ProgrammableWeb Launches Insanely Useful Hub of Open Source Government Data and APIs

November 14, 2007

Contact: Gabriela Schneider 202-742-1520 ext 236

WASHINGTON, DC - ProgrammableWeb recently launched a new central resource of over a dozen government-related mashups and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) to improve access to legislative, civic and political information.

"ProgrammableWeb - a major hub for the Web 2.0 technology community around its directories of mashups and Web service APIs - has launched its 'ProgrammableGov' resource," said Ellen Miller, executive director of the Sunlight Foundation. "This site is now listing Web applications that help citizens examine and remix government data to shed more light on the work of the federal government."

ProgrammableWeb's Government APIs and Mashup Dashboard currently offers government information APIs and mashups developed by government agencies and those developed independently by citizens and transparency advocate organizations, including several created or supported by the Sunlight Foundation. These include:

• The SunlightLabs API, which enables users to retrieve contact information for members of the United States Congress
• The LOUIS API, which provides searchable access to congressional, presidential, and GAO documents
• The FedSpending.org API created by OMB Watch, which includes methods for finding information about awarded contracts and information that assists businesses with applying for government contracts
• The Follow the Money API, created by the National Institute on Money in State Politics, which enables querying for information about individual candidates, political action committees (PACs), ballot measures, and campaign contributors, with options for filtering and sorting the results
• The MAPLight.org API, created by MAPLight.org, which enables querying for information about legislative votes in Congress and how they are connected to campaign donations.

ProgrammableWeb, also links to resources to help US citizens find contact information for members of Congress and congressional districts for any US address. Likewise, on the site, residents of the United Kingdom can access the TheyWorkForYou API, created by MySociety.org, to learn information about their representatives in Parliament and the House of Lords.

The Sunlight Foundation supports, develops and deploys new Internet technologies to make information about Congress and the federal government more accessible to the American people. Through its projects and grant-making, Sunlight serves as a catalyst to create greater political transparency and to foster more openness and accountability in government.

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