Libraries are magical places! Growing up, the local library was my favorite place to go. I loved the silence, the endless possibilities of good books, and the feeling of pure escape. But lately, libraries have transformed into so much more than just a book repository. Brian Burke, Managing Director at the Center for Technology inRead… Read more »
…when coupled with the word “data”, “dark” is anything BUT sinister…
If you’re a government geek (like me) you love to see how federal, state, and local governments set their budget priorities. And (like me) you probably get even more excited when you can see those priorities linked to revenue and spending in an easy-to-find, read, and understand format. Below, I’ve shared some of the bestRead… Read more »
Back in elementary school you learned via School House Rock how a bill becomes a law. But in the catchy song, they don’t tell you a law could be changed – or amended. The Data Act became law back in May of 2014, but just like any new law there are still some kinks toRead… Read more »
In February, the Commence Department opened the Office of Digital Engagement. The idea was simple. Create an office where users can interact with the department on any communication channel. Twitter? Of course. Facebook? You bet. Even Instagram. “This year we put our Secretary on Instagram. She was the first cabinet member to be on Instagram,”Read… Read more »
2014 may very well go down as the year of open data. The federal government passed the Open Data Act back in May. Major cities like Los Angeles and Philadelphia hired Chief Data Officers. And many states like Maryland and New York followed suit. But the push for governments to open data sets does haveRead… Read more »
Open Data initiatives should be based on technologies that can collect and cleanse data in a standardized manner so that it can be leveraged quickly and effectively.
All words ever spoken by human beings = 5 Exabytes of data. 1000 Exabytes = 1 Zetabyte. Current world data = 7.9 Zetabytes. Ponder that for a second. Data on such a vast scale is hard to fathom. Especially as it growing exponentially, estimated to reach a dumbfounding 40 Zetabytes by 2022. A much simplerRead… Read more »
Once upon a time, there was a young girl living in Fairfax County, yearning to go to school. She wanted nothing but to attend the best school in the safest neighborhood with a good police force. But the problem was that she had no way of figuring out which schools were in which areas. InRead… Read more »
It’s common knowledge that sometimes the sheer size of state and local government can make it hard to track how resources are being used. And it’s not surprising that taxpayers want to know exactly how their hard-earned money is being spent. A 2011 Gallup poll that found that American taxpayers believe that state governments waste 42Read… Read more »