Will Data.gov Provide a New Dimension to BI?

I think it is a bit premature to have a discussion about data that has not been disclosed yet. We are not sure what data and how much of it will be disclosed! If it is a lot of data then BI will have some meaningful data momentum to make meaningful analysis happen. If it is too vague and only "information" and not "data" then BI may not be meaningfully applied, unfortunately.

It's hot stuff in DC right now. It could be a huge boom for BI as enterprises see how their business data, in context of data from the government, will provide a new dimension to BI.

Government data has already been adding new dimensions to BI. US Census data has long been an incredible tool for marketers and others needing to drill down into the demographics of regions, cities, and neighborhoods. Research data (such as reports from National Technical Information Service) have been essential for many scientific, engineering and technical operations. Having data such as this even more accessible online is a great resource.

Assuming the data there is interesting and useable, absolutely yes!

But my 2 assumptions are big:

- Interesting means that the data provided are going to help people in their everyday lives, help them understand how our government operates and help them understand how our tax dollars are invested.

- Useable is even more important. If the government puts up interesting data that only technically proficient people can use or they present it in ways that make it hard to understand, then the project will be a waste. The data must be presented in ways that regular people can understand - interacive and clear charts and graphs, dashboards and reports would be ideal. Even for government employees, usable data has been a critical factor. Local city organizations have proved that before.

Joe McKendrick is right in that US Census data has long been an incredible tool for marketers. But using Census data does require a certain amount of expertise (take it from someone formerly employed by a company that made a lot of money from Census data).

I am looking forward to using data.gov myself and to seeing how it impacts the private sector.

Data.gov will provide an important dimension and view from which much better predictions can be derived. However, this might be overwhelming for traditional BI systems which won't be able to tell which information is the most relevant. For those conducting Predictive Analytics, integrating data from multiple sources - including data.gov - can only be a positive in building better predictive models to help anyone uncover significant trends and patterns that could be crucial to their business decisions.

While I would welcome any initiative that can provide data and intelligence based on data for various purposes, the real challenge is to allow everyone access to it. If average people can benefit from it in ways that businesses can, then it will be a truly helpful feature of the government.