Todd Park

Fact Checking EnergyData.gov: Claims Come Up Short

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After my recent SafetyData.gov review, (“Long On Text, Short On Data Tables”), I was resolved to review the new Energy Data.gov Beta Web Site and check some of the claims presented at the White House’s Energy Datapalooza held earlier this month.

I decided the best place to start was the Energy Datapalooza fact sheet because it did not contain any links to actual energy data. Energy Data.gov says “data and insight are combined to facilitate public discussion and awareness of our Nation’s energy activities.”

So I tried to match the facts to the substance using a knowledge base found elsewhere. Here’s what the fact sheet contained – and what I found:

Administration Announcements

  • New Application Programming Interfaces (APIs): 4 – (My comment: I only found three in the Presidential Innovation Fellows Blog and they were not APIs – see below.)
  • New Data for Entrepreneurs and Innovators: 2 – (My comment: Energy.Data.Gov with more than 900 data sets – not really – see below, and 20 new datasets from DOE – actually only 19 that require closer inspection.)
  • New Events and Challenges: 2 – (My comment: At Apps for Energy there are 9 winners from 56 submissions with no new challenges.)
  • New Green Button Integration – (My question: Where do I find how to do this? See below for the work it requires.)
Private Sector Committments Keep reading →

 /  Published October 12, 2012 at 7:30 AM

White House Spotlights Energy Data Tools To Help Drive Innovation

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White House officials brought together dozens of senior government leaders and private sector entrepreneurs Monday, including Energy Secretary Dr. Steven Chu, to demonstrate how energy data is fueling new products and services aimed at promoting greater energy efficiency in America.

The “Energy Datapalooza“was the latest in a series of White House-sponsored events designed to showcase innovative applications using government data – this one focused on the energy sector – hosted by Federal Chief Technology Officer Todd Park. Keep reading →

 /  Published October 1, 2012 at 6:02 PM

SafetyData.gov Review: Long On Text, Short On Data Tables

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“The liberation of government datasets is important in itself, but data are truly powerful when used in the development of informative apps.” So proclaimed Todd Park, Brian Forde and Jo Strang in a recent White House Blog, Safety Data Jam connects Tech Innovators with Public Safety Officers.


That safety jam was part of a broader initiative to challenge developers featuring new Data.gov Safety “data sets” that gained fresh exposure this month at the White House’s Safety Datapalooza.

I took a deeper look to see what innovation with government data is possible.

Keep reading →

 /  Published September 26, 2012 at 7:00 AM

Safety Data Spurs Potentially Life-Saving Innovation

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Federal professionals have uncovered crucial terabytes of data that are now serving as the latest tool for entrepreneurs to create innovative mobile apps aimed at improving safety amid America’s streets, highways, railroads and consumer products.

Safety professionals across government “all want to set our data free,” said Jo Strang, the community leader for safety.data.gov, and the chief safety officer for the Federal Railroad Administration. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 20, 2012 at 7:00 AM

White House Showcases Cool Tools For Public Safety

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It’s not easy following Todd Park, the federal government’s chief technology officer, and his breathless on-stage enthusiasm for promoting technical innovation in government and the virtues of collaboration.

Park clearly found an avid proponent, however, in Seth Harris, U.S. Deputy Secretary of Labor, who made a persuasive case last week in describing the inherent logic for government and the private sector to work jointly in turning information into useful tools for the American public and the U.S. economy. Keep reading →

 /  Published September 17, 2012 at 2:00 PM

Message To Innovation Fellows: Don’t Reinvent The Wheel

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There has been a lot of activity from the Obama Administration this week in the name of innovation and best practices.

There was a double-post on the White House Blog by Federal CTO Todd Park and the Federal CIO Steve VanRoekel about two new initiatives that would seem to be related, but it is not clear how. The first was a prelude to White House’s Plans To Announce Presidential Innovation Fellows and the second was from VanRoekel touting the progress of the Digital Strategy Progress. The latter featured the use of the term “building blocks.” Keep reading →

 /  Published August 24, 2012 at 10:30 AM

White House Names 18 Presidential Innovation Fellows.

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OPM Director John Berry administers oath to inaugural members of Presidential Innovation Fellows program following introduction by Federal CTO Todd Park and CIO Steve VanRoekel.

The White House introduced 18 incoming members of the Presidential Innovation Fellows at a ceremony in Washington on Thursday who will work as volunteers on five projects with innovators from within the federal government. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 24, 2012 at 8:45 AM

White House To Announce Presidential Innovation Fellows

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The White House announced it plans to introduce the inaugural members of its Presidential Innovation Fellows program in a ceremony Aug. 23, at 10 a.m. (EDT) that will be streamed live on WhiteHouse.gov/live.

“This new initiative is bringing in top innovators from outside government to work with top innovators inside government to create real and substantial changes that will in a very short time frame benefit the American people, save taxpayers money, and help create new jobs,” said U.S. Chief Technology Officer, Todd Park. Keep reading →

 /  Published August 21, 2012 at 4:05 PM

Officials Explore New Ways To Mine Global Government Data

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Government officials and information specialists from more than 50 countries wrapped up a week long conference in Washington this week to try to answer a simple question: How to unlock the value of government data to improve the lives citizens in developed as well as less developed nations.

The answer, it turns out, is a lot more complex. Keep reading →

 /  Published July 13, 2012 at 4:30 PM

Sebelius, Park Should Show More Proof Of Health Datapalooza Claims

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Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius and US Chief Technology Officer Todd Park co-authored a White House blog this week about the high-points of the recent Health Datapalooza, touting a number of accomplishments. And certainly, they deserve credit for trying to unleash the forces of innovation on a bureaucracy as big as HHS.

However, looking more deeply into some of the high points mentioned in the blog, one discovers not everything is as self-evident or available to data users as it might appear. For example, they touted the following: Keep reading →

 /  Published June 22, 2012 at 10:01 AM
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