San Francisco mayor Gavin Newsom issued an executive order last year asking city departments to publish data under their control.
Since then, hundreds of sets of data have been released. And the bounty is feeding creativity among app designers.
Fast Company reports that at least 50 new apps have been built using the open data, including “EcoFinder, a recycling-center locator, SpotCrime, which sends local crime alerts to users, and Routesy, which plans public-transportation trips.
Yesterday, (coincidentally in the midst of a Google-Facebook openness smack-down) San Francisco became the first city to push that order into law. The city’s CIO, Chris Vein, said entrepreneurs are the beneficiaries of the openness: “It’s a platform for small business growth.”
Photo by ecofinderapp.com.