About
The Growing Data Foundation (GDF) is a South Australian not-for-profit organisation that promotes the development of open projects and systems supporting sustainable solutions to environmental, economic and social problems.
GDF was founded in January 2015 using prize money won at GovHack SA 2014, where the team (“Nature Ninjas”) took out three awards — including the Premier’s Award ($30,000) — for their What Grows Here? native flora identification app.
Since then, GDF has grown into a community of practitioners, researchers and organisations working at the intersection of open data, IoT technology and social good.
What we do
- Open data projects — we build and support tools that make environmental, agricultural and community data freely accessible to researchers, educators and the public.
- IoT infrastructure — we founded and operate The Things Network Adelaide, one of Australia’s first community-run LoRaWAN networks, providing free long-range connectivity for sensor projects across metropolitan Adelaide and South Australia.
- Community events — we convene the Adelaide OpenData and IoT Meetup (900+ members) and hosted the TTN Asia Pacific On Tour Conference (150+ attendees, 2019).
- Education & mentoring — we partner with schools, universities and regional councils to build digital skills and run curriculum-integrated IoT and data projects.
- Research & advocacy — we contribute to industry and government planning processes, promoting open data policy and community digital infrastructure investment.
Who we are
GDF is governed by a volunteer executive board and supported by a community of members, contributors and collaborators across South Australia and beyond.
We are a registered Australian not-for-profit corporation limited by guarantee (ABN 47 603 483 629).
Growing Data Foundation
GPO Box 1125
Adelaide SA 5001