President Obama issued an executive order yesterday requiring federal agencies to make data publicly available. A Washington Post story quotes President Obama explaining the value of this data:

“We’re making it easier for people to find the data and use it, so that entrepreneurs can build products and services we haven’t even imagined yet.”

We agree that the data could benefit entrepreneurs, but we also think the decision just makes sense. The public paid for that data, after all. That’s why we began making our data publicly available when we launched our new website in February.

There’s a lot available if you poke around.

• A list of all awards we’ve funded, with information about funding levels, researchers and publications that have come out of those award. You can also filter those awards by institution, disease focus, stem cell type, and collaborative funder
• A list of our grantees, with information about awards they’ve received
• A list of all publications that have come out of our funding
• Lists of disease-focused awards on our disease fact sheets

All of these are updated weekly, when our website syncs with the data feed.

The Washington Post goes on to quote Sean Moulton, director of open-government policy for the Center for Effective Government

“Properly implemented, this policy will allow Americans to know more about their government’s activities and critical issues that affect their lives, including public health, safety, and the environment. Access to this information is crucial to our democracy and the government’s effectiveness.”

We think it’s also crucial for people to have ready access to information about scientific advances that have come about through state funding.

A.A.