In conjunction with the opening of the G-8 Open Data for Agriculture conference on April 29, USDA Secretary Vilsack announced the newest “Community” on the government’s data access point data.gov: the Food, Agriculture and Rural Community. Coincidentally, April 30 is the 20th anniversary of the release of the World Wide Web’s core standards for free use by anyone, so the promise of that day 20 years ago is being met in spades.
The federal government’s data.gov website itself will be 4 years old on May 21. Established after President Obama’s first-day-in-office Executive Order on open government, the site now has about 450,000 databases, which provide access to literally millions of public datasets.
The Food and Agriculture Community on data.gov hit the ground running, with over 300 data sets as well as numerous apps, tools and statistical products that illuminate nearly every imaginable aspect of food and production, from the local to the global.
It’s a must-visit site for anyone with an interest in the agricultural world.
