Microsoft Developer Dinner Series for Partners Presenting: Microsoft Open Government Data Initiative – Cloud Computing, REST, AJAX, CSS, oh my! - May 27, 2009 - Reston, VA
UPDATE: The dinner has been cancelled. Details here. We will reschedule as soon as possible. I have removed the registration link to minimize confusion.
Speakers
Marc Schweigert, Developer Evangelist
James Chittenden, User Experience Evangelist
Vlad Vinogradsky, Architect Evangelist
Microsoft Corporation, US Public Sector Developer and Evangelism Team
Venue:
Microsoft Innovation & Technology Center
12012 Sunset Hills Road
Reston, VA 20190
Date:
May 27, 2009 6:00PM - 8:00PM
Register today!!
[REGISTRATION URL REMOVED DUE TO CANCELLATION. WE WILL RESCHEDULE ASAP.]
Abstract
As data becomes both increasingly necessary and readily available in response to demands for transparency, collaboration and participation within government agencies and organizations, methods need to be developed to allow for interaction with that data. To help public sector entities meet these demands, Microsoft announced the Open Government Data Initiative (OGDI) on May 7, 2009. OGDI provides an Internet-standards-based approach to house existing public government data in Microsoft’s cloud computing platform, called Windows Azure. The approach makes the data accessible in a programmatic manner that uses open, industry-standard protocols and application programming interfaces (APIs).
Typically, federal, state and local government data is available via download from government Web sites, which requires citizen developers to host and maintain the data themselves. Through OGDI, Microsoft is highlighting the importance of programmatic access to government data (versus downloading the data). When government agencies provide programmatic access to data, people who want to build solutions that use that data will benefit from these capabilities:
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The ability to write programs that access data via Web-friendly programming methods without having to download or host the data |
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The ability for governments to automatically refresh data without having to buy and maintain servers |
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The ability to write applications using any technology via open standards |
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Easier access to a broad array of government datasets, which will enable them to build new and unique applications |
What you will learn
OGDI uses the Azure Services Platform to make it easier to publish and use a wide variety of public data from government agencies. OGDI is also a free, open source ‘starter kit’ (coming soon) with code that can be used to publish data on the Internet in a Web-friendly format with easy-to-use, open API's. OGDI-based web API’s can be accessed from a variety of client technologies such as Silverlight, Flash, JavaScript, PHP, Python, Ruby, mapping web sites, etc. Join the development team for pizza, soft drinks, and a recap of OGDI design decisions and implementation highlights. You will also learn about some of the technologies used on the project, such as Windows Azure, ADO.NET Data Services, ASP.NET AJAX, jQuery, CSS development using Visual Studio 2008, Virtual Earth, and code generation with T4 templates.
Who Should Attend
Architects, Developers, Designers and anyone who is interested in building innovative applications, visualizations and mash-ups that empower citizens with improved access to government information and help make transparent, collaborative and open government a reality!
-Nandita