Government agencies and research institutions are under growing pressure to make their open data portals AI-ready. Users increasingly expect to search by meaning, not just keywords. AI agents are beginning to crawl portals directly. And if your data is not structured for machine readability, it risks being bypassed or misinterpreted entirely.
But for many public sector organisations, adopting AI comes with a fundamental concern: data sovereignty. How do you add AI-powered capabilities to a data portal without exposing sensitive datasets to third-party models or losing control over how your data is used?
A sovereign approach to AI-powered discovery
This is the problem Ask AI was designed to solve. Developed by Link Digital as a CKAN extension, Ask AI adds a semantic search layer on top of existing data portals. Instead of matching keywords, it matches meaning, using vector embeddings stored in PostgreSQL via pgvector. Users can find relevant datasets even when they do not know the exact terminology publishers have used.
Critically, Ask AI is built with data sovereignty at its core. All processing stays within your secure infrastructure. Proprietary information is never sent to, or used to train, public AI models like ChatGPT or Gemini. Data managers retain full control over which datasets the AI can access and who is authorised to query them.
The result is a portal that is smarter and more accessible for both human users and AI systems, without compromising the data governance standards public sector organisations require.
For a deeper look at how AI is reshaping the open data landscape, read our recent article: What is the Future of Open Data in the AI Era?
Link Digital is a CKAN co-steward with over 24 years of experience in open data solutions for government, research, and non-profit organisations.
Learn more: linkdigital.com.au/ask-ai
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About our partner
Link Digital
Link Digital builds open data portals and internal data hubs. A global information technology company founded in 2001, supporting government agencies, NGO, and research and academic institutions by serving as system architects of data. Link Digital is official CKAN co-stewardWith a dedicated team of developers, implementers, and contributors, Link Digital has been actively involved in the CKAN community since 2012.Their primary focus lies in expert data portal consulting, design, and building capabilities for data repository management. As a testament to our commitment, Steven De Costa, Link Digital Chairman, plays a crucial role in the CKAN project.Link Digital's Business Operating ModelLink Digital has been utilising the Entrepreneurial Operating System for Businesses (EOS) toolset to optimise our operations and build growth since March 2017. This framework enables us to achieve traction, streamline operational management, and empower our leadership team.Their expertise lies in CKAN, a Python-based framework renowned for its efficiency. Additionally, they have extensive experience with Drupal, and Amazon Web Services.Case studies of data portals and internal data hubs built by Link DigitalPacific Community's Pacific Data HubLiving Lakes Canada's Columbia Basin Water HubNew South Wales Vehicle Emission Star Rating Website Project (Drupal-based)Norwegian Public Roads AdministrationUniversity of Manitoba's Canadian Watershed Information NetworkMédecins Sans Frontières Data Sharing PlatformThe Government of New South Wales Sharing and Enabling Environmental DataQueensland Government Geoscience Data Modernisation Project (GDMP)New Zealand's geoscience regulation agency Inter-American Development Bank's Open Data Catalogue
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