Steve Bennett blogs

Self-doubt is awful, so this is for Future Steve: here are lots of things you did in 2015 that you can be proud of!

1. Created opentransportdata.org: Swagger API documentation for PTV’s real-time API, as part of the VicTripathon hackfest. PTV’s documentation is a developer’s nightmare. My version has live testing of the API built in and links to various wrappers in different languages.
2. Designed a process for judging mobile apps (way outside my area of expertise!) for VicTripathon, across 4 different platforms, with help from Installr. Measure of success: the devs said it was ok.
3. Created opentrees.org: a fun way to explore the combined tree inventories of a dozen councils across Australia.
4. Created openbinmap.org: uses open data published by councils in standard formats to tell you if it’s bin night where you live. Provides a nice incentive for councils publishing their first datasets.
5. Created standards.opencouncildata.org: lightweight, open standards so that councils publishing the same data can do so in an interoperable way. And some of them are actually using it!
6. opencouncildata.org: The OpenCouncilData toolkit (co-created with Ellen Bicknell), provides a lot of guidance and useful background for councils embarking on the open data journey.
7. map.opencouncildata.org: A constantly updated map showing exactly how many datasets each council is currently publishing.
8. csv-geo-au: A standard for publishing spatial data that refers to regions such as ABS statistical divisions or Australian commonwealth electoral divisions.
9. Helping get VicRoads and Geelong’s street-level imagery on Mapillary.
10. Building an automatic feed of real-time environmental data into City of Melbourne’s open data portal.
11. AusTrails.org: A proof of concept for a super trail finder, which won a GovHack prize with help from Matt Cengia.
12. Built 5 Terria-based maps: NEII Viewer (BOM), City of Sydney Environment and Sustainability Portal, a proof of concept for the Greater Sydney Commission, Northern Australia Investment Map, and ParlMap. The last is not public, but a really nice clone of NationalMap providing access to historical election and electoral boundary data for parliamentarians and the Parliamentary Library staff.
13. Helped organise HealthHack: we had 10/10 happy problem owners in Melbourne, 60 participants, and a really awesome atmosphere.
14. Wrote the definitive guide to YAML multi-line strings. (Ok, I started it last year, but most of the grunt work was this year).
15. Participated in developing the next version of Fiscal Data Package, including a major change in presentation.
16. Got a photo I took on the front cover of a book, Exploring the Jagungal Wilderness. (It’s also a physical book).
17. Spoke about open data and National Map at lots of events: Local Government Spatial Reference Group, data.gov.au forum, MAV Technology forum (local government),  WebNetwork (local government), NewTech (state government), Open Data Government Community Forum (federal)
18. Organised a Spatial Analytics for Policy Makers Workshop in the Victorian Government, with speakers from four different mapping platforms represented.
19. Taught mapping workshops at La Trobe and Victoria University.
20. Refactored and seriously improved part of the TerriaJS code that that deals with region mapping CSV files, plus much better choroplething.
21. Designed and launched the GeoNext hackfest.
22. Co-organised 5 cycle tours: Moe-Inverloch-Port Albert-Rosedale, Nelson-Warrnambool, Geelong-Rye-Melbourne, Tallarook-Jamieson-Benalla, Mt Beauty-Hotham-Falls Creek-Wangaratta.