{
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    "title" : "Five Years of Open Data—Making a Difference |Digital.gov",
    "description": "Five Years of Open Data—Making a Difference",
    "home_page_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/","feed_url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2014/05/20/five-years-of-open-data-making-a-difference/index.json","item" : [
    {"title" :"Five Years of Open Data—Making a Difference","summary" : "In May 2009, Data.gov was an experiment. There were questions: would people use the data? would agencies share the data? and would it make a difference? We’ve all come a long, long way to answering those questions, starting with only 47 datasets and having 105,000 datasets today. We realized that this was never simply about","date" : "2014-05-20T01:00:33-04:00","date_modified" : "2025-01-27T19:42:55-05:00","authors" : {"jeanne-holm" : "Jeanne Holm"},"topics" : {
        
            "application-programming-interface" : "Application programming interface",
            "open-data" : "Open data"
            },"branch" : "bc-archive-content-3",
      "filename" :"2014-05-20-five-years-of-open-data-making-a-difference.md",
      
      "filepath" :"news/2014/05/2014-05-20-five-years-of-open-data-making-a-difference.md",
      "filepathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/blob/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2014/05/2014-05-20-five-years-of-open-data-making-a-difference.md",
      "editpathURL" :"https://github.com/GSA/digitalgov.gov/edit/bc-archive-content-3/content/news/2014/05/2014-05-20-five-years-of-open-data-making-a-difference.md","slug" : "five-years-of-open-data-making-a-difference","url" : "/preview/gsa/digitalgov.gov/bc-archive-content-3/2014/05/20/five-years-of-open-data-making-a-difference/","content" :"\u003cp\u003eIn May 2009, Data.gov was an experiment. There were questions: would people use the data? would agencies share the data? and would it make a difference? We’ve all come a long, long way to answering those questions, starting with only 47 datasets and having \u003ca href=\"http://catalog.data.gov/\"\u003e105,000 datasets\u003c/a\u003e today. We realized that this was never simply about opening up government data, but rather about growing and nurturing an open data ecosystem to improve the lives of citizens.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"putting-the-data-to-work\"\u003ePutting the Data to Work\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eHundreds of \u003ca href=\"http://www.data.gov/impact/\"\u003ecompanies\u003c/a\u003e, like those featured at the \u003ca href=\"http://opendata500.com/\"\u003eOpen Data 500\u003c/a\u003e, are using data to create services and products. From agriculture to housing—businesses of all shapes and sizes are reliant on government data. During the last five years, there have been moments when a company or community was poised to use open data at a moment of crisis or opportunity. Some of these highlights include:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eThe Red Cross, working with the Department of Transportation, released a \u003ca href=\"http://www.redcross.org/mobile-apps/hurricane-app\"\u003eHurricane App\u003c/a\u003e just as Hurricane Sandy touched ground—helping 700,000 people be safer that first day alone\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eOrganizations have come to life around helping others and getting them data to inform their consumer decisions\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eA new level of digital democracy was reached when India and the United States, and later Canada and Ghana, created the Open Government Platform, a shared, \u003ca href=\"http://ogpl.github.io/about/governance-en.html\"\u003eopen source\u003c/a\u003e system for open data portals\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003ca href=\"http://catalog.data.gov/dataset?organization_type=City+Government\u0026amp;_organization_type_limit=0\"\u003eCity\u003c/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"http://catalog.data.gov/dataset?organization_type=County+Government\u0026amp;_organization_type_limit=0\"\u003ecounty\u003c/a\u003e, and \u003ca href=\"http://catalog.data.gov/dataset?organization_type=State+Government\"\u003estate\u003c/a\u003e data was integrated with federal data to make Data.gov a truly a national open data portal\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePeople today are using open data in even more creative ways. Civic hackers, designers, and developers, young and old, are being educated and connected through \u003ca href=\"http://codeforamerica.org/\"\u003eCode for America\u003c/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"http://www.codecademy.com/\"\u003eCode Academy\u003c/a\u003e, and others that give them the tools to put the data to work and growing that ecosystem of developers and consumers of the data.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"making-more-data-available\"\u003eMaking More Data Available\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMuch of the first year of Data.gov was spent on gathering the fuel for the ecosystem—open data. The open data teams at each agency and Data.gov worked together to change the culture from a “how will we release this data” to “what is the impact on Americans when we release this data.” With clear direction from the White House in the \u003ca href=\"http://www.whitehouse.gov/the_press_office/Transparency_and_Open_Government/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ePresidential Transparency and Open Government\u003c/a\u003e memo, the \u003ca href=\"http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/egov/digital-government/digital-government.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eDigital Government\u003c/a\u003e strategy, and the \u003ca href=\"http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/05/09/executive-order-making-open-and-machine-readable-new-default-government-\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eExecutive Order for Open Data\u003c/a\u003e, people at 175 agencies and \u003ca href=\"http://catalog.data.gov/organization\" target=\"_blank\"\u003e77 other organizations\u003c/a\u003e today continue to release more data, more accessible data, and new Web services and APIs. In using \u003ca href=\"http://twitter.com/usdatagov\" target=\"_blank\"\u003esocial media\u003c/a\u003e, sponsoring data jams and paloozas, creating and moderating the \u003ca href=\"http://opendata.stackexchange.com/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eOpen Data Stack Exchange\u003c/a\u003e, and transparently sharing code and issues on \u003ca href=\"https://github.com/GSA/data.gov\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eGithub\u003c/a\u003e, Data.gov and data publishers are listening to and working directly with researchers, innovators, data scientists, and data journalists to create a better platform with more data every day.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"making-a-difference\"\u003eMaking a Difference\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eSo, has the release of government data helped to improve the lives of Americans? In just the last three years, Data.gov has grown to include:\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e4.5 million unique visitors\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e105,000 data collections\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e447,000 data resources\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e227 organizations publishing data\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e4,700 people attending the International Open Government Data Conference online and in person\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e21 topics\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003eCitizens from 195 countries have visited the site\u003c/li\u003e\n\u003c/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eClearly, the answer is that people are working with open data, but there is still much more to do. Groups like the \u003ca href=\"http://sunlightfoundation.com/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eSunlight Foundation\u003c/a\u003e and data journalists help to advocate for the release of new data in machine-readable formats, and citizen groups create activities and initiatives around the data. As one example, behind the topics highlighted on Data.gov (such as \u003ca href=\"http://climate.data.gov/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eclimate\u003c/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"http://health.data.gov/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003ehealth\u003c/a\u003e, \u003ca href=\"http://safety.data.gov/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003esafety\u003c/a\u003e, and \u003ca href=\"http://ocean.data.gov/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eocean\u003c/a\u003e), are communities of people from around the country and around the world who strive together to get specific data released to help solve humanity’s challenges. The community behind \u003ca href=\"http://agriculture.data.gov/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eAgriculture.Data.gov\u003c/a\u003e hosted an event last year that led to the formation of the Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition (\u003ca href=\"http://godan.info/\" target=\"_blank\"\u003eGODAN\u003c/a\u003e) initiative that focuses on food security and mitigating hunger in developed and developing nations.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003ch2 id=\"what-is-your-story\"\u003eWhat Is Your Story?\u003c/h2\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eYou’ve heard here about some of the open data stories powered by data on Data.gov. Now, we are issuing a call for YOUR story. Tell the world what open data means to you. What have you built? How have you made a difference? What still needs to be accomplished? Answer the call for Open Data Stories: what we’ve accomplished, understood, and are still exploring after 5 years. Post a video, write a blog, or send a tweet (#OpenDataStory) and \u003ca href=\"https://www.data.gov/contact\" target=\"_blank\"\u003elet us know\u003c/a\u003e. We will connect the stories, and highlight what you are doing. Be creative, be innovative, and let all of us celebrate your story.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEach person makes a difference—whether you are a researcher, developer, data scientist, business owner, innovator, data publisher, or citizen—each part of the ecosystem is important in our shared vision of making the world a better place through transparency, openness, and knowledge. Be part of the future and celebrate how far we’ve come—share your story, share your vision.\u003cem\u003eThis post was originally published on \u003ca href=\"http://gsablogs.gsa.gov/gsablog/2014/05/20/five-years-of-open-data-making-a-difference/\"\u003eThe GSA Blog\u003c/a\u003e by Jeanne Holm, Open Data Evangelist for \u003ca href=\"http://www.data.gov/\"\u003eData.gov\u003c/a\u003e.\u003c/em\u003e\u003c/p\u003e\n"}
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}