Thanks to an awesome article by our friends at the Washington Post I’m instantly feeling amazing about Gov2.0 and it’s possibilities.Maybe the best part of the article for me is that the words Gov 2.0 don’t show up anywhere. That might sound weird but just because people aren’t calling Gov 2.0 doesn’t mean that it’s not Gov 2.0 and that it’s not happening right now!
An in depth piece by Lyndsey Layton set out to tackle how a year old law by the government is changing the food industry but at the same time she answered how technology is changing government for citizens. Here’s a link to her story:
Traceability Rule Represents Big Adjustment For Food Industry
The story focuses on this law:
A provision of the federal food safety law passed last year requires that all players in the country’s food supply chain be able to quickly trace from whom they received a food product and to whom they sent it. They’ll have to maintain that information in digital form, creating deep wells of information.
First off that’s awesome that the government is requiring the open data but often times the biggest gripe about Gov2.0 is that people don’t use the data. Well in this story that is definitely not the case.
But the new law has triggered a small gold rush for technology companies angling for a piece of an emerging market, which covers food other than meat, poultry and egg products. They are competing to develop the tracking technology and manage the data.
Some are experimenting with radio frequency identification and other sophisticated methods, including etching identification codes on produce with lasers or micro-percussion markers that make tiny indents.
One of the companies using the FDA required data is HarvestMark (great find by Lyndsey) and reading her story a quote from the HarvestMark people really rang true:
“There’s been a very rapid sea change in consumer behavior,” said Elliott Grant, the chief marketing officer for HarvestMark. “With very high-profile food recalls, cellphones and iPhones, people have been trained that they can access information very quickly. They want to know, ‘Where does this come from and is it safe? How far has it traveled? What are the growing practices?’ “
People want to know. They might not call it Gov 2.0, they might not be on GovLoop but that doesn’t mean they don’t want Open Data.
Anyways Lyndsey’s story has WAY MORE details and an awesomeness then the few excerpts so read it and feel better about Gov 2.0!
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“Daily Dose of the Washington Post” is a blog series created by GovLoop in partnership with The Washington Post. If you see great stories in the Post and want to ask a question around it, please send them to[email protected].Previous Daily Dose Posts:
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