Monday, March 09, 2009

Fixed. But not the cause of the problem

Joshua Gans writes:

Now usually when we talk about the lack of open public information, everyone agrees and politicians duck the issue. Following up on the NSW rail timetable issue last week, this story today about a high level non-ducking:

The NSW Premier, Nathan Rees, has jumped into the middle of a spat between RailCorp and mobile software developers and has chosen to side with the developers. …

In a new Twitter message, Rees indicated he would override RailCorp’s decision and force the bureaucracy to meet the mobile software developers and work out a way they can use the timetable data.

“I’ve asked [Transport] Minister [David] Campbell to speak to RailCorp. They will meet with the app developers to negotiate how to use the info accurately,” Rees wrote.

Campbell this morning confirmed he had “asked RailCorp to meet with these developers and see if they can work together on a way forward”.

Excellent. This is progress. Hopefully, it will lead to real change.