Web-sites and mobile applications are increasingly bringing together citizens and governments. The focus of the integrative efforts involves turning governmental data into usefully and meaningful public information. For example, a big pile of city crime reports is not all that useful to the general public. But what if you are out late one night and you turn on a mobile application – combining crime data with information on bars, sidewalks, and subway stations to find the safest route home. In Washington DC, a Web site called Stumble Safely (http://outsideindc.com/stumblesafely/) makes that possible.
San Francisco recently unveiled DateSF (http://www.datasf.org/), a Web clearing house of raw government data that the public can download. The data sets include seismic hazard zones, street sweeping schedules, and campaign finance filings. The Web site called CleanScores (http://www.cleanscores.com/), tracks restaurant inspection scores in various cities and explains each violation.
There is significant evidence that governments’ attitude toward publishing data is changing. In the fall of 2008, Washington DC’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer asked iStrategyLabs (http://www.istrategylabs.com/) how it could make DC’s data catalog more useful for the citizens, visitors, businesses, and agencies. The data catalog contains all manner of open public data featuring real-time crime feeds, school test scores, poverty indicators, and is most comprehensive of its kind in the world. The solution was to create an organization, Apps for Democracy – and organize and manage a contest that cost Washington DC $50,000 and returned 47 iPhone, Facebook, and Web applications with an estimated value in excess of $2,600,000 to the City.
“It will change the way citizens and government interact, but perhaps most important, it’s going to change the way elected officials and civil servants deliver programs, services, and promises,” said Gavin Newsom, the mayor of San Francisco. “I can’t wait until it challenges and infuriates the bureaucracy.” The infuriating is real and present – Paul J. Browne, a deputy commissioner of the NYC Police Department stated recently “We provide the public information, not data flow for entrepreneurs.” More correctly – providing the public data when they are really interested in is information (useful and meaningful) is the heart of the issue. The availability of data, the influence of mobile technology, public need and acceptance – these are the variables and factors that will allow innovative entrepreneurs the opportunity to fill voids created by budget constrained governmental agencies.
San Francisco recently unveiled DateSF (http://www.datasf.org/), a Web clearing house of raw government data that the public can download. The data sets include seismic hazard zones, street sweeping schedules, and campaign finance filings. The Web site called CleanScores (http://www.cleanscores.com/), tracks restaurant inspection scores in various cities and explains each violation.
There is significant evidence that governments’ attitude toward publishing data is changing. In the fall of 2008, Washington DC’s Office of the Chief Technology Officer asked iStrategyLabs (http://www.istrategylabs.com/) how it could make DC’s data catalog more useful for the citizens, visitors, businesses, and agencies. The data catalog contains all manner of open public data featuring real-time crime feeds, school test scores, poverty indicators, and is most comprehensive of its kind in the world. The solution was to create an organization, Apps for Democracy – and organize and manage a contest that cost Washington DC $50,000 and returned 47 iPhone, Facebook, and Web applications with an estimated value in excess of $2,600,000 to the City.
“It will change the way citizens and government interact, but perhaps most important, it’s going to change the way elected officials and civil servants deliver programs, services, and promises,” said Gavin Newsom, the mayor of San Francisco. “I can’t wait until it challenges and infuriates the bureaucracy.” The infuriating is real and present – Paul J. Browne, a deputy commissioner of the NYC Police Department stated recently “We provide the public information, not data flow for entrepreneurs.” More correctly – providing the public data when they are really interested in is information (useful and meaningful) is the heart of the issue. The availability of data, the influence of mobile technology, public need and acceptance – these are the variables and factors that will allow innovative entrepreneurs the opportunity to fill voids created by budget constrained governmental agencies.
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