Australia – a digital world leader?
That’s what the Turnbull Government wants, anyway. The Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Digital Transformation (what a mouthful), Michael Keenan, says a strategy is being put in place to do just that. Data sharing is at the top of the list, but things like registering for a business will be made easier online too. Nice.
THE TAKEAWAY:
Key elements to the strategy, to be released in the third quarter of the year, will be to make government interactions and engagement easier for both individuals and businesses, using data and analytics to make smarter and more innovative decisions, and challenging the mindset and processes of the public service.
Much ado about data
Canberra’s in a tizzy over new proposed laws that suggest the Government could tinker with our digital communications. The Australian says it’s not a huge issue: this type of thing is nothing new. Though it highlights a problem: law enforcement is having to update a lot of its practices for the modern age.
THE TAKEAWAY:
“Telecoms companies are already required to provide phone line access to security agencies…what is being proposed here is a modernisation of these laws. They do not currently extend to digital communication, such as instant messaging, or to technology companies such as Facebook and Google…”
Data Republic wins big at the Finnies!
Hell yeah! The second annual show highlighting Australian fintech companies gave us a gong: best use of data/AI/digital solutions. We don’t mind if we do! AfterPay took the top fintech prize, and here’s a sign of things to come: the “emerging fintech organisation” award went to Civic Ledger, a blockchain company.
THE TAKEAWAY:
“The winners of the awards, established by industry group FinTech Australia, were chosen from 89 finalists picked from a record 223 entries, a 40% increase on 2017.”
European banks want to place nice
This open banking thing is really taking off, huh? Now the Euro Banking Association says there should be a coalition to manage data standards in the B2B space. The benefits: more efficiency and less risk. Looks like they’re pretty serious, too…
THE TAKEAWAY:
“Our analysis confirms that in order to truly drive innovative data propositions, digital consent management and a standardisation of data exchange are required.”
The scholars who depend on social data
So much talk about data sharing gone wrong. What about a message from the other side? A social researcher begs on The Conversation for you to share your anonymised information for a good cause, and worries that the recent blowback against companies like Facebook could impede some crucial social research.
THE TAKEAWAY:
“It’s true – and concerning – that some presumably unethical people have tried to use social media data for their own benefit. But the data are not the actual problem, and cutting researchers’ access to data is not the solution. Doing so would also deprive society of the benefits of social media analysis.”
That’s our wrap for this week. Thanks for reading – we hope you found it entertaining and informational. We’d love to hear your thoughts on these articles and anything else data related! Email us anytime at enquiries@datarepublic.com!
Until next week,
Team Data Republic