New York City Sees Its Future as a Data Platform
This action is admirable. It shows foresight and courage, in the face of what will almost inevitably be peppered with false starts and mistakes.
The ‘data driven’ enterprise may be forthcoming, but it will be (in most cases) developed and consumed in private by the enterprise itself.
The ‘visible city’ - the ‘data driven’ metropolis - is something quite different. It has the potential to identify any number of inequities and inefficiencies in a transparent manner. Making open the data from both government, NGO and private organizations offers up the possibility of a truly informed citizenry.
It also has the possibility of verifying and enhancing those processes and programs that actually work to make life better for those whose lives are affected by the ‘visible city.’
In a presentation at the Activate conference on Thursday, put on by The Guardian newspaper at the Paley Center for Media, Sterne said New York City is trying hard to turn the city’s government into a platform that enables both developers and individuals to take data about life in the metropolis and use it to create apps, services and other resources. “We need to help create an ecosystem that enables both transparency and also economic growth,” Sterne said.
