Dialing in to the NYSenate OpenLeg API

September 8, 2009

Open Government Advocate Mark Headd has written an excellent post on the Government as a Platform meme, and uses our work on Open APIs at the NY Senate Office of the CIO as a case study. (an API, or Application Programming Interface, is a set of rules and protocols that allow one computer program to talk to another, generally across the Internet)

When governments make data available through an API, they are telling developers: “Use any platform or programming language you want to access our data.” The basic requirements for invoking an API like the NY Senate’s (or the District of Columbia’s 311 API) is the ability to communicate via HTTP and to parse XML, or JSON. Since pretty much every modern programming language and development platform can do these things, it creates opportunities for developers of all stripes.

Mark isn't just another guy with an opinion. He's actually built some great apps on top of our OpenLeg API and the IMified service that offers a variety of innovative ways to query bill information, the coolest of which is a voice-based phone interface. Now, you don't even need a computer to access our API!

Just dial a number, punch in the bill, and you'll hear a pretty good digital voice read back the latest information about the legislation you are interested in. Try it yourself - provide a New York Senate or Assembly bill number ("S1234") to any of the services below, and you'll get back the latest info on sponsor and bill actions:

  • Instant Messaging Client (Jabber): opensenate@bot.im
  • Twitter Client: Send a tweet formatted as a @reply to @opensenate
  • Short Message Service (SMS): Send a text message to (315) 308-1943
  • Regular Telephone: Call (646) 736-2439

 

These services fit very well with the Office of the CIO's vision for a fully mobile-accessible legislative body, where everyone from elected officials to their consituents can fluidly connect with eachother around issues that matter to them no matter where they are. Access of information via mobile phones also signficantly leverages the playing field when it comes to cost... a $99 iPhone is a pretty fantastic computing device.

Read Mark's full post here: http://www.voiceingov.org/blog/?p=1136&cpage=1