NASA Extolls Virtues of Open Government

Space agency NASA has sought Australian government and private organisations to participate in an international space apps competition next year. NASA's open government initiative director Nick Skytland told the Gov 2.0 conference in Canberra that the challenge will culminate in a two-day event that will provide an opportunity for government to use the expertise and entrepreneurial spirit of citizen explorers to help address global challenges.

“NASA wanted to take space-developed data and technology and develop applications to address challenges of global importance,” he said. During the event, NASA representatives and officials from international space agencies will gather with scientists and citizens to use publicly-released scientific data to create solutions for issues, such as weather impact on the global economy and depletion of ocean resources...