National Data Network
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The National Data Network (NDN) is an initiative to provide awareness of, and access to survey and administrative and information resources (ie data, tools, services) within Australia. The NDN development is being led by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) on behalf of a consortium of government and research organisations.
What is the motivation for the NDN? People in government, business or the general community, are increasingly asking: When will we be able to connect to an information environment which: recognises who we are and the roles/responsibilities assigned to us, allows us to find and access the information resources (data, tools, services) which are either publicly available, or available to us in line with those roles/responsibilities, provides us with sufficient supporting information for us to decide, or seek further information, about the fitness-for-purpose and conditions of use of the information resources concerned, covers an increasingly comprehensive range of information resources, whether from surveys, administrative records, or scientific data, and provides a platform for better use/reuse of information resources, and collaborations within and between sectors. Information networks like the NDN, and interoperability between such networks, are fundamental to resolving this question.
While there is a wealth of publicly available information resources on the Internet, vast numbers of further information resources never see the light of day either because: There are security or other restrictions, and/or awareness of, and access to them has only been provided for within the owner/custodian organisations concerned.
The information sharing infrastructure like the NDN is an enabler. It provides the opportunity to improve the return on investment from survey and administrative information resources. It does this by providing owners/custodians/governments of information resources with a means of improving the visibility of, access to, and use of their information resources while maintaining close attention to access and use conditions. The NDN will then provide researchers/analysts with an improved means of finding and accessing information resources, particularly those information resources that aren't publicly available.
The NDN provides both custodians and users of data with software infrastructure (Open-Source), protocols, standards and services to support the sharing and integration of data across Australia.
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[edit] The Consortium
The NDN Consortium includes the Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, ANZLIC Spatial Information Council, Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth, Centrelink, CSIRO, Department of Education, Science and Training, Employment and Workplace Relations, Department of Health and Ageing, Department of Transport and Regional Services, Office of Spatial Data Management, Office of the Privacy Commissioner, Telethon Institute of Child Health Research, NSW Health, Qld Treasury, Victorian Government CIO and South Australia Cabinet Office.
[edit] The configuration of the NDN
Three key components make up the National Data Network: the NDN Web Site, Central and Nodes. NDN Central is the hub of the network, linking the NDN Nodes and allowing entry by researchers and policy analysts. Each NDN Node represents a unique data Custodian or data owner. The NDN website is intended primarily for informative purposes and contains all the information needed for a user or data custodian to participate in the NDN.
The NDN is designed to provide a distributed library of data holdings, tools and services relevant to policy analysis and research. As shown in Figure 1, the NDN consists of the NDN Central linking to the NDN Nodes, which contain each custodian's data holdings, tools, services and associated metadata. Custodians will have at their disposal a range of web based services, protocols, procedures, and tools to assist them to manage and share data in a way that ensures availability, accessibility, security and privacy. Researchers and policy analysts can search the NDN through the web site. Once access conditions set by the custodian have been met, researchers will be provided access to the data, tools and services.
[edit] Figure 1. Overview of the National Data Network
[edit] NDN Demonstration Phase
The first stage was the development of a Demonstration Phase of the NDN from 2005 to 2007. The demonstration phase of the NDN showcased the benefits of using an open source central data catalogue and distributed network across a number of State and Australian Government agencies. The specific outcomes of the project were:
to identify the feasibility of developing a networked system (utilising open source software) to share data and provide on-line statistical services in the government context; to understand the cost to Custodians of implementing and participating in a National Data Network; and to understand the issues associated with the sharing of secure information in accordance with the policy of each agency.
[edit] NDN Pilot Phase
The NDN is currently in a pilot phase from July 2007 to July 2008. During the pilot phase, the focus is on the development of a number of pilot projects, which will be used to assess the business case for the NDN. At the completion of the pilot phase, an evaluation of the NDN will be undertaken prior to the consideration of a full production release.
A key pilot project is the Children and Youth Statistical Portal, released in October of 2007. The objective of this portal is to showcase the NDN for: providing pathways to statistical data, reports and other information resources facilities to search for other information resources encouraging collaboration among users with common interests.
The Children and Youth Statistical Portal includes a search capability and functionality to discover information resources that relate to particular themes within the Children and Youth Portal. Also included with the Children and Youth Statistical Portal is a discussion forum to faciliate the development of the community and raise awareness of issues relevant to it.
Being a community driven project organisations are able to review the portal and provide feedback; this is used to determine the the direction the portal should take so as to best meet its user requirements.
