Open data in europe. 5 Open Data Apps That Are Improving Our Cities. Chris Vein is the Chief Information Officer for the City and County of San Francisco, and is responsible for setting the city’s technology vision and direction, ensuring the development and implementation of citywide standards, policies, and procedures, as well as running the technology “utility” department. Five months ago, San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom stood with President Obama’s Chief Information Officer Vivek Kundra and myself to announce Open311 API to the world. It was a historic moment for government technology with several large cities pledging to adopt a standard API. Our vision at the time was to empower the technological community to create a whole new generation of civic apps.
Today, that has become a reality. 1. TweetMy311 gives anyone with a smartphone and a Twitter account the ability to report a city-related issue (like a pothole in need of repair) in 140 characters or less. 2. We were pleasantly surprised when a couple of bigger players jumped into the scene. 3. 4. Apps for Democracy. Data Publica.