Image Source: http://www.whitehouse.gov/open

if USA president dedicates his energy and attention to a particular initiative then it’s worth noting about it, isn’t it?! Here i am referring to Open government data initiative (OGDI). The idea is to make data (Information) publicly available. Simple concept, Eh?! but it has it’s own set of challenges. One of the challenge is a centralized vault where information can live. To address this issue, Microsoft has a wonderful initiative called Windows Azure Data market which promotes sharing public data via cloud. Windows Azure Data Market  is a “market” to trade data; yes, you read it right! it is a place where information/data-set/data is just a click away albeit some data may cost money – after all it’s a Market! There are lots of “free + valuable” data sets too! check it out: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsazure/marketplace/

To know more about Microsoft’s Windows Azure Data market and how open government data initiative can affect us positively and change our lives for better. read: Give Us Your Data! Windows Azure  DataMarket and the Open Government Data Initiative by Miguel Lopez, SolidQ

Read SolidQ Journal: http://www.solidq.com/sqj