From time to time, I hear about this kind of data that makes me feel somewhat exhilarated. I am particularly referring to the kind of data that cities around the globe are making accessible to the public concerning public transport or traffic information, to say the least.

Lately NY unveiled a plan that goes by the name ROAD MAP FOR THE DIGITAL CITY. According to this plan, over the next three months, the City will unveil new partnerships with Facebook, Twitter, Foursquare and Tumblr that will modernize and expand how New York City government communicates with New Yorkers. Another super important part of this announcement includes an open government framework featuring Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) for City data. This means that developers will have access to city data that wouldn’t otherwise be available to them.

As the plan says:

Our goal in all of this is simple: Beyond presenting information to the public in formats the City determines and through applications the City builds, we need to keep making the raw data underlying these applica- tions open and available for developers, civic groups, and anyone else to build applications of their own. This is especially important as social networking technology continues to transform City government—and the way New Yorkers interact with it. And our approach is not only timely—it’s smart. This is, after all, the public’s information—and by making it available in as many ways as possible we can foster innovation and leverage talents beyond City government for creative solutions to tough problems.

Speaking of city data, this one reminds me of the live train map for the London Underground which was made using the TfL API. Just take a look at the data you can access through this API. From bus routes and stop locations to live traffic camera images and London Underground passenger counts.

I am thinking of a future city where every information is linked, parsable and exploitable. Let’s see how this turns out.

Now back to Greece. Back in June last year I tried contacting the company behind the Athenian suburban railway here in Greece, asking about the accessibility of its real-time arrival system information. Well, they shortly explained to me how their tracking and prediction system works but unfortunately this kind of data is not accessible to the public, at least for now.

Lastly, I think it is worth mentioning here that Taxibeat is live here in Athens, Greece. Taxibeat lets you find a taxi filtering by the taxi, the driver, the car or the distance.

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