Why middleware is the key to a successful gov 2.0

Max Ogden is a developer, open government and CouchDB enthusiast from Portland, OR. One of his recent projects, PDXAPI, is a developer interface to civic geo datasets in Portland, OR. Max recently accepted a position as a Code for America fellow for their inaugural 2011 Code for America fellowship program. Embracing Tim O'Reilly's concept of 'Government as a Platform' is easier said than done. I want to share some of my lessons learned on actually building the 'platform'. My talk will include methods and best practices for both developers and non-developers to refer to when negotiating open government data contracts with local governments.