Feds' strength may be in providing data, not building apps

Federal agencies can often do more to improve public knowledge and safety by providing raw data to private sector mobile app developers than by trying to create the programs themselves, officials told an industry audience.

The trick is ensuring that entrepreneurs have access to solid, vetted and timely government data on such issues as housing prices or highway accident rates, said Mark Day, chief technology officer at the Housing and Urban Development Department. This way, their apps will provide the best value to the public. "In this environment, everyone wants to know certain key things," Day said. "Bank rates, foreclosures in the area, what are the conditions of the local market, rental prices. Much of that is available today in a mobile format . . . It's not so much that the app isn't there. It is [there] because the demand is huge. It's 'do they have the right data that's useful to people?' " Transportation Department employees also are focusing on making reliable data available to private sector entrepreneurs rather than building apps themselves, said Tim Schmidt, the department's chief technology officer. Some of the department's most useful data, he said, deals with traffic and accident rates on various roads, which can be paired with an emerging industry in smart car sensors that are aware of and react to other vehicles.