May 27, 2009

By Stephen Johnson
Special to TechJournal South

Washington, DC - Federal Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra used an appearance at the Mid-Atlantic Venture Association's flagship conference Tuesday, Capital Connection '09, to tout the Obama administration's new Data.gov initiative. The initiative will make data generated by the federal government publicly available.

Kundra said that data.gov will be “a one-stop shop for free access to data generated across all federal agencies.”

President Obama has made transparency and open government one of his central themes.

Kundra, former CIO of the District of Columbia, told the MAVA audience that the aim of Data.gov will be to improve government transparency by releasing these data sets so that citizens are able to analyze them and build mash-up applications.

Not all government data will be released on Data.gov. All information must comply with privacy regulations and national security information will be unavailable.

"We recognize the power of tapping into the ingenuity of the American people and recognize that government doesn't have a monopoly on the best ideas or always have the best idea on finding an innovative path to solving the toughest problems the country faces," Kundra said.

"By democratizing data and making it available to the public and private sector, we can tap into that ingenuity."

Kundra also told the MAVA audience that the government needs to change the way that it procures information technology.

"Moore's Law states that processing speeds double every 18 months. But the average procurement takes 12 to 18 months. We will transform the procurement process so that it will allow us to introduce newer technologies and solutions more quickly."

The two-day MAVA event attracted more than 700 venture capital and private equity investors; technology entrepreneurs; corporate executives, and government technology, research and development executives.

MAVA Executive Director Julia Spicer said the strong turnout at this year's Capital Connection showed that investors and entrepreneurs remain confident about the future, despite the current economic downturn.

"What draws us all together is a commitment to build and support successful businesses that create useful and meaningful technology solutions and products, create jobs, and reward and provide value to the technology community and to the nation," Spicer said.