Remember the CivicApps contest? Of course you do. Who am I kidding?
Well one of the most valuable things to come out of that contest was PDX API, a way of making sense of all of the data sets offered up by the City of Portland. So valuable, in fact, that Max Ogden, creator of PDX API, was just awarded a fellowship by Code for America, an organization that connects “city governments and Web 2.0 talent.”
Max was one of 20 fellows selected from more than 360 applicants.
Max Ogden develops client applications, developer tools, and APIs, currently living in Portland, OR, and working as a developer at a market research company. In his spare time, he develops open source civic applications, including a hosted data service for geographic information about Portland, OR, called PDX API. In a 2010 apps competition hosted by the City of Portland, his work on PDX API was awarded, “Best use of public data.”
So what’s that mean? Well, it means that Max needs to lead by example.
Starting in January, it will be their challenge to not only build innovative apps for each of our cities, but also become the leaders of the ongoing movement to make government more open and efficient.
What with Portland working to be an open city and all, this is a big positive nod. And it’s great to see Max being recognized for all of his hard work.
More more information on the fellowship, see Code for America. For more on Max’s work, visit PDX API.
(Hat tip Leslie Hawthorn and Don Park)