With all the sudden interest in the realtime and semantic web it seems that the bigger opportunity for an open and transparent government isn't in providing a back library of data but instead providing a realtime information stream. A data stream that could provide real, tactical insight into the areas of government that are actually useful for businesses looking for an edge in this tough economic climate.

In a recent quote on GCN.com , federal chief information officer Vivek Kundra indicated that he "wants to continue to move agencies away from warehousing the data they collect and toward a model in which agencies can publish data in real time, much like the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration does now with its weather data."

But instead of weather, why not look at other aggregate information sources, why not population trends, food, medical/health as well as other actually useful realtimes statics? Why are we limited to just realtime weather, a science arguably just as complex as any. In a lot of ways looking a driving habits, mortgage defaults, employments trends or even crop trends are probably all easier to calculate.

Just a random thought.

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