"For us to keep up with your pace of change, this leadership team is breaking down silos throughout our agency," Pritzker said. The Department of Commerce is conducting its own "mashup," she added.
.Pritzer told the crowd of Silicon Valleyites at the Plug and Play Tech Center the obvious: data is the fuel for innovation in the 21st century. She announced two new data initiatives as fuel for further breakthroughs. NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), which collects 20 terabytes of environmental data daily, would be unleashing more of its data for use by the business and scientific communities.
"This is twice the data of the entire printed collection of the entire Library of Congress, yet only a small percentage of that information -- roughly two terabytes -- is made easily accessible to the public," she said, noting that U.S. industries affected by weather and climate account for about one-third of the country's gross domestic product. "This new partnership will unlock more weather and climate information to stimulate the creation of new industries, boost economic growth, and spur employment," she stated.
In addition, the Census Explorer interactive maps will now include tech workforce and payroll data. "You will now be able to look at tech employment in regions like this one along with other factors like education, labor-force participation, and home ownership rates," Pritzker said.
On the patent-law reform front, the Obama administration launched a joint initiative between the US Patent and Trademark Office and private industry to improve access to prior-art filings as a way to reduce costs for startups who are dealing with potential patent trolls.
Regarding the adverse impact on U.S. businesses, especially those operating in foreign countries, in light of revelations about US spying activities in NSA documents obtained by Edward Snowden, Pritzker was circumspect. She is part of the group assigned by the White House to conduct a review of the potential impact of big data on personal privacy. "We should have a conversation as opposed to just evolving and then finding ourselves at odds," she said.
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