Data.gov standardizes data formats making info more accessible

Vivek Kundra had argued the value of the Government using off-the-shelf software in addition to custom built software. Now this concept of management simplicity will be extended to data as well: with the advent of data.gov and the push for standardization of data formats. Data.gov is different from many other government resource sites. It is primarily for machines, not people--at least in the first phase (although there will be many interesting things that will be useful to people as well). It is a catalog of various sets of data from government agencies. From XML to TXT, this site will initially be used by other government agencies as a centralized data bank.