State & Local Government Policy, Business and Technology

White House Helps Cities, Residents Improve Quality of Life by Opening Data, Offering Digital Services

Government Technology: On March 7, the White House released a trove of open datasets and tools to cultivate job growth, transportation, education and affordable housing under an initiative it calls the Opportunity Project.

At a morning press conference, U.S. CTO Megan Smith unveiled the project, saying it is meant to promote economic mobility using modern digital services and data that helps cities and residents enhance their quality of life. The vision, she said, was to create a joint platform with local communities, businesses, technologists and other groups to help residents prosper. The initiative drew support from variety of cities and tech companies that worked with the White House to create 12 different Web apps on the Opportunity Project’s site, at Opportunity.census.gov.

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