Did you know that websites you visit every day, such as weather.com, are powered by open data from government agencies? Large amounts of government data are available on sites like data.gov, but often organizations have difficulty finding the relevant datasets. Open data initiatives like MapED Open Data provide authoritative, ready-to-use data driving many private-sector applications on the web today.
Built by Blue Raster, the MapED Open Data site enables citizens to better discover, map, and download NCES and Census datasets in a user friendly way. GIS-users can download data in shapefiles and KMLs. Traditional download formats like excel spreadsheets are also supported. Additionally, developers can find datasets for their applications and access them with the Esri GeoServices REST Spec or GeoJSON.
The site features innovative data filtering and analytical mapping that is approachable by everyday users. Charting capabilities, histograms, and scatter plots can be embedded in other websites, applications, and tools.
The site currently features school, district, and state-level data, with additional datasets coming in the next few months. Visit the MapED Open Data site at data.deptofed.opendata.arcgis.com.