RSS for Federal, State and Local Governments

If there ever was a sector that could provide its customers with the biggest benefit by using RSS -- it's government.

Daniel Terdiman's post RSS Edges Into the Bureaucracy for WIRED in November of 2004, was a preamble to the possibilities.

My business partner Kris Smith has been saying for quite a long time that public or university libraries are prime for RSS. Imagine being able to log into your local or university library, plug in a number of search terms for some research you're conducting and getting all the data in one feed.

Beyond libraries, local and state governments could be using RSS to keep its citizenry informed and engaged in local zoning issues, school board decisions, etc. The benefit of an informed citizenry can be tremendous. So beyond relying on local or national media outlets, government entities can begin opening up the vault of huge amounts of amassed data.

Now here's the real benefit of RSS for governments and its citizens. Traditionally if you go to a state or local government website it has terrible design, horrible navigation and is basically repulsive. With RSS, you eliminate the need for a citizen to come navigate the site and seek information - give them an RSS subscription page based on desired search terms and deliver the information right into their RSS reader. I track 100 plus feeds and can honestly say, I don't know what 80% of the websites that the feed come from look like - and I don't care, I just want the information.