White House highlights cities, announces plans to lift communities with open data

The Obama administration Monday unveiled a new open data portal that melds tools from various federal and local government agencies to help communities find ways to improve their residents' lives.

The Opportunity Project is "grounded in the president’s background as a community organizer," said Aden van Noppen, a special adviser within the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy, adding it was a form of "participatory development" based on the principle that "people are experts on their own lives."

The project, which is hosted by the Census Bureau at opportunity.census.gov, combines data from the Department of Housing and Urban Development, the White House’s Office of Management and Budget, the Department of Agriculture, and other agencies to give communities information on jobs, housing, transportation, schools and other neighborhood amenities. Continue…

———————