International Recognition For LINZ Data Service

Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) received international recognition last night, with its revolutionary LINZ Data Service (LDS) being ‘named runner-up – ‘Highly Commended’ – in the ‘Information’ category of this year’s highly coveted Australia and New Zealand Internet Awards (ANZIA).

“This is a significant endorsement of our work to develop and implement a free and easy to use data sharing service, and shows that others – both here and overseas – recognise the value and innovation of what we’re doing,” said LINZ General Manager Customer Services Jan Pierce.

Organised by auDA and InternetNZ, the ANZIAs is an annual event – launched in 2008 – to celebrate the achievements of organisations, businesses and individuals that strive to improve internet development and use in Australia and New Zealand.

The ‘Information’ category focuses strongly on using the best internet technologies to make information easily accessible to the public, as well as bringing government and the public closer together.

“LDS (http://data.linz.govt.nz/) provides free and open access to LINZ data to support the creation of new and improved products and services across business, government and the wider community – revolutionising the way people can discover, use and share New Zealand public data.

“Our approach – including the use of open source software, open licensing and open standards – could well set the international benchmark for how government organisations release public data for re-use, innovation and enterprise. These factors combined made LDS a perfect fit for the ‘Information’ category.”

Drawing on the success of LDS to date, LINZ is now leading a cross-agency working group to formulate a business plan to develop a web-based Open Data service (ODS) to be used by multiple government organisations.

“LDS delivers on all fronts and we’re very pleased with being named runner-up for this category. This result is further endorsement of the fact that we’ve delivered something unique and world-leading in the Government open data space,” Jan said.
For further information about the LINZ Data service (LDS), visit http://www.linz.govt.nz/about-linz/linz-data-service.
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Background Information

LINZ Data Service (LDS)
• The LINZ Data Service was the first standards-compliant service established in New Zealand to provide open, free access to government-held public data. It is a world-leading open data service – in terms of accessibility, availability and usability – and could set the international benchmark for how government agencies approach the release of public data for reuse, innovation and enterprise.
• LDS provides data to support the creation of new and improved products and services across business, government and the community. Available datasets include New Zealand topographic, hydrographic, survey, title, street address, and geodetic datasets – essential spatial infrastructure in a world where location-based information changes the way we work, live and play.
• By providing this data free of charge, via an easy to use website, LINZ customers can now come straight to the LINZ Data Service to obtain the data they need to integrate into their own services and systems.

The Australia and New Zealand Internet Awards (ANZIA)
• Established in 2008, the annual Australia and New Zealand Internet Awards (http://internetawards.org.au/index.php) are a collaboration between auDA and InternetNZ. The ANZIAs celebrate the achievements of organisations, businesses and individuals that have made significant contributions to the development and use of the internet in Australia and New Zealand.
• ANZIAs are awarded across six categories: Security & Privacy; Internet Access & Digital Skills; Information; Diversity; IPV6; Innovation. Entries are assessed by a panel of judges on: the main benefits of the product, project or initiative to its stakeholders or the wider users of the internet; the projects' objectives and measured success in meeting its goals; how the initiative delivered an innovative solution to the issue it was developed to address; how the initiative, or its ideas, could assist with the development of the Internet in an International context.
• Previous ANZIA runners-up include: Victoria University of Wellington; the New Zealand Department of Internal affairs (DIA); Internode; Infoxchange.

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