Feds' Top Entrepreneur Shaking Data From Government's File Cabinets

Todd Park's job is to unleash the power of innovation inside the oh-so change-resistant walls of government, and he appears to love it. "It's just awesome, awesome, awesome stuff," he told an audience composed primarily of tech geeks at the Social Good Summit being held here this weekend at the 92nd Street Y.

In the three years since the federal government recruited Park to serve as a tech entrepreneur in residence, he has hunted down e-file cabinets packed with data and shaken them out, crediting such efforts with helping build the economy and even save lives.

"Civilian and commercial access to GPS alone is estimated to have contributed $90 billion in value to the American economy last year," he said Saturday night.