Open Data Government Organizations (NZ0022)

Commitment 11: Authoritative dataset of government
organisations as open data for greater transparency
Objective:
To release and maintain an authoritative dataset of government
organisations as open, machine-readable data to enhance the transparency
of government structures to the public.
There will be cross-agency agreement to maintain this dataset, providing
assurance that the data being used is the authoritative source. This dataset
becomes a foundation for both digital services and information about
government.
Ambition:
New Zealanders and others will have access to authoritative, open
data about government agencies and their roles, learn more about how
government is structured, what agencies do, and be able to reuse the open
data in new and innovative ways.
Status quo:
At present, data about government organisations is duplicated in standalone lists and databases across multiple organisations. This results in
different information being provided about the same agency in multiple
locations which can erode public trust. This data is also often not in an
easily reusable format.
New technologies and open standards have the potential to scale the
impact of Open Government initiatives. Machine-readable open data is a
practical example of this and plays an important part in driving transparency
and digital service transformation in government. An open dataset of
government organisation details could be used as a base for the Directory
of Official Information, Archives Public Records Act database, the Audit
Offices’ database, local council information, and many more. Lead Agency: Government Chief Digital Officer, Department of Internal Affairs
Timeline: October 2018 – June 2020
Commitment 11: Release and maintain an authoritative dataset of
government organisations as open data for greater transparency
OGP Values Transparency,
Accountability and
Technology and Innovation
Verifiable and measurable milestones to fulfil
the commitment
Start date End date
Identify owners, contributors and maintainers of the
data held in the proposed dataset.
October
2018
December
2018
Investigate and agree on the appropriate open
standards for the dataset.
October
2018
December
2019
Work with identified dataset contributors to agree
process for ongoing maintenance of the dataset.
December
2018
June 2019
Release the open data set on data.govt.nz and
make it available via the data.govt.nz open data
Application Programming Interface (API)9
, and
promote the opportunities of reuse that the
dataset provides with government agencies, nongovernmental organisations, business, and the public.
June 2019 June 2020

11. Authoritative dataset of government organisations as open data for greater transparency [122]

Objective: “To release and maintain an authoritative dataset of government organisations as open, machine-readable data to enhance the transparency of government structures to the public”.

Milestones:

1. “Identify owners, contributors and maintainers of the data held in the proposed dataset”;
2. “Investigate and agree on the appropriate open standards for the dataset”;
3. “Work with identified dataset contributors to agree process for ongoing maintenance of the dataset”;
4. “Release the open data set on data.govt.nz and make it available via the data.govt.nz open data Application Programming Interface (API) and promote the opportunities of reuse that the dataset provides with government agencies, nongovernmental organisations, business, and the public”.

Start Date: October 2018

End Date: June 2020

Context and Objectives

The objective of this commitment is for government to compile, maintain, use and release publicly a new authoritative dataset of New Zealand’s central and local government organisations as open, machine-readable data.

Infrastructure to increase transparency and accountability was a theme in the submissions received during development of the action plan, with one submission to “extend organisational accountability information” in the government A-Z directory on govt.nz. [123] Current multiple lists about the structure of government and the history of current and former government agencies confuse the public and limit capability for private sector innovation. [124] A Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) blog states that no current list is complete and machine-readable, “duplicated effort across government is enormous”, a single list would detail all the services and functions of government and create opportunities for research and analysis. [125] Members of the public would welcome one up-to-date real-time list of current agencies, their sub-agencies and working brands and responsibilities given New Zealand’s very regular machinery of government changes. It would become the foundation authoritative resource on present and past government agencies.

This work meets OGP’s access to information and technology and innovation for openness and accountability values by providing open access to information describing current and former government agencies and their functions, using international standard(s) and releasing this authoritative list of government organisations as open machine-readable data, allowing innovative re-use such as visualisations and for service delivery. This work meets the international Open Data Charter’s requirements. [126]

DIA will identify and work with the agencies responsible for creating and describing the official names of government agencies and their functions, investigate and agree on open standards for the dataset, agree dataset maintenance processes and procedures with dataset contributors, release it on data.govt.nz and as an application programme interface (API), and promote its re-use opportunities with government and the public. The intention of the commitment is to build a final dataset from a smaller group of datasets from targeted agencies.

