NEW: Help Launch the Open Data 500 - Open Data Now

"Since the end of June, I’ve been fortunate to work as a senior advisor to the Governance Lab, or GovLab, based at NYU’s Wagner School of Public Service. Founded and directed by Beth Noveck (who I recently interviewed for this website), the GovLab is dedicated to changing the way we govern to help improve people’s lives. It’s a visionary program about using technology, expert networks, citizen participation, and other tools, including Open Data, to help make governments more truly democratic and effective. Now the GovLab is launching a new project, the Open Data 500, which I will be directing over the next several months. This groundbreaking effort will be the first comprehensive study of U.S.-based companies using government Open Data to develop new products and services. Beyond creating a census of Open Data companies, the Open Data 500 will survey these companies to see how they use government data and how they believe that data can be made more useful and effective. We hope the Open Data 500 will be a landmark study that fosters a new, productive conversation between government and business about Open Data as a major national asset ..."