Electronic Information Exchange

The final series of questions in E-awareness 2005 included questions asking agencies about the data and information they exchange electronically with other organisations, including central and local government, foreign governments, and private sector organisations.

The data exchange questions were included because combining and exchanging information between different organisations is a component of the Integration and Efficiency outcomes of the E-government Strategy.

Privacy Commissioner authorised exchanges

At present, there is no single information source for all the data and information exchanges between agencies and other organisations. One of the best sources is the Office of the Privacy Commissioner. However, as not all data exchanges/matches need Privacy Commissioner approval (because they do not involve personal information or because they are aggregates of data), the lists of data exchanges approved by the Privacy Commissioner do not provide comprehensive coverage.

There are in excess of 70 data exchanges approved by the Privacy Commissioner, although many are not actually operating. Only the active data exchanges have been included in E-awareness 2005, because the focus is on active or current exchanges, rather than proposed data exchanges [The approved active exchanges are separately listed in Appendix 4 - available in the PDF] . The Privacy Commissioner's Annual Reports provide in-depth, detailed information about the approved active data exchanges.

Exchange methodology

The focus of the data exchange questions was not about the actual data exchanged, such as the information a person or a business may provide to an agency. Rather, the questions were about the nature of the exchanges of date between organisations that have formal access to the data or information provided by a person or a business to an agency. Agencies were expected to include information about formal exchanges with private sector organisations and foreign government agencies.

The questions did not ask agencies to include information about the emails, letters or conversations that agency employees have about cases or projects that they are working on.

The questions were basic, mainly because the purpose of E-awareness 2005 was to get an overall understanding of the exchanges taking place, rather than the specific details of how each exchange is made. The questions were about the:

• Formal name of the exchange and its purpose
• Organisations involved in the data exchange
• Frequency of exchanges per year
• Technology or channel used to perform the data exchange.

Exchange summary

In total, 113 data exchanges were individually identified by 27 agencies that either entered the information about the data exchanges they are involved in, or had pre-populated information entered. Statistics New Zealand had the greatest number of individually entered exchanges, with 38 out of the total 113.

Limitations of results

While more than 100 exchanges were identified, the results should be considered in light of the following:

• The results may not be a comprehensive list of all data exchanges
• Some entries are so similar to others that they verge on being duplicate entries
• Results are skewed because some data exchanges were entered as 'one to one' exchanges while others were 'one to many' exchanges
• Not all agencies completed the survey

Despite these caveats, the results provide a good insight into the exchange of date between government agencies and with other organisations.

Technologies used

For each data exchange - bearing in mind that each exchange entry can cover a number of exchanges to several different organisations - agencies were asked to identify from a list what technologies were used to exchange data with the other organisation. The option list included:

• Online via internet
• Online via private leased line

• - Emailed as an attachment

• CD or DVD
• Magnetic tape
• Manual entry
• Other channels

The following chart summarises the technologies used. CDs or DVDs are the most common way that agencies exchange data, and this method is almost as common as using the Internet, private leased lines and email attachments combined. A significant number of exchanges rely on magnetic tapes. A number of exchanges rely on 3.5-inch floppy disks, while several others use a dedicated computer sited in the office or service location of another agency.

The left two bars on the chart represent whether data is exchanged constantly or on demand.

Frequency of exchange

While the majority of exchanges recorded in E-awareness 2005 occur only three or fewer times each year, about 20 exchanges occur on a weekly or more frequent basis.

The following chart shows the numbers of times per year that data is exchanged for 85 of the 113 data exchanges identified. Agencies were asked to identify how often the exchanges occur by indicating the approximate number of times per year.

When presented as exchanges per day, per week, per month or less frequently, it can be concluded that the majority of exchanges occur on a monthly or less frequent basis. However, the chart may be skewed because all of Statistics New Zealand's 38 exchanges, which were individually entered, fall into the 'monthly or less frequent' category.

As would be expected, the more frequent exchanges make greater use of the internet and private leased lines to exchange information. Interestingly, CDs or DVDs, and magnetic tapes are used for more than half the exchanges that occur on a weekly basis.