NZGOAL submissions

The State Services Commission and Department of Internal Affairs are now finalising the New Zealand Government Open Access and Licensing framework (NZGOAL) which will then be put to Cabinet for consideration.

We are incorporating excellent feedback from State Services agencies and the public. Much of this was received at meetings and presentations and during one-on-one discussions. The main exception to that was the comprehensive and very helpful submission received from Google.

The feedback and Google's submission covered, amongst other matters, the description and scope of the restrictions, attribution requirements for datasets, implementation and cultural change advice, and ongoing administration of NZGOAL once released. There was also keen interest in which agencies will adopt NZGOAL and how it will be administered.

Government agencies have also been testing NZGOAL's Review and Release Process. This has confirmed that licensing is new territory for many agencies. A simple yet sufficiently comprehensive NZGOAL, sample attribution text, implementation assistance and ongoing training will be critical factors for high uptake.

Google's submission notes that "Opening up government-held data and information for wider use has the potential to release a wave of innovation and creativity, with significant benefits for the public in terms of better access to public services, and for government, through cost savings and better public engagement and input to policy formulation". It offers very useful comment and advice on the draft NZGOAL.

With Google's agreement, the State Services Commission is releasing this submission publicly. It is hoped that this will encourage further debate on opening up government-held information and the benefits of the Internet as a platform to release this information.

8 March 2010 

Download a PDF of Google's Submission on NZGOAL [169 KB]