Gov 2.0 Hits Home in San Francisco

Following up on yesterday’s Gov 2.0 post, I found another, much closer to home example of this trend. San Francisco, home of Twitter and a host of other Web 2.0 companies, launched its very own App Store. In a move to make government more “transparent” and increase “access” to data in SF, Mayor Newsom proudly announced the launch of a new website: DataSF.org.

Data SF

On this site the first featured app has a crime feed that doesn’t seem to populate, but there is a very simple API that seems to lend itself to mobile and web apps. I wish more cities would make crime data so accessible. Further down the list in the crime category is a link to Crime Reports and Spot Crime, both of which provide a nice Google Maps interface plotting different types of crimes. Spot Crime, however, provides an RSS feed of the reports for a host of cities throughout California. Crime Reports did not provide an explanation why they don’t do the same.

Other apps include one that tracks taxi cabs, hosted by the Exploratorium, a popular science museum near the Golden Gate Bridge. My personal favorite is Every Block, an app that ties blog posts to specific locations in the city, so you can see what people are writing about your neighborhood.

My conclusion is that our tech-savvy mayor, though he will need more than a handful of fancy gadgets to win the gubernatorial election, is taking this city in a new and bold direction. I hope more mayors in the Bay Area follow suit.