Government data firm Socrata acquired by public-sector software giant Tyler Technologies

"Tyler Technologies, a leading vendor of integrated software and technology products to public-sector customers, is buying Socrata, a Seattle firm that develops open data platforms for governments, the companies announced Wednesday. Once the acquisition closes April 30, Socrata will become Tyler's new Data and Insights division, said Saf Rabah, Socrata's chief marketing and product officer. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Socrata has raised about $55 million in venture capital since its founding 11 years ago, while Tyler, founded in 1966 in Plano, Texas, is publicly traded. The deal, Rabah said, will allow Socrata to scale up the number of governments and agencies that uses its open-data platforms.  The company has also created public-facing websites such as one last year that collected data from the Federal Emergency Management Agency to map emergency shelters during a violent hurricane season that battered southeastern states, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and Puerto Rico...."