This new web site is designed to improve transparency in government, increase access to City data, and engage our highly skilled workforce to create apps from that data.
What a cool idea, I especially like the fact that they allow citizens to use the data to make their own apps. In case you are a little lost here, apps are small programs used by smart phones like the I-phone and Droid.
But wait it gets better
After the kick off there was a discussion about next steps for Gov 2.0 in San Francisco with Tim O’Reilly, Matt Mullenweg and other technology innovators. One idea was to create a City App Store to highlight and centralize programs created from City data. This has worked for Apple and Facebook, at last check; there are 60,000 apps available in the Apple App store and more than 350,000 different Facebook apps. Why not create a government app store as well?So the city launched the DataSF App Showcase. It has all kinds of Apps, from finding out where to recycle things, health inspection ratings for restaurants, Mom Maps that help you find kid friendly places in San Francisco, and an app that helps you find parking. Some of the apps are available on Itunes, so you could put them on your Ipod as well. You can also use them from a blackberry or a plain old fashioned computer. Some of the apps have a small charge for download ($0.99 to $3.99).
I think this would be a great idea for San Antonio, especially with all the tourists walking around lost out there. If you like this idea, share it!
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