You should check out these guys: http://sunlightlabs.com/about/The Sunlight Foundation is doing great things. But the Sunlight Foundation has data from the US government while South Kingstown has no data. It would be great if South Kingstown becomes a model municipality regards data (open records). One of my fears is that the state government will enact an incoherent set of data mandates that effectively cripple online data. (Much as they have done now for open meetings.) The work done at RI.gov is an encouraging sign, however.
I think their approach is different; they take existing government data and make it useful.
While I have ideas about the kinds of tools I would like to see, having the data sooner will allow the community to start using the wealth of existing tools on the web and their desktops to use it. What would you know if you had community development grant data and arrest records and combine it with Many Eyes and Google Maps?
The folks at EveryBlock are doing inspiring work. They are funded by the Knight Foundation and the plan is to make the tools available to everyone in the near future.
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