The Office of the National Data Commissioner has released the Foundational Four: guidance for agencies on how they can improve their data practices and address the technical and cultural challenges limiting their ability to get the most out of the data they hold.

In 2003, science fiction author William Gibson was interviewed in the Economist magazine. He said something—which always rattles around inside my head—that was as simple as it was provocative. “The future,” he said “is already here, it is just unevenly distributed”.

It is easy to conflate open access or release of data with sharing data. So why are these concepts different and why is that distinction important?

Every year biosecurity officers, working for the Department of Agriculture, intercept thousands of plant and animal items before they can enter Australia and potentially devastate entire industries; 2019 was no different.