Data Literacy in Government: How Are Agencies Enhancing Data Skills?
Fed Tech: “The federal government is vast, and the challenge of understanding its oceans of data grows daily. Rather than hiring thousands of new experts, agencies are moving to train existing employees on how to handle the new frontier. Data literacy is now a common buzzword, spurred by the publication of the Federal Data Strategy 2020 Action Plan last year and the growing empowerment of chief data officers in the government. The document outlines a multiyear, holistic approach to government information that includes building a culture that values data, encouraging strong management and protection and promoting its efficient and appropriate use.
Now that it’s been confirmed that
’s so-called ‘National Cabinet’ isn’t a real Cabinet, I’m going for the minutes etc of all 50 meetings so far. It’s important to bring some sunshine to dark corners. #auspol #FOI #transparency #acountability
First-of-its-kind ruling paves way for trove of secret documents to be made public
Earlier this week I had something to say about #China’s quest for #NuclearWeapons parity. #auspol #ausdef. You can read my Senate speech here —> parlinfo.aph.gov.au/…www.theaustralian.co…
They’re Normalizing Police Robots By Calling Them “Dogs” Caitlin Johnstone. Kill them with fire.
“While the Federal government leads globally in many instances in developing and providing data about the United States and the world, it lacks a robust, integrated approach to using data to deliver on mission, serve the public and steward resources,” the plan notes. A key pillar of the plan is to “identify opportunities to increase staff data skills,” and it directs all federal agencies to undertake a gap analysis of skills to see where the weaknesses and needs lie…”
Photographer Catches Whale Breaching Next to a Fishing Boat
Sponge fossils suggest animals already existed 890 million years ago New Scientist
Trans-Alaska pipeline under threat from thawing permafrost High Country News
How to redesign our cities to make them heatwave-proof FT
‘Is this legal?’: Why an obscure data service has been sued nearly 100 times for facilitating anti-competitive behavior Investigate Midwest
She risked everything to expose Facebook. Now she’s telling her story.
MIT Technology Review: “The world first learned of Sophie Zhang in September 2020, when BuzzFeed News obtained and published highlights from an abridged version of her nearly 8,000-word exit memo from Facebook. Before she was fired, Zhang was officially employed as a low-level data scientist at the company. But she had become consumed by a task she deemed more important: finding and taking down fake accounts and likes that were being used to sway elections globally. Her memo revealed that she’d identified dozens of countries, including India, Mexico, Afghanistan, and South Korea, where this type of abuse was enabling politicians to mislead the public and gain power. It also revealed how little the company had done to mitigate the problem, despite Zhang’s repeated efforts to bring it to the attention of leadership…”
A western Sydney healthcare volunteer dismissed for speaking out about support given to women in labour says her sacking will make workers hesitant to blow the whistle.
Kristyn Begnell went public in July after women giving birth at Blacktown Hospital were separated from their partners after delivery and prevented from seeing them in postnatal wards.
Sydney maternity ward whistleblower sacked
Ray Hadley has been tipped off by a listener that a nurse at the Sydney Olympic Park mass vaccination hub has allegedly been fraudulently handing out vaccines.
20 friends of the nurse are accused of queue-jumping last month to take the Pfizer jab by claiming on their consent forms they were family members who lived with the nurse.
They later bragged on social media about receiving the vaccine, and “belittled people for not getting vaccinated with AstraZeneca”, the listener alleged.
The group justified their actions on the basis the nurse didn’t have family in Australia, so passed on those doses they would’ve used to others.
“It sounded too fanciful to be true,” Ray Hadley admitted, “so we’ve done some research.”
Pfizer fraud: Mass vaccination hub nurse caught handing out jabs to mates