As part of a major effort to "make key services easily accessible to more Americans than ever", the Obama administration announced today a sweeping directive to make large amounts of government data accessible both to the public and developers over the internet in a "device-agnostic" form, with the intention of fostering the development of both public and private mobile apps for accessing government services. The administration specifically tasked every federal agency--and remember, there are hundreds--with the job of making two of its key services available in app form within a year.
Today's release specifically cited the example of San Francisco, where public transportation data being made readily available and app-friendly has resulted in more than ten citizen-developed apps for navigating the city's public transit system.
Here in Pittsburgh, the Port Authority is a privately held organization--and handing out schedules isn't even in their top ten list of big problems at the moment--so I guess I'll have to wait for that kind of bold new direction in my own life.
But hey, at least they're trying.
No comments:
Post a Comment