White House official urges IT leaders to join open data efforts

White House technology policy adviser Kristen Honey urged government and industry IT leaders to support the open data movement and showcase their work at two upcoming data innovation events.

Speaking Wednesday to a standing-room-only audience at the annual Data Innovation Summit in Washington, Honey highlighted a number of the administration’s open data initiatives, dating back to 2009, that are leading to innovative advances in medicine, agriculture, energy, transportation and education.

“Data science is a team sport, but innovation is an even bigger team sport,” she said at the forum, which was presented by Mark Logic and produced by FedScoop.

She cited how the administration’s Project Open Data initiative, and other open government directives, including a May 2013 Executive Order, have led to tools that help families better evaluate the return on college investments or find fair housing options, and to a White House Police Data Initiative.

But Honey, a senior policy adviser in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, also encouraged the audience to get involved in the open data movement and participate in two events promoting innovative uses of government data.

The first is the National Day of Civic Hacking on June 4, organized by Code for America, NASA and Secondmuse. The program, now in its fourth year, provides developers, government employees, data scientists, app designers and community leaders with an organizing platform to host local “civic tech” events designed to develop applications that make use of public data.

“You can host your own event,” and join hundreds like it across the country focused on everything from “the Zika virus, affordable housing, streamlining processes for small businesses, or connecting people with jobs,” said Honey, “So if you have an idea, this is a great opportunity.”

The second event is a new White House sponsored Open Datapalooza, which she announced would take place September 28 in Washington.

Patterned after the Health Datapalooza launched in 2010 by Todd Park, then CTO of the Department of Health and Human Services and now in its seventh year, this new Datapalooza will be unique, said Honey.

“This will be the best of the best,” bringing together the most successful examples of how government data have been turned into commercial applications across all sectors, including energy, safety, transportation, as well as healthcare.