OpenPlans

Overview Information is the currency of democracy, yet in our Information Age, the average citizen is deeply disconnected from civic life. Governments spend tens of billions each year on information management, but much of that data is locked away in proprietary systems. Newspapers once fed civic engagement, but mainstream journalism is crumbling. And cities sharing the same challenges — from education to transportation — are stuck finding solutions on their own, often the aid of peer and citizen expertise. Our Mission OpenPlans is a non-profit technology organization focused on civic engagement and open government. We use journalism and open source software to turn data into accessible, useful information. This work engages the average person in shaping their community. Openness is at the core of all of our work: open data, open source software, and open lines of communication. Our approach to technology mirrors our approach to social change. All of our software is open source. We believe that technology can transform city functions — like urban planning and transportation — and we believe that openness contributes to good government. Based in New York, OpenPlans is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit with a team of 50 software developers, designers, policy experts, educators, and journalists. We were founded in 1999 by technology and finance entrepreneur Mark Gorton.

The link address is: http://openplans.org/overview/