Government Technology

It’s not just that the kitchen’s on fire. The alarm system doesn’t work either.

The case for a chief data officer is simple: Such a person can offer governments small, medium and large the power to radically improve what they do.

State officials — based on experience with software problems — negotiated a contract stating they don’t have to pay Xerox until the $70 million program is finished and working.

The Montana Fish and Wildlife Commission is expected to approve regulations Thursday that allow people to go online for permits to salvage for food the animals they hit and kill within 24 hours of the fender-bender.

For any local government interested simply in engaging more people, there is plenty to learn.

The damage done by the shutdown extends far beyond the open data community, of course, and in many cases its repercussions are far more severe.

Denver Water has harnessed the power of machine data to find potential system errors and fix them before users even realize something is amiss.

"Individuals have the capacities of states. They have the capacities of big corporations now. The power is being decentralized to the individual," he said. "This idea of leadership, it’s not about a leader; it’s about leaders."

The 284-page document includes data on all operations under the mayor’s office, from public safety and economy to education and sanitation. Here are some highlights from the report, all based on fiscal year data.

The idea is that with easier access to the information, regular folks will build their own tools and analysis.