_posts/2016-06-02-open-data-democratizes-innovation.md
---
title: "Open data democratizes innovation"
date: 2016-06-02
authors:
- robin-thottungal
- kris-rowley
tags:
- open data
- data access
excerpt: "Thanks to the President’s Executive Order requiring that agencies make data open, we are democratizing access to data. Open data has empowered citizens to track trends and make informed personal decisions. And increasingly, American citizens are using government data to drive action and solve problems in their communities."
description: "Thanks to the President’s Executive Order requiring that agencies make data open, we are democratizing access to data. Open data has empowered citizens to track trends and make informed personal decisions. And increasingly, American citizens are using government data to drive action and solve problems in their communities."
image:
---
Data is one of our most important national assets. It informs our policy
and our national priorities. But as we have seen time and time again,
the most effective way to govern is to engage with the public directly.
Thanks to the [President’s Executive
Order](https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/the-press-office/2013/05/09/executive-order-making-open-and-machine-readable-new-default-government-) requiring
that agencies make data open, we are democratizing access to data. The
federal government’s open data site, [data.gov](https://www.data.gov/),
provides access to nearly 200,000 datasets, making it easy to search,
understand, and share government data.
Broadening access to data has already had extraordinary benefits. Open
data has empowered citizens to track trends and make informed personal
decisions. And increasingly, American citizens are using government data
to drive action and solve problems in their communities.
It has also opened new possibilities for the government. With open and
available datasets, federal agencies can solicit the public to help
solve some of the nation’s most challenging problems. And during the
past year, we have seen more and more crowd-sourced solutions to some of
the most pressing mission-centric challenges.
These are technological tools created by the people, for the people.
Spotlight: Citizens innovate technology for food resilience in a changing climate
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
One way that federal agencies have asked citizens to innovate solutions
is through crowdsourcing competitions, which are posted on
[challenge.gov](https://www.challenge.gov/list/). Recently, the U.S.
Department of Agriculture (USDA) partnered with Microsoft to challenge
Americans to develop a more sustainable, competitive, and healthy U.S.
food system using open data about crop prices, climate patterns, and
trends in our food supply.
This innovation challenge spurred competitors to create more than 30
free apps and tools for farmers and policy makers. The grand prize
winner released [FarmPlenty Local Crop
Trends](http://farmplenty.com/croptrends/), an interactive website that
helps farmers to identify the best crops by browsing nearby crops,
trends and prices.
Spotlight: Tech savvy Americans hack new tools for earth day
------------------------------------------------------------
Federal agencies also harness the creativity and technical ability of
American citizens by hosting hackathons, or collaborative computer
programming events. On Earth Day, the General Services Administration
(GSA) invited the public to code solutions to environmental challenges.
Within one high-energy day, teams of citizens developed three working
prototypes that transformed ideas into reality.
The winning team developed an ultraviolet (UV) radiation widget for
weather apps. By integrating open data from the Environmental Protection
Agency into existing mobile apps, beach-goers are alerted when they are
exposed to high amounts of ultraviolet (UV) radiation, a major risk
factor for most skin cancers.
Spotlight: New collaborations reveal trends in big datasets
-----------------------------------------------------------
During another hackathon, the U.S. Agency for International Development
(USAID) invited the public to shine a light on crime and violence in
Latin America. This challenge attracted more than 100 people to create
eight new projects. These projects provide insights by connecting open
data in a novel way and using software that continuously updates results
in real time through APIs, or Application Program Interfaces.
The winning project externalized perceptions of crime and violence in
Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras through powerful [data
visualizations](http://hpp-gt.org/LACHack/). Another project [mapped
trends](http://consulting.vizonomy.com/consulting/projects/hackathon/hackathon.png)
of crime and violence across the region using tweets that mention key
words. Imagine how these analyses can advance policing and prevent
injustices.
Here’s how you can get involved!
---------------------------------
We both agree that data science is a team sport. Thank you to everyone
who has shared their talents and ideas through innovation challenges and
hackathons. Your help has been invaluable as we continue combining
government expertise with private-sector technological capabilities.
As we have learned, America is home to many technologically creative
innovators. Now, we are calling for citizens to get even more involved.
On June 4, we invite you to participate in the [National Day of
Civic Hacking](https://www.codeforamerica.org/events/national-day-2016).
Code for America, Secondmuse, and the U.S. Small Business Administration
(SBA) will provide support to developers, government
employees, designers, journalists, data scientists, and citizens for
events across the country. Share your ideas for National Day of Civic
Hacking using
[#hackforchange](https://twitter.com/search?q=%23hackforchange&src=typd)
and sign up for an event near you.
There are millions of stories to tell about America. Citizens engaging
with public data will allow us to tell those stories and make a real
difference in people’s lives.