Microsoft unveils Open Government Data Initiative
MSFT | Quote | Chart | News | PowerRating -- As a part of its open government efforts aimed at helping government
organisations meet goals of transparency, citizen participation and
agency collaboration, software company Microsoft Corp (Nasdaq:MSFT) has
unveiled its Open Government Data Initiative (OGDI).
According to the company, to help public sector entities meet the
demands for transparency, collaboration and participation, Microsoft's
OGDI provides an Internet standards-based approach to house existing
public government data in its cloud computing platform, Windows Azure.
The approach makes the data accessible in a programmatic manner that
uses open, industry-standard protocols and application programming
interfaces (APIs). A reference beta site, http://ogdisdk.cloudapp.net,
showcases an implementation of a data service in Windows Azure, using a
sample of publicly available government data.
Through OGDI, the company is highlighting the importance of
programmatic access to government data, as compared to downloading the
data. When government agencies provide programmatic access to data,
people who want to build solutions that use that data will be able to
leverage the following capabilities: the ability to write programs that
access data via web-friendly programming methods without having to
download or host the data; the ability for governments to automatically
refresh data without having to buy and maintain servers; the ability to
write applications using any technology via open standards; as well as
easier access to a wide range of government datasets.
The source code for OGDI is publicly available on CodePlex, Microsoft's
open source hosting site, enabling developers to reuse it and provide
feedback. Sample code is also provided for such technologies as PHP,
Python, Flash, JavaScript or Silverlight.
Comments on this story may be sent to tww.feedback@m2.com
For full details on Microsoft Corp (MSFT) MSFT. Microsoft Corp (MSFT) has Short Term PowerRatings at TradingMarkets. Details on Microsoft Corp (MSFT) Short Term PowerRatings is available at This Link.
- Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) Corporate Event Announcement Notice - 02/09/10
- Zacks Analyst Blog Highlights: SAP AG, International Business Machines Corp, Microsoft Corporation, Oracle Corporation and CVS C - 02/09/10
- South Florida Technology Alliance Delivers 2010 State of the Technology Industry Report to Full House - 02/09/10
- Microsoft and Interpublic Group enter partnership agreement - 02/09/10
- Windows Releases Vista in Amharic - 02/09/10
- More News >>
