The Information Commons in Library West

FIRST PRIZE = $10,000!!!

Programming savvy??  Bored and need something to keep you busy this summer before the Fall semester begins??

Why not create a client or web based application, or an application that uses the Adobe AIR platform, iPhone apps, Java applications (or whatever other kind of platform you’d like to write it in) to help users gain easy access to data from Data.gov!

About Apps for America:

Apps for America is a special contest to celebrate the release of Data.gov! They’re doing it alongside Google, O’Reilly Media, and TechWeb and the winners will be announced at the Gov 2.0 Expo Showcase in Washington, DC at the end of the Summer.

Why They’re Holding This Contest:

Just as the federal government begins to provide data in Web developer-friendly formats, they’re organizing Apps for America 2: The Data.gov Challenge to demonstrate that when government makes data available, it makes itself more accountable and creates more trust and opportunity in its actions.

The contest submissions will also show the creativity of developers in designing compelling applications that provide easy access and understanding for the public, while also showing how open data can save the government tens of millions of dollars by engaging the development community in application development at far cheaper rates than traditional government contractors.

See the Apps for America Contest Website for Contest Rules and more details.  HURRY! SUBMISSION DEADLINE IS AUGUST 07, 2009!

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Just Launched Today - Data.gov

Earlier today, the federal government launched Data.gov.   This new site was created to allow users to search large data sets of government information.

from the home page:

The purpose of Data.gov is to increase public access to high value, machine readable datasets generated by the Executive Branch of the Federal Government. Although the initial launch of Data.gov provides a limited portion of the rich variety of Federal datasets presently available, we invite you to actively participate in shaping the future of Data.gov by suggesting additional datasets and site enhancements to provide seamless access and use of your Federal data. Visit today with us, but come back often. With your help, Data.gov will continue to grow and change in the weeks, months, and years ahead.

Currently the site is in Beta with only a few data sets to experiment but that will change quickly as they continue to load new sets daily.    Give it a whirl here:  http://www.data.gov/

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White House Continues to go 2.0

On Friday (05/01/09), the White House added three more social networking accounts to it’s bag of web 2.o tools: MySpace, Facebook and Twitter.

You can also follow the Official White House Photostream on Flickr, where official White House photos “are being made available for publication by news organizations and/or for personal use printing by the subject(s) of the photographs.” 

The White House has also sported an official White House Blog as well as an official YouTube page since January 20, 2009, and as of this blog post, their YouTube channel has over 47,000 subscribers and over 1.1 million channel views.

Thanks to Dr. Dilger for the White House Flickr reminder.

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