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Data.gov is a U.S. government website launched in late May 2009 by the then Federal Chief Information Officer (CIO) of the United States, Vivek Kundra.
Contents
Data.gov aims to improve public access to high value, machine readable datasets generated by the Executive Branch of the Federal Government."
The site is a repository for federal government information, made available to the public.
History and background
On March 5, 2009, shortly after his appointment as the first Federal Chief Information Officer, Vivek Kundra announced the creation of Data.gov. The website is managed and hosted by the U.S. General Services Administration, Office of Citizen Services and Innovative Technologies.
The site introduced the philosophy of digital Open data to the U.S. federal government, an approach which the book Democratizing Data states will have benefits including "rebuilding confidence in government and business".
Data.gov has grown from 47 datasets at launch to over 180,000. Jeanne Holm, Chief Knowledge Architect at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory and head of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Knowledge Management team, was previously the Communications and Collaborations Lead for Data.gov, James Hendler, an Artificial intelligence researcher at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, was at the time named the "Internet Web Expert" and tasked with helping Data.gov exploit advanced Web technologies
Open Government Directive
The U.S. Open Government Directive of December 8, 2009, requires that all agencies post at least three high-value data sets online and register them on data.gov within 45 days.
Apps
There are several apps that use data from data.gov, a list can be seen at data.gov/applications.