President Barack Obama signed an order Thursday requiring federal agencies to make their publicly accessible data open and machine-readable.

Obama's order, which enforces a new Open Data Policy, was issued in hopes entrepreneurs will use government data to build innovative new products and spur economic growth. Open government data to the masses, the White House argues, and private-sector innovation based on those data will flourish.

As evidence of this phenomenon, the Obama administration points to weather apps using government data and the ways in which opening the Global Positioning System (GPS) to the public has fueled products from dashboard navigation systems to Foursquare.

"One of the things we’re doing to fuel more private sector innovation and discovery is to make vast amounts of America’s data open and easy to access for the first time in history. And talented entrepreneurs are doing some pretty amazing things with it," said Obama in a statement regarding the order. "Starting today, we’re making even more government data available online, which will help launch even more new startups. And we’re making it easier for people to find the data and use it, so that entrepreneurs can build products and services we haven’t even imagined yet."

Obama's order doesn't mean the federal government will give up on keeping secrets: It specifically protects law enforcement investigation records, national security information and other "privledged information" from being a part of the policy.

The Open Data Policy is instead more about ingraining a broader open data philosophy in federal agencies — many of which have been slow to provide public data in an easy-to-access and usable fashion. The policy explicitly says government agencies should be from the start producing public data with the end goal of making it findable and readable.

"Government information shall be managed as an asset throughout its life cycle to promote interoperability and openness, and, wherever possible and legally permissible, to ensure that data are released to the public in ways that make the data easy to find, accessible, and usable," reads Obama's order, which is embedded below along with the Open Data Policy.

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The U.S. Chief Information Officer and the U.S. Chief Technology Officer's offices will work with federal agencies over the next several months to guide them in their adoption of the Open Data Policy.

What kind of products would build with public government data? Share your thoughts in the comments.

Obama Data Order

Open Data Policy

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