Friday June 7 is the kickoff to the M2M App Challenge when representatives from the US Dept. of Energy will be on hand to present open data sets and how to use them.
Timing for the event is perfect since President Barack Obama just took a monumental step in making data open, accessible, and machine readable by default. Open data sets are being made available that touch many areas. Here are a few examples of what is currently on the table:
Healthcare: Health and Human Services just recently released new data on hospital fees, a major step in creating greater price transparency. In other cases, the open data sets can be used for developing new healthcare-related products and services.
Weather: Data related to weather can help feed newscasts, identify weather patterns to help avert danger, or create better information for insurance purposes.
Consumers: Private companies are using open data to fight credit card fraud; open data helps consumers reduce energy bills; families may leverage open data to compare healthcare options.
Public Safety: New apps and tools may access data related to public safety for emergency response and planning. Platforms will be available at the M2M App Challenge, such as Esri, www.esri.com, to incorporate geospatial data into emergency response efforts.
Automotive: Data from the Research Data Exchange provides a variety of data-related services for multi-modal transportation mobility applications with the USDOT ITS Dynamic Mobility Applications (DMA) Program and other connected vehicle research activities.
In all, the president’s executive order is intended to help fuel new start-ups and entrepreneurs and to stimulate job growth in the United States.
Check out this brief video for more details: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=n603rEnEGXA
More info and how to register can be found: http://connectedworldmag.com/conference/index.php?q=app_challenge
