—Don McDougall, Australian Bureau of Statistics
The Australian Bureau of Statistics has created an external data portal for Australian 2006 census data, CDATA Online that provides a data portal for the public to access and analyze census data. Information can be easily accessed and displayed in tabular, graphical, and map views, all powered by the census micro data. Complimenting this is a product called TableBuilder which allows users to create custom tables of any combination of data variables they desire. Consumers can ask any question of the data and pursue their own dynamic data driven analysis. Data is confidentialized on the fly to protect sensitive information. Users are now able to access customized Census data for specific geographic regions including areas which they define to suit their needs; these custom regions can be created by selecting the component areas via an interactive map. CDATA Online has won the Esri Australia Web GIS Challenge, distinguishing them as the best Web mapping site in Australia.