The document discusses the growth of open data initiatives at multiple levels of government. It notes that the US President issued an open government directive, leading to the creation of Data.gov and open data sites in 8 states and 8 cities. It also describes some specific types of open data available in San Francisco, including crime maps, voting patterns, housing data, and real-time transit info, and mentions that Open311 was developed collaboratively to create an open standard for 311 services.
Collaboration is a win for everyone: developers can access more cities; vendors can build to one spec; cities and residents gain access to larger ecosystem;