Case Study: Australian Capital Territory achieves interactive maps from spreadsheets in minutes with Socrata

ACT Goes from Spreadsheets to Interactive Maps in Minutes

Socrata helped the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) turn Chief Minister Katy Gallagher’s 2011 open‑data commitment into a practical program. ACT needed a simple, fast platform that let nine directorates upload varied file types, provide APIs, embed datasets into the website, and render geospatial data so non‑technical staff and the public could access and use information easily.

ACT chose the Socrata Open Data platform and launched dataACT in September 2012, enabling one‑click visualizations, interactive maps and sharing tools. In the first year ACT published 35 datasets, staff could convert spreadsheets into interactive maps in minutes, transparency and internal data sharing improved, and the site quickly earned national recognition and spurred further innovation.

Australian Capital Territory

Michael D’Aprix

Director, IT Services, Australian Capital Territory