Date: 2024-11-22 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00005892
Burgess COMMENTARY
Peter Burgess
Socrata edit
Socrata is a Seattle-based cloud software company, focused exclusively on democratizing access to government data. We help public sector organizations improve transparency, citizen service and fact-based decision-making by efficiently delivering data to citizens, employees and developers in a user-friendly experience on web, mobile and machine-to-machine interfaces.
Innovators like the World Bank, Medicare, Data.gov, EnergyStar, New York City, Chicago, San Francisco, Oregon and Maryland, have all chosen Socrata for its turnkey and low-cost cloud delivery of easy-to-use open data products.
Socrata’s toolkit goes well beyond creating data catalogues. The company’s products are designed to support a lively ecosystem around open data.
For example, every data set on Socrata is API-enabled with accompanying documentation, allowing developers and entrepreneurs to query data sets easily to create apps. Meanwhile, citizens, researchers, and journalists can search for the information they want without filling out a F.O.I.A. request or digging through papers. They can easily create digital visualizations, such as map mashups, charts, and graphs, with data. These same citizens then embed their creations on another website, where the data included will refresh automatically. And, they can give feedback to the agency hosting the data about their experience, creating a full feedback loop between citizens and government.
In addition, Socrata GovStat combines openly accessible government data and a drag-and-drop report-creation tool, Socrata DataSlate, to offer an efficient way for government agencies to track their progress against goals and engage with the public about the results. Designed by former Director of Maryland StateStat, Beth Blauer, GovStat is transforming the cost and effectiveness of government performance management.
Recent Milestones edit Check Socrata — Socrata Announces Strategic Investment from In-Q-Tel (9/3/13) 3 Posted 9/3/13 at 9:17pm via freshnews.com Dollar Socrata received $18M in Series B funding. (6/26/13) Posted 6/26/13 at 8:35am via techcrunch.com Dollar Socrata received $6.5M in Seed funding. (2/20/08) Posted 10/18/13 at 11:00pm via fraziertechnology.com Check Socrata added Kevin Merritt as CEO. Posted 5/21/12 at 3:58pm
Videos
The Socrata Story: Open Innovation Powered by Data Published on Mar 21, 2013
Data, APIs, visualizations, apps, open innovation - these are the building blocks of the new data economy. What once sat dormant in a database silo now fuels life-changing innovation. Welcome to the consumerization of data by Socrata. We make data useful to everyone.