Open Data Now: The Secret to Hot Startups, Smart Investing, Savvy Marketing, and Fast Innovation

CHAPTER FOUR

New Companies to Manage the Data Deluge

FOR THE LAST FEW YEARS, THERE’S BEEN A GROWING MOVEMENT in Washington to make federal spending more transparent to the public. The focal point of the movement is the DATA Act, a not-quite-perfect acronym that stands for the Data Accessibility and Transparency Act . . . Act. It’s a key Open Data initiative that would improve government accountability and change how we track the country’s finances. It’s had strong bipartisan sponsorship in the House and Senate and has attracted support from both consumer advocate Ralph Nader and antitax zealot Grover Norquist. Equally noteworthy, it’s attracted strong support from a coalition of technology companies that was formed to push for its passage.