Each year, the government spends tens of millions of dollars on every one of its web projects. Figures from USASpending.gov show that at least $16 million was spent on the Content Management System behind WhiteHouse.gov, and recently, a vendor was awarded a multi-year, multimilion dollar contract to develop Recovery.gov.
If you're an open source developer, your first reaction to these figures may well be "That is outrageous!" And then, the next thing you'll probably be thinking is "Can I have a piece of that?" The obvious answer to that question is 'no'. But Sunlight Labs is working to make it possible.
The company has been beating the drum for an open government -- a government that makes its data publicly accessible and fosters open source application development around it. According to Clay Johnson, the Director of Sunlight Labs, open data plus open source makes an open government.
Recently, the government announced the launch of data.gov, a web-based, user-friendly interface to the government's datasets, for access by the general public. Soon after, Sunlight Labs announced Apps for America 2: The Data.gov Challenge, a contest inviting open source developers to build applications around data.gov. The contest carries cash awards for the winners, who will be flown to Washington DC for a formal investiture at the Gov 2.0 Expo Show Case next summer.
Clay believes that when the government makes its data available, it makes itself more accountable and creates more trust and opportunity in its actions. The open source community has a strategic role to play in making the open government possible. Its participation will not only create transparent processes but will save the government tens of millions of dollars.
If you're a developer, and you'd like to join the bandwagon, Clay encourages you to sign up for their hackathon.
Clay Johnson is Director of Sunlight Labs. Prior to joining Sunlight, Clay was one of the four founders of Blue State Digital, the progressive left’s premier technology and online strategy firm. This firm, which was born out of the Howard Dean campaign, was also responsible for Barack Obama’s Web presence. At Blue State Digital, Clay was responsible for developing the organization’s brand and building its initial client roster. He also had a hand at building some of the company’s early technical tools. Before joining Blue State, Johnson was the lead programmer for Dean for America in 2004, overseeing the development of grassroots tools like GetLocal, DeanLink and Project Commons. Prior to entering politics, Johnson was a technologist at Ask Jeeves (now Ask.com) where he helped to develop the company’s Web syndication product. He also started the first Internet Knowledge Exchange, KnowPost.com, and worked as an entrepreneur-in-residence at a Venture Capital firm, but still claims that he learned the most from his first job—as a waiter at Waffle House in Atlanta, Georgia.
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