It’s pretty exciting when the White House contacts you. For RESO, being invited as a participant in the first “White House Open Data Innovation Summit” was an historic moment.
RESO’s work with the Better Buildings Home Energy Information Accelerator was commended, and RESO was part of a panel of industry and government leaders showcasing contributions to open data. It was a remarkable opportunity to share what RESO is and does with an influential group.
The summit emphasized the value of U.S. government data being used to fuel American innovations around economic growth, connected communities, transportation, energy, climate resilience and public health for all Americans. Keynote speakers included the White House Chief Data Scientist, the U.S. CTO and the U.S. CIO.
The Green Button Alliance, spoke regarding data in the energy space and opportunities within the real estate sector. Much of the focus of the sessions focused on best practices and success stories from both the private and nonprofit sectors showcasing the impact open data had on society.
RESO was there to talk about the RESO Data Dictionary, its energy-related data fields and how data flows into MLS property listings from both agent input and auto-population from various governmental entities in a standardized manner. RESO demonstrated possible data flows by leveraging the Building Energy Data Exchange Specification mapped with the RESO Data Dictionary.
One of the great takeaways was the positive effect that open data is having in powering increased e-commerce across multiple industries. It’s increasing transparency for the consumers of e-commerce and for real estate, benefitting home sellers and buyers.
This opportunity was incredibly inspiring for our future work. The summit brought together top decision-makers throughout the government and a variety of crucial industries to focus on one thing: open data solutions and data-driven innovations at all scales of government. There was an emphasis on community solutions, opportunities and inclusiveness, things that are not only being accomplished by RESO and our work with the Green Button Alliance and Orange Button Alliance, but with many other massive efforts, including The Opportunity Project, Police Data Initiative, and Data-Driven Justice.
This event helped RESO reach an important new audience, as we took a seat at the table of leaders who will help determine open data standards for every industry and every sector of government.
