Looking beyond ‘Open Banking’, we discuss Australia’s multi-sectoral Consumer Data Right (CDR) with Dr Liming Zhu of the Data61 lab at the national science agency CSIRO. We discuss the CDR roll-out, and the extension of open data principles to other consumer sectors, such as energy and telecoms.

The Data61 innovation lab is at the heart of the CDR effort. Data61 hosts the Data Standards Body, responsible for agreeing and publishing the technical standards that operationalize the CDR in each sector. Two Advisory Committees, on banking and energy, input into this process, which also links in with international standardization work such as that of the Open ID Foundation. In parallel, other regulatory agencies and the Australian Treasurer have roles to play in setting out the legal architecture of the CDR.

Liming also describes a range of broader research and standardization initiatives underway at Data61 including work on quantum cryptography and quantum-resistant cryptography, his work on blockchain standards mirroring into ISO’s TC307, and Data61’s application, jointly with the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for Capital Markets, for a new CRC for Digital Finance.