The commitments are specific enough to be verified objectively. The IRM researcher interviewed business stakeholders who describe this commitment as ‘fantastic’, but want a shorter timeline, Milestone 1’s data released when complete, shorter timelines for Milestones 2 and 3, and certainty the dataset will be released as both open data for citizens and as an API for business. [127] They referred to New Zealand’s Digital 9 (D9) commitments, [128] suggesting that the other D9 countries could shorten the timeline by advising New Zealand on the open standards for this dataset. They also suggested StatsNZ become a joint lead agency given its data stewardship leadership role. Others [129] sought certainty that the list would be granular, providing full details of organisational structures, that the architecture was extensible, that it lists the legislation that agencies administer, and that all other lists are discontinued. [130]

If fully implemented as designed this work could be transformative, particularly for digital government service delivery. As well as simplifying work for those people and businesses who rely on legal lists of government organisations. This machine-readable dataset would assist development work for IT companies who work with government to deliver services. They say they currently ‘have to find a set, where it is and then ask for it’. [131]

This dataset could merge or be the source for at least six government directories, [132] feed commercial products such as the New Zealand Government Sector Directory [133] and offer researchers, academics, students and the public the primary source on the history of and present status of government agencies. [134] Visualisations of New Zealand’s government structure will aid civil society and government itself to understand how government works.

According to an independent consultant on open government and access to information laws, the transformative potential of this commitment resides on the authoritative quality of the datasets and in its adoption by core government agencies for their tasks. [135]

Next steps

If this commitment is carried forward to the next action plan or if there are improvements to the implementation of this commitment, the IRM researcher recommends that:

• there is commitment to maintain and further develop the governance structures for its sustainability and mandate;
• DIA releases the ownership data collated for Milestone 1 as soon as the list is completed and shortens the timeframes for Milestones 2 and 3;
• DIA consults with its D9 counterparts regarding applying their open standards experience for Milestone 2;
• StatsNZ continues the close collaboration with DIA and/or joint leadership given its data stewardship leadership role and national statistical office experience releasing official statistics in open formats; and that
• legislation that agencies administer is included in this list.

11. Authoritative dataset of government organisations as open data for greater transparency

Limited:

The government identified owners, contributors, and maintainers of the sources of information to be used in populating the dataset. The government released a “non-exhaustive list of organisations in the Public Sector” on data.govt.nz in 2020 [142] and as an API. [143] Work continues on appropriate open standards, a governance model, a data model of the initial dataset, ongoing ownership of the data model and dataset, and wide promotion of its reuse opportunities by the public sector, business, and communities.

An experiment on the Govt.nz website is currently using the non-exhaustive list of state sector organisations “to understand the practicalities of consuming datasets in production systems” and test “whether this could meet user needs and reduce maintenance costs.”The government’s next technical steps include developing a dataset built on data principles, with unique identifiers for each agency to enable future integration of the data, and an ontology to describe the entities contributing data and their relationships. [144]

Dedicated government officials, mostly at operational level, oversaw this commitment despite having to cover for COVID-19 staff shortages. TKM, the Treasury, Stats NZ, the Department of Internal Affairs, and Archives NZ are now key members of the government's working group.

This commitment was identified in the IRM Design Report as potentially transformative [145] and that assessment was confirmed in recent interviews. Most stakeholders agree that it made “incredible progress despite its problems;” they applaud the cooperation between agencies and civil society participants. [146] Technical stakeholders say progress was hindered by a lack of in-house technical capacity and that officials were working behind closed doors. They recommend immediate collaboration with external technical experts to assist government officials [147] and refer to the successful Australian Linked Government Data Working Group, [148] which uses open-data and -source tools such as GitHub.

The government also sees this work as transformative for digital government service delivery. [149] Executive level decisions have now been made to support it, as set out in the government’s Self-Assessment Report, released 30 November 2021. These decisions endorse the Public Service Act 2020, which requires that leadership fund, resource, and deliver the transformational change offered by this type of cross-government project. [150] The Department of Internal Affairs has now scoped and identified resourcing required to deliver a two-phased implementation plan beginning in early 2022, involving Build and Release (phase 1) and Maintain and Develop (phase 2). Some of the required resourcing has been committed to Phase 1, with work ongoing to secure the remainder. The department is also working towards identifying a system owner for the dataset. [151]