ACNC Data ‘Hack’ Shows Charity Impact
15 September 2015 at 10:00 am
The use of data provided by the Australian Charities and Not for Profit Commission to measure the impact of charities in Sydney has won a team of IT experts a prestigious prize.
A team of “hackers” known as Sleepless in Sydney took out the ACNC charity data bounty at the GovHack Red Carpet Awards recently.
The event is Australia's largest open government and open data hackathon and sees teams of computer whizes compete to develop the best application of government data in 46 hours.
Sleepless in Sydney won $2,000 for using a combination of ACNC and ABS data to develop a user-friendly application that matched people with local charities in areas with high Indigenous, homeless and over 65s populations – three groups the team identified as more likely to be socially disadvantaged.
ACNC Commissioner, Susan Pascoe, congratulated the team on their win.
“The team’s submission represented the best use of ACNC data to highlight the impact of charities,” Pascoe said.
“Their submission also demonstrated an understanding of broader aims to improve the effectiveness of charity services.
“ACNC data is vast and growing, and I would like to thank all of the teams that used ACNC data in such a creative and useful way.”
Peter Phillips, speaking on behalf of Sleepless in Sydney, said the team had enjoyed the experience.
“GovHack 2015 was an amazing experience for us,” Phillips said.
“We're so happy to have won the charity bounty prize sponsored by the ACNC. The ACNC data is a valuable resource and there is so much scope to gain important insights that benefit our community, by building apps and tools that support the great work that's being done.
“Our GovHack project was truly a team effort and the collaborative spirit and energy shown by members working through the night and submitting with two minutes to spare was exhilarating and inspiring for all involved.”
