The First Decade of Open Data Has Been a Win — but Not for the Reasons You Think

When data.gov launched in May of 2009, the site seemed to fulfill a vision of openness and rebuilding trust that defined President Obama’s first electoral campaign. Sunlight Foundation co-founder Ellen Miller was ebullient: “it represents this enormous change in attitude about what public means. It means it’s online. It means it’s available. I think it’s a dramatic breakthrough in the role of government.”