and agencies moving to a free licence in the future.
From our point of view the most important categories of PSIs are:
- Maps
- Photographs of public officials
- Photographs of landmarks, both modern and historical
The best open access formats to promote use and reuse would be non-proprietory digital formats to ensure compatibility with all platforms.
We would like to see Australian government works to be released in a fashion similar to works of federal government employees in the United States, that is straight into the public domain with no restrictions. Should the government be unwilling to do so, we believe that either a Creative Commons or GNU Free Documentation Licence would best facilitate use and reuse. We would discourage against distinguishing between commercial and non-commercial use of PSI on the basis that such a differentiation will limit reuse.
We believe the following to be innovative online uses of PSI:
- Sandwell Borough Council, UK's Gaming the Tibby: aims to get the thoughts of young people about regeneration of a housing estate using an online game based on ordnance survey data [4]
- NASA's MODIS Rapid Response System: Providing near real-time satellite images
- Google Earth: In addition to using maps from private companies, Google also uses some produced by the US government.
3. Developing Australia's Knowledge and Skills Base
Digital media literacy is going to be an important skill for Australians in the new cultural landscape. Increasing number of Internet users now use Web 2.0 technologies to communicate and exchange information for personal, commercial and educational purposes. According to Alexa [5], 7 out of the most popular 20 web sites in Australia are those which fit into the Web 2.0 category.