White House Revamps Data.Gov

The White House previewed an update to the government information trove Data.gov on Tuesday that it said would offer better search, more responsive design and deeper background on how the public is using government data.

The upgrade follows a speech earlier this month during which President Obama promised to give entrepreneurs better access to government data. The plan is that the private sector and nonprofits will be able to commoditize information the government is collecting anyway about hospital performance, real estate prices, educational programs and other issues.