Deliberations

As an independent consultant involved with the design of deliberative processes, I am also a tax collector for the government--I need to include GST in all invoices. After applying for a new account with the Australian Tax Office, I received a call from them wanting clarification on what is called my Industry Code. As hard as I could, I just don't fit into their scheme of things. I think their scheme was invented in the 1960s or 1970s when primary industry and manufacturing were at their peak and few offered independent, boutique services. There seems to be nothing for those who consult primarily to higher education, local government or other public authorities. For the record, I have been assigned the code 69629. This code is shared with:

Business consultant service
Business management services nec
Business services nec
Entertainer/celebrity management service
Lobbyist
Management consultancy service
Merchandising consultancy service
Music group management service
Operations research service
Personnel management service
Public affairs consultant
Public relations counselling service
Sales advisory service
Tariff consultancy service
Tourism development consultancy service

Great. So I'm lobbed in with lobbyists and PR spin doctors. I better behave myself because surely the ATO will be all too eager to raise a red flag and audit me. I'm thinking about how a Semantic Web will work with a predefined ontology for the purpose of cataloguing and search. I've been reading about eResearch, where government funds are currently piling into the establishment of walled repositories of research datasets and reports, which would be accessed through Semantic Web-like facilities. Is it possible to set up an ontology that will forever be useful for accessing an evolving set of research resources? Will I have any say on how my research is categorised in the future? Or do I have to associate with lobbyists again?

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