Open data is open for business
By Jeffrey Stinson, Stateline.org | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
The tool, called "Beagle Score," is a widget that can be embedded in online commercial real estate listings. It can rate a location by taxes and incentives, zoning, even the location of possible competitors -- all derived from about 30 data sets posted publicly by the state of
The creation of Beagle Score is an example of how states, cities, counties and the federal government are encouraging entrepreneurs to take raw government data posted on "open data" websites and turn the information into products the public will buy.
"The (
Open-data advocates, such as President
They can be as simple as mobile phone apps identifying every stop sign you will encounter on a trip to a different town, or as intricate as taking weather and crops data and turning it into insurance policies farmers can buy.
At least 39 states and 46 cities and counties have created open-data sites since the federal government,
In March, Democratic
State and local governments are sponsoring "hackathons," "data paloozas," and challenges like
The goals of the events vary. Some, like
Unless there's some prize money, hackers may not make a buck from events like these, and participate out of fun, curiosity or a sense of public service. But those who create an app that is useful beyond the boundaries of a particular city or state, or one that is commercially valuable to business, can make serious money -- just as Beagle Score plans to do.
Open data is an outgrowth of the e-government movement of the 1990s, in which government computerized more of the data it collected and began making it available on floppy disks.
States often have trailed the federal government or many cities in adjusting to the computer age and in sharing information, said
The goal was to make government more transparent and accountable by offering taxpayers information on how their money was spent.
The Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts site, established in 2007, offers detailed revenue, spending, tax and contracts data. Republican Comptroller
Not all states' checkbook sites are as openly transparent and detailed as
Many state legislatures are working to set policies for releasing data. Since the start of 2010, according to the
Just as states have lagged in getting data out to the public, less of it has been turned into commercial use, said
Gurin leads Open Data 500, which identifies firms that that have made products from open government data and turned them into regional or national enterprises. In April, it listed 500. It soon may expand. "We're finding more and more companies every day," he said.
Most of the firms on his Open Data 500 list have turned federal data into products.
Will it reach billions of dollars in economic activity? She isn't sure. "I think the future is good," she said. Right now, "we're just working around the fringes."
He points to
The economics of data into dollars are easy to understand, Jaquith said. "We live in an information society. For that, you need the data. Who has the data we all can use? Government. It can be valuable to the private sector."
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