During a recent visit to the local tech incubator 1776, President Obama met with RideScout, a startup that uses open data from the Department of Transportation and local governments to update its mobile app for real-time transit information, giving users information about local transportation. Last month, during a visit to Pittsburgh’s TechShop, the President spoke about the importance of opening up government data to boost economic growth.
"The federal government has an incredible amount of data. One of the things we've done, working with the technology community, is think about how, with the right privacy considerations, we can leverage this 'big data' to develop mobile applications."
The U.S. Department of Commerce released a report analyzing the economic value of government data and how it can drive trillions of dollars in investment annually. For example, the annual value of weather data is $31.5 billion, six times the cost of producing it ($5.1 billion). Secretary Pritzker also announced that the Department of Commerce will hire a Chief Data Officer to organize and make data resources available to citizens and the business community.
The President’s open data initiatives are not limited to opening and improving government data – they also focus on engaging innovative entrepreneurs and the general public with a shared goal of innovatively using data in products and services that improve everyday life and the economy. To engage current and potential users of open government data, showcase progress, and receive feedback, the Administration has organized a series of data-related events and initiatives this year, including:
- Education Datapalooza to promote innovation in improving access to higher education, affordability and completion
- Safety Dataplooza to promote smarter and safer choices
- Climate Data Initiative to provide the necessary information and tools to take appropriate measures for expected climate changes
- Energy Datapalooza to highlight the contribution of data and technology to the clean energy economy
- Health Datapalooza for the availability of health data
- Jobs Jam” with Vice President and Secretary Perez, to highlight technologies and ideas that can lead to jobs
- We The People Hackathon to test the Write API, the White House's online petition platform, which enables citizens to submit petitions to the White House, using new technologies.
In the spirit of transparency and, as a good practice for public agencies, local governments, non-profit organizations and anyone else who may be interested in organizing open data events, the White House has published a relevant guide with tips for organizing hackathons and similar events.
The guide is published on the White House Open Data Project
Source: www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2014/07/15/opening-data-spur-innovation-economic-growth-0
Republished from ellak.gr
