Protecting personal information is at the heart of a new Australian Computer Society (ACS) sponsored White Paper launched today by the Minister for Digital and Minister for Customer Service Victor Dominello at ACS’s national office in Sydney.
The paper was developed following a series of workshops run by the Australian Computer Society (ACS) and led by the NSW Government’s Chief Data Scientist and ACS President Dr Ian Oppermann.
Dr Oppermann said the White Paper would support Government departments, agencies and private businesses to safely handle, use and share data and would ensure appropriate protections are in place throughout the lifecycle of the data.
“The NSW Government is committed to paving the way for evolving digital initiatives and technologies with data being the fuel that drives innovative government projects such as Smart Places, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Digital Identity,” Dr Oppermann said.
“One of the biggest challenges for data scientists, government policy makers and businesses which collect and use data is finding a balance between the benefits of data sharing without compromising people’s right to privacy.
“We are working to ensure we have the processes and frameworks in place with this paper critical to guiding us in how we use data, share it safely and drive technical solutions.”
Dr Oppermann said the new report built on previous ACS White Papers and was designed to walk users through various considerations of a data set and how to manage potential risks.
“Sharing data continues to be a challenge for many organisations. Not only because of issues of privacy but also how to handle sensitive data, ensuring it is of appropriate quality and understanding the impact of decisions made from insights generated from the data,” Dr Oppermann said.
“These challenges also change and evolve across the lifecycle of data, from creation, storage, use, sharing, archiving and destruction.
“This paper explores how to create reliable and secure ways to share data at each of these stages that will benefit all Australians.” F
