Web 2.0: Public Sector Data Mash-Ups

Web 2.0 technology combined with publicly accessible data sources powered by Web Services have created a new category of applications called mash-ups.  Mash-up applications driven by APIs available from companies like Google and Yahoo! especially those that incorporate visual mapping have become popular. 

Web Services are becoming the preferred way to make data easily publicly available.  To support Web Services, companies like StrikeIron have become Web Service data brokers.  Other companies, like Salesforce.com’s AppExchange, provide Web-Service-based infrastructures or “ecosystems” that allow easy data exchange between applications.

But what about public sector / government data?  Examples aren’t too common.  RSS data feeds and Web Services serving up government data are still scarce.  One successful example is ChicagoCrime.org which mashes up Google Maps with the Chicago city’s crime database.  The interface allows you to search crimes by route, ward, street, police beat and other parameters.

e-Government mash-ups have the potential for disseminating information and data to members of both civilian and government authorities and getting citizens more involved in government.

What kind of information could be made available?  For example:
– Regional Economic Strategies
– Legislator voting record
– Local Planning Information
– Consultation and Policy Documents
– Health and Safety Guidance
– Statuatory registrations:  births, deaths, marriages, land titles
– Statistics  (Census, etc…)
– Mapping Data
– Meteorlogical Data
– Agency Reports

The advantages of making this kind of information available include greater transparency of government, easier searching of public sector documents, and sharing of best practices between the commecial and public sector.

It’s probably more likely that Web Services might first be used to share information between interagencies.  There’s some indication that the government is moving in that direction. 

Another example within the government where Web Services are being explored is the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA).  DISA compared a simple custom application they had developed in house, deploying $30,000 of in-house servers and software to support.  In an experiment, DISA built the same application and deployed using the “Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud“, Amazon.com’s Web Service platform for a total cost of $5.

Air Force Lt. General Charles Croom, DISA’s director, said that by adopting SOA and Web Services that they could revolutionize how their agency supports their DoD users worldwide.  He plans to stay away from monolithic, highly customized systems and rely on a Web Services-based infrastructure.  Some of the military applications they are rolling out now are mash-ups that even incorporate the use of Google maps.