President Obama has released "vast amounts" of US government data in a bid to encourage entrepreneurship.
As part of the Open Data Initiative and Digital Government Strategy, agencies across health, energy, education, public safety, finance and global development have released new or improved data.
A new open data policy has also been released by the Office of Management and Budget and the Office of Science and Technology Policy, which said that departments must "collect or create information in a way that supports downstream information processing and dissemination".
This includes using machine readable and open formats, adhering to data standards, using open licenses and reviewing information which is subject to privacy, confidentiality, security or other restrictions.
Obama said that making data "open and easy to access" would help to launch new businesses and startups, as well as allowing entrepreneurs to "build products and services we haven't even imagined yet".
Free, open source tools will be made available to developers via community site Github. These can be used by anyone from government agencies to private citizens and for-profit companies, and will be accompanied by advice and best practice for the management and release of open data.
It was also announced that the US government data hub, data.gov, will launch new services such as improved visualisation, mapping tools and better context to help users understand the information.
The move follows the 2010 Health Data Initiative, which opened up data on healthcare costs in specific hospitals, and the release of Global Positioning System (GPS) for public use which generated billions of dollars for the US economy through location-based apps, aircraft navigation systems and precision farming.
• Want your say? Email us at public.leaders@guardian.co.uk.
To get our articles on policy and leadership direct to your inbox, sign up to the Guardian Public Leaders Network now.
Looking for your next role? See our Guardian jobs site for senior executive jobs in government and politics.
• For the latest on public services leadership, follow us: @publicleaders
