Earlier today, President Obama signed an Executive Order directing his administration to take historic steps to make government-held data more accessible to the public and to entrepreneurs and others as fuel for innovation and economic growth.  The White House drafted and released the official Open Data Policy of the United States on GitHub! The Presidential Memorandum calls for the creation of Project Open Data, with the goal of making government data "available, discoverable, and usable – in a word, open".

  • The Executive Order declares that information is a valuable resource and strategic asset for the nation.
     
  • Newly generated government data will be required to be made available in open, machine-readable format by default -- enhancing their accessibility and usefulness, and ensuring privacy and security.
     
  • These executive actions will allow entrepreneurs and companies to take advantage of this information -- fueling economic growth in communities across the Nation.

    • Read the Executive Order (EO) on open data
    Read the new Open Data Policy

    Thanks to US Chief Technology Officer Todd Park for getting this done, and for letting science media know.