Geelong Data Exchange broadens scope

The City has expanded the Geelong Data Exchange to include all major projects across the region.

The updated Major Projects dashboard on the publicly accessible data platform now features data about capital works projects valued over $10 million outside Greater Geelong in the Borough of Queenscliffe, Surf Coast Shire, Golden Plains Shire and Colac Otway Shire.

The dashboard shows nearly 200 projects worth $20.6 billion being delivered in the Barwon region, making it easy to understand the major projects planned, approved, underway or recently completed.

Investment in roads and transport ($7 billion), public buildings and utilities ($4.5 billion), industrial and commercial projects ($1.7 billion), medical and allied health projects ($1.6 billion) and residential buildings ($1.4 billion) reflects the region’s rapidly growing population and strong investor confidence.

The Geelong Data Exchange already had 156 datasets available, encompassing a wide range of information including land use, tree data and population statistics, providing valuable insights for informed decision-making and planning.

By having mapping, health, environmental, demographic, infrastructure & asset, transport and digital city model data easily available to the community, new ideas, applications and solutions can be created.

The major project data can be used to conduct research, make evidence-based decisions, create a business case or gain knowledge and understanding of social, economic and environmental trends.

Open data can increase transparency, support the development of new technologies, services and innovations and stimulate the local economy. It can be built upon and linked with other data, providing even greater insight.

The City of Greater Geelong values the privacy of every individual and is committed to community privacy and safety. We adhere to strict rules around data governance which ensures we follow a best practice approach.

Information on the Geelong Data Exchange is de-identified and does not contain information which can be attributed to any individual person. Anonymous identifiers can also be used in the place of individual identifiers, ensuring they are randomly generated and there is no possibility for systematic connection.

If the data contains sensitive information the sensitive fields are generalised or the entries are removed entirely. As not all data is suitable for release, access to some data is sometimes restricted.

Mayor Trent Sullivan

Expanding the Geelong Data Exchange aligns with the community’s Clever and Creative vision for the region.

Data that’s freely accessible facilitates collaborative decision-making for residents, businesses, investors and innovators, fostering synergy and informed choices.

Having a single source of truth reduces time and costs of doing regular business, and is also an integral way Geelong was becoming a data-driven Smart City.

David Greaves – Acting CEO

We’ve made it easy for anyone to view, obtain, utilise and reuse information the City and others have gathered.

The inclusion of new data to the Geelong Data Exchange will assist cities and industry in developing evidence-based decisions, leading to better-informed and consistent policies, research and social outcomes.

There are many learnings and insights that can be made from analysing open data on the Geelong Data Exchange website.

/Public Release. View in full here.