Data.gov has been publishing United States Federal Government data since 2009. Their mission is to increase public access to over 125,000 datasets they have already published and many others they are still collecting and indexing. In the years since its launch, the platform has stimulated creativity through civic hackers, technology companies, educators, and many others.
To expand the impact and remove any remaining barriers to using open data, Data.gov now allows you to make your own map from the data in a single click with an “Open in CartoDB” button on every supported dataset. This is a huge addition to the accessibility of open data because now making and exploring a map from data takes no expertise at all. On top of that, you can do it for free.
We hope that Data.gov is the first among many data publishers to support this killer feature. Allowing people to leverage the power of maps, filter and explore data, and publish or embed maps on their own sites will only add greater awareness to the topics addressed on the site. Check out some sample datasets in these sectors to explore the possibilities:
- Transportation
- Agriculture
- Housing + Urban Development
- Economic + Consumer Interest
- Education
- Health
- Animal Rights
- Public Safety
- Science and Research
Try it out today and discover how easy open data can be. Congratulations to Data.gov for taking this amazing step toward easier to access open data.