Open Data is driving growth and innovation across the globe. Organisations like WHO, the World Bank, NASA and Google are leading this charge, allowing other organisations access to their data to inform policy and provide a platform for smart solutions built for social good.
Open Data is data that can be freely used and redistributed by anyone – subject only to crediting its source.
While Open Data is not new a concept, its full potential is yet to be applied here in Australia. In part, this is driven by commercial interests and the inherent value of proprietary data, as well as considerations around data collection and privacy. However, many organisations recognise the value this model has in helping build trust and improve outcomes for customers and communities.
Connecting with communities
COVID demonstrated the importance of being able to understand how people move around our cities, and the value of openly sharing data. State governments, including Queensland, made their datasets freely available. This included testing rates, cases by age, postcode and source of infection. This approach demonstrated transparency, but importantly gave communities and organisations the opportunity to interrogate and use this data.
One of the key advantages of using Open Data is that it gives organisations the ability to connect more deeply with the communities using it. Citizen science projects are a prime example. The Australian Museum’s FrogID project encourages citizens to record frog calls in the name of conservation. The data submitted provides a greater understanding of the health of frog populations and the health of the broader environment. This approach gives contributors a strong sense of ownership and the understanding that they are contributing towards conservation efforts.
Empowering governments
In Australia, a key opportunity for Open Data lies in the future of mobility – especially the role it can play in helping governments support citizens to travel more safely, sustainably and cost effectively. A recent trial conducted by Merri-bek Council in Melbourne underlines this.
As part of the trial, eBike startup Lug+Carrie provided families at three primary school safer cycling using Intelematics’ ridePlan journey application. ridePlan is part of Intelematics’ Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS) platform Omniway, which uses Open Data to plan and optimises a user’s bike journey.
The ridePlan journey planner draws on established sources of Open Data, including Open Street Map and Open Cycle Map. Key advantages of this approach include less reliance on data from one company, and more users contributing to datasets to increase accuracy.
Using Open Data also presents the opportunity to slice data and create a more tailored user experience. In the case of ridePlan, the data is segmented in a way which allows users to choose their journey around their road type preferences. For example, novice riders can choose quieter roads or cycling infrastructure and seasoned cyclists can select fast roads.
Weighing up Open Data
Open Data has many inherent advantages over proprietary data owned and generated by one company. For governments, a critical consideration is public oversight.
Open Data provides awareness of how often the data is updated and can be cross verified. There are multiple contributors, including transport authorities. Any update in data is verified and any mistake is rectified before the updates are reflected in the infrastructure.
Availability is another key consideration. Open Data is easily available which allows companies like Intelematics to bring on new features efficiently. As more data becomes available, it can be quickly translated into new features and services to adapt to user demand.
Unlocking smarter mobility
Reducing congestion, lowering emissions, and improving the health and wellbeing of communities are not issues that can be addressed by technology alone, but we believe Open Data is key to unlocking smarter mobility that is more efficient and affordable to deploy.
Open Data can be harnessed to help organisations build trust by demonstrating transparency and facilitating responsible use and sharing of data.
As Australia’s leader in traffic data and mobility insights, we believe Omniway can help governments build strong community partnerships through user feedback and interaction. Open Data gives governments the opportunity to engage with multiple stakeholders, bring them along on the journey, and ultimately create better data – which in turn benefits the groups or communities who actively participate in this process.
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