For nearly two years, participants in the Open Data movement, have worked tirelessly to make unfettered access to public data, at all levels of government, a sustainable and irreversible reality. Open Data sites are springing up all around the world, while those who put Open Data on the map like Data.gov, Medicare, NOAA, San Francisco, [...]
Public disclosure of government data isn’t merely about transparency and accountability. By adopting Open Data as a Platform, agencies can more quickly and cost-effectively deliver services that support their own programs and missions, while also making it much easier to publish data for citizens and civic-minded developers.
“Put That Information Online,” Says President Obama.
Last night, in the State of the Union Address, President Obama reminded the world why a 21st century government that’s open and competent, starts with putting information online. He said: “In the coming year, we’ll also work to rebuild people’s faith in the institution of government. Because you deserve to know exactly how and where [...]
Continue Reading →Last month Socrata announced that we were commissioning an Open Government Data Benchmark Study to assess the state of the nascent Open Data movement. Via that announcement we also invited participation from advocacy groups who are passionate about this subject. We are honored that we have been joined in conducting this study by the Sunlight [...]
Continue Reading →Socrata Summer Update
While you all have been enjoying summer, we at Socrata haven’t been “on holiday.” Quite the opposite. In addition to having a few new permanent employees and two summer interns making solid contributions, the overall pace of the company has been brisk this summer. I haven’t kept the blog as up to date as I [...]
Continue Reading →Why Do We Need an Open Data Benchmark Study?
Yesterday we announced that on July 21st, we will launch a broad market study to benchmark the state of Open Data in government. We believe this will be the very first time that government stakeholders, mainstream citizens and civic application developers will all be invited to share their perspectives on this nascent movement. Why are [...]
Continue Reading →NYC Open Data Hearing
Led by New York City Council Member Gale A. Brewer, on Monday June 21, 2010 the New York City Council Committee on Technology will hold a hearing on Open Data standards for all NYC agencies. The specifics of the hearing are as follows: The New York City Council Committee on Technology will hold an important hearing [...]
Continue Reading →Open Data – It's More Than Publishing a CSV
Today, the status quo for governments sharing public data is via the CSV. It’s the de facto standard by which most government organizations publish their data for consumption. The CSV is no longer an acceptable format for data publishing. It’s time to raise the bar on how government open data sites like data.gov and DataSF.org [...]
Continue Reading →