Socrata Releases Publica Open Data Cloud

SEATTLE, WA--(Marketwired - Sep 29, 2016) - Socrata, the global leader in software solutions designed exclusively for data-driven digital government, today announced Socrata Publica™ Open Data Cloud, a third generation upgrade to its cloud-based, SaaS platform. Socrata's platform now supports larger datasets, upgrades the existing API, improves workflows, and offers automatic data analysis featuring real-time results and a new suite of tools.

"The new Socrata Publica Open Data Cloud enables three pivotal