Even though the future of Data.gov remains uncertain in these troubled economic times, many individual government agencies are still moving forward with President Obama’s mandate to make the U.S. federal government more transparent by making government data accessible online. The U.S. Department of Labor API makes it easier for software developers to incorporate Labor Department data into online and mobile applications.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority of New York State (MTA) recently announced a new apps contest called MTA App Quest. The contest is designed to promote apps that cover a much broader system than just New York City and spark interest around the MTA API and newly released datasets. The MTA App Quest is the latest chapter in the MTA’s transformation from a relatively closed agency to one that is embracing open transit data.
Aadhaar is India’s ambitious project to provide a unique identification number to every citizen. The project has been in operation for the last two years and has now seen a unique number being assigned to over 9.2 million citizens. The latest strategy adopted by the UIDAI (Unique Identification Authority of India) is to create the UIDAI Authentication API and provide an SDK for its various subsystems, thereby inviting developers to create an ecosystem around it.
The New York City Economic Development Corporation recently launched an apps contest for the rest of us. Unlike the NYC BigApps 1.0 and 2.0 contests the NYC BigApps Ideas Challenge is aimed at discovering problems that need solving. Participants can compete by going to a website powered by ChallengePost and filling in the blank for “I want an NYC app that…” The contest is open to both developers and non-developers and no special skills are required. So if you drive a cab, work as a podiatrist, or eke by as freelance tech writer this is your chance to contribute.
The US Census is a treasure trove of valuable information for many people. From salesmen trying to market to curious people trying to learn about new cultural trends, the Census is a great source of information. Accessing this data in a computer readable form is sometimes difficult, however. The USA Today Census API simplifies the process, at least for the 2010 census.
Panelists and presenters at last week’s Open Government West 2011 conference in Portland, Oregon tackled the topic of government sponsored app contests. Attendees asserted that not all app contests are designed the same way and there are different benefits and drawbacks with each kind. An overarching issue seemed to be the value returned to the public on government investment in app contests. Governments are looking for the best way to offer services to the public in the face of budget cuts and are eyeing citizen generated apps.
Sunlight Labs announced this week that 25 of 50 states are now integrated into its Open States API. This puts machine readable state legislative data covering approximately two thirds of the US population into the hands of developers. In addition to the expanded coverage, the team at Sunlight Labs has also been busy with improvements and new features.
You can visualize nearly every indicator of economic, social and human development on StatPlanet World Bank, the winner of World Bank’s ambitious developer contest launched last October challenging new uses of the World Bank API. After voting from distinguished judges and the public, the organization announced the top three apps at an event in Washington, D.C., this afternoon.
The FCC is leading by example with its beta release of the FCC.gov website on Monday. In this latest version of the site, the FCC has worked hard to follow Web 2.0 principles, most notably building the entire website on top of RESTful APIs. “Everything should be an API”, FCC managing director Steve Van Roekel said during the press briefing, according to O’Reilly’s report.
The winners of NYC BigApps 2.0 competion have been announced. In one of the largest open government initiatives of its kind, the competition provided developers with access to over 350 sets of official New York City data and asked them to build applications on top of that. The public round of voting commenced in February, to choose from 58 applications that spanned mobile, web and SMS Apps that targeting various NYC public data sets.
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