This past January, the Data.gov team released our draft Concept of Operations document for your input, ideas and discussion – and the response has amazing and informative. So thank you for that. We have received over 100 new ideas, over 300 comments on those ideas, and many of you have weighed in and voted on the ideas of others. We’ve been listening and your thinking is helping us continually improve Data.gov in many ways. We’re currently developing a summary of what you said and the steps that we are taking in response to your feedback. That summary will become available in the coming weeks. But we are already moving out on some of your ideas and you’ll see a few of those improvements on Data.gov today.

One of the biggest enhancements is our search capabilities – many of you commented on the need for unified search across our separate catalogs, and that is now available. We have also enhanced our transparency by providing statistics showing how different departments and agencies are participating in the site, so you can see how we are doing unlocking the federal governments data for your use…

Right now, we are working on improving our customer input and feedback mechanisms. This blog is a first step in that direction and we’re going to be using this forum to communicate frequently on our plans and progress for the site. Look for our collaboration tools to improve quickly. Based on suggestions made by the community, we’ll be releasing what we are calling “customer” and “developer” focused wikis to allow our communities of interest to tell us what they think about datasets, the Data.gov site itself, and to share their expertise and experience with others who are working with Data.gov datasets.

Over the next several months, look for continual improvements to Data.gov. So keep coming back to see how things are progressing, and keep letting us know how we are doing and what you’d like to see next – your input is appreciated and invaluable.

Linda A. Travers is CIO Council Data.gov Co-lead and Deputy CIO, Environmental Protection Agency

Sanjeev “Sonny” Bhagowalia is CIO Council Data.gov Co-Lead and CIO, US Department of the Interior

We opened this discussion to encourage the community to share creative ideas and help us evolve Data.gov. We are getting some great ideas and discussion. We are working hard to incorporate many of your ideas, so stay tuned as Data.gov transforms throughout 2010.

If you are just visiting the site for the first time, we urge you to take a look at our Plan, the Draft Concept of Operations, read through the ideas already posted to the site, contribute new ideas and comments, and to vote for your favorite ideas. Topic areas, including the Developer’s Corner, are on the left hand tool bar and you can dive right in with the Getting Started section, which appears on the right hand tool bar. Let your voice be heard to make Data.gov a richer, more user-friendly resource for everyone!

Thank you very much for your contributions, they will be invaluable as we take the next steps to build future versions of Data.gov.

Linda A. Travers is CIO Council Data.gov Co-lead and Deputy CIO, Environmental Protection Agency

Sanjeev “Sonny” Bhagowalia is CIO Council Data.gov Co-Lead and CIO, US Department of the Interior

When Data.gov launched last May, we promised to do our best to evolve this initiative with the public. We’re taking a step in making good on that promise through launching a new collaboration space.

Hello, our names are Linda and Sonny and we’re Chief Information Officers for EPA and Interior. We were both excited by the President’s vision of a Federal government that was more open, transparent, and participatory than ever before. So when Vivek Kundra, the CIO for the entire Federal government, decided to breathe life into that vision by commissioning the Federal CIO Council to create Data.gov, we immediately raised our hands and volunteered to coordinate the effort. It’s been invigorating. And transformative.

Right now, there are over 240 senior officials throughout the Federal space who are focused on publishing their organization’s data to Data.gov – information that now more people have easy access to. These same people have also been paying attention to what you’re saying – responding to the data suggestions you’ve submitted through Data.gov and following your related blogs, tweets and contests. Your input is already changing your government.

Our group, along with OMB, has started writing a document – a draft Data.gov Concept of Operations – profiling our experience to date and sharing our thoughts on the way forward. It’s a first effort that, while no means a consensus, gives you a federal government voice in this evolution conversation. We need your help in making it better. To get the conversation going, we’re employing some software that lets you post ideas as a member of the growing data.gov community (we know you have them) and you can explore and comment on the document or just post what is on your mind. So please let your networks know we look forward to their ideas and votes as a community on ways to make Data.gov a richer, more user-friendly resource for everyone. The conversation is open, and we’re listening.

Linda, Principal Deputy Assistant Administrator & Acting Chief Information Officer, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

Sonny, Chief Information Officer, U.S. Department of the Interior