Unlocking Government – How Data Transforms Democracy (New Research)

My collegue, author and former public servant Bill Eggers, has just completed some great new research that helps illustrate the evolution of government from a data publisher to a development platform for generating maximum public value.

You can view the 44 page report here: http://bit.ly/c1AdGh Click on “Unlocking Government” for the report and a series of videos from Bill regarding some key findings. Would love any feedback.

From the report:
Four benefits of embracing openness

1) Better inform the public — Many citizen-led organizations, primarily nonprofits, are designing applications that individuals can use to access and manipulate government data.

2) Enhance accountability — One important category of government-designed applications focuses on accountability. Drawing from data on government spending and program performance, these applications let constituents see how the government is using taxpayers’ money and how well it is living up to its promises.

3) Strengthen communities — Public data sources can also be used to provide information on many different aspects of a community or other jurisdiction – demographics, criminal activity, real estate values, transportation resources, natural features, public health and a great deal more.

4) Facilitate markets — Governments collect vast volumes of information on businesses
and nonprofit organizations that they track or regulate in some fashion. These data can help constituents make decisions about where to obtain products and services. Providing open access
to performance data – outcomes at hospitals, results of health inspections at restaurants, airlines’ on-time performance, school districts’ achievement scores and the like – also spurs service providers to perform better and compete harder.