NSW chief data scientist steps down

The NSW government has lost its long-serving chief data scientist, with Dr Ian Oppermann opting to leave the role after eight years.

In a LinkedIn post, Oppermann said he was “leaving on a high note” after the NSW AI Summit last month.

“After slightly more than eight years, I am handing in the NSW chief data scientist badge,” he wrote.

“It has certainly been an interesting ride.  It started with helping to establish the NSW Data Analytics Centre (the DAC) back in 2015.”

Under Oppermann’s direction, the DAC can order state government agencies to give up data or reveal insights on the specifics of data they hold, with the intention of improving outcomes for NSW residents.

Oppermann said his time was also spent "trying to help government think differently about use of data, to developing and promoting data sharing frameworks, the development and evolution of the “PIF” tool and finally to the development of the NSW AI Assurance Framework.”

The Personal Information Factor (PIF) is used by the DAC "to assess the risk of identifying an individual in a dataset" - before the data is potentially published.

“The update to the AI Assurance Framework should be available in early 2024 and I commend this to you,” Oppermann said.  

“It is a solid piece of work and a great example of collaboration between governments, academia and industry. Also, a great example of cross jurisdictional collaboration.”

A spokesperson from the NSW department of customer service thanked Oppermann, telling iTnews he “has successfully led the development of the AI Assurance framework and we thank him for his contribution.”

“The NSW government acknowledges the work of Dr Oppermann during his time in the public sector and wishes him the best in his future endeavours," the spokesperson said.

The spokesperson said work across the AI Assurance Framework “will now be led by the team within Digital NSW.”

The framework came into effect in March 2022 to support organisations in the design and application of AI-empowered products and solutions.