

When Geeks get Political: Geeks on a Plane in DC - jeffiel
http://www.techcrunch.com/2009/09/22/geeksonaplane-gets-political-in-dc/

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PowderAlarm
As a federal government employee, I think our best hope is to just release as
much data as possible and let the private sector come up with innovative
solutions to give to the citizens. <http://sunlightlabs.com/> have the right
idea.

A lot of projects and initiatives we are beginning to see is to make
information easier to consume for computer systems to access government data
(labor, financial, law) through data formats like XML, JSON, RDF, etc.

These have all been initiatives going on before the Obama administration. With
the downturn in the private sector, entrepreneurs are looking to capitalize.

My big point is the best way to do this is outside of the government. Don't go
looking for a government contract or get on the GSA Schedule, you will become
just another government contractor and won't own the finished product. Get the
data and make a product citizens want. Unlike one point the article makes, do
not have US Government as a customer.

~~~
dmor
I agree and <http://sunlightlabs.com> has been doing a great job, I see them
at many tech conferences hosting their hackathons

