Since it’s launch a year ago, Data.gov, which has a mandate to globally democratize data, has undergone a makeover. There are new opportunities to interact with the data as well as new feature such as usage statistics and apps featuring crime statistics by neighborhood to the best towns to find a job to seeing the environmental health of your community.
“Launched in May 2009 with 47 datasets, Data.gov has been continually expanded since the inception of the Open Government Directive (OGD). Under the OGD, published Dec. 8, 2009, executive branch agencies had 45 days to release at least three “high-value” datasets on their websites and register them with Data.gov. These datasets were to be information “not previously available online or in a downloadable format” and were to be published “online in an open format.” On the deadline, the website held about 300 datasets in total but now boasts of a library containing more than 270,000 sets.” — OMB Watch
Some of the most viewed datasets include:
- Worldwide M1+ Earthquakes, Past 7 Days
- U.S. Overseas Loans and Grants (Greenbook)
- MyPyramid Food Raw Data
- Latest Volumes of Foreign Relations of the US
- OSHA Data Initiative – Establishment…
Both OMB Watch and Free Government Information have interesting posts.