MIAMI, FL — (June 18, 2013) — Sunlight Foundation, the leader in developing Internet tools for transparent government, will expand its offerings to make government data accessible to more people, especially on the state and local level, with $4 million in support from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation. Sunlight will then share best practices with the growing field of open government advocates.
“Sunlight’s work will help improve access to government data, but also create a standard for turning that data into valuable information,” said Michael Maness, vice president for journalism and media innovation at Knight Foundation, which has long supported government transparency and accountability efforts.
The grant builds on Sunlight’s success in applying principles of human-centered design to make government data accessible to the general public. For example, the Sunlight app Sitegeist, which allows users to instantly access public data about the neighborhood they’re in, has been downloaded more than 84,000 times, and has been nominated for two Webby Awards for excellence on the Internet.
“While the open data movement is doing exciting things and expanding rapidly, there is still a disconnect among the public and private sectors,” said Ellen Miller, co-founder and executive director of the Sunlight Foundation. “Knight’s commitment to help strengthen this community allows Sunlight to play a leadership role integrating all who work in this sphere: from policy makers and data providers to civic hackers, government reformers and newcomers.”
Sunlight Foundation is well known in open government circles for its data tools that help citizens track U.S. congressional legislation and people who are trying to influence it. Its suite of websites and apps received over 6.8 million visits in 2012. Knight’s funding will allow Sunlight to broaden its tools, to both add new data sets and make them more useful to citizens, rather than just journalists and advocates. In addition, Sunlight will expand its focus on state and local government, where government data is often most closely connected to people’s lives.
Sunlight will also bring together a team of experts to evaluate what’s working in the field of open government data. The insights will be shared as a way to help set priorities for the emerging open government field.
Sunlight is a nonpartisan, nonprofit supported by foundations and individuals, including Omidyar Network, Rockefeller Family Fund, Hewlett Foundation, Google.org and co-founder Mike Klein. A list of donors is available online.
About the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
The John S. and James L. Knight Foundation supports transformational ideas that promote quality journalism, advance media innovation, engage communities and foster the arts. The foundation believes that democracy thrives when people and communities are informed and engaged. For more, visitwww.knightfoundation.org.
About the Sunlight Foundation
The Sunlight Foundation is a nonpartisan nonprofit that uses cutting-edge technology and ideas to make government transparent and accountable. Visit http://SunlightFoundation.com to learn more about Sunlight’s projects, including http://PoliticalPartyTime.org, http://influenceexplorer.com and http://Scout.SunlightFoundation.com.
Contact
Anusha Alikhan, 305-908-2677; [email protected]