Relatively speaking, government data for New York City is accessible. And the 311 service is stellar (even though I wish all of that info were available online instead of via phone). Hopefully next up:
The latest sign: a new bill making its rounds in the City Council that would create unprecedented open data standards for New York City government.
The bill, which is being spearheaded by Gale Brewer, who chairs the Council’s Technology in Government Committee, is up for a public hearing on June 29. It would compile all of the city’s public data on a single Web site, like data.nyc.gov, as well as making the data available in a raw, machine-readable format so that programmers could develop useful online and mobile applications out of it.
Having machine-readable data on an easily accessible website is key to allowing third parties make use of that information in new and innovative ways. And it doesn’t hurt to have all the data in a place where sunlight can get to it–it’s famously referred to as the world’s best disinfectant.
Let’s hope Bloomberg supports the bill.
Open-Government Techies Get Giddy About a Council Bill; But Will Bloomberg Care? - Politicker
wow, this sounds like a really great idea! and reminds me an awful lot of Apple’s support of third-party apps for the iPhone…they provide the platform, you provide the expertise and the program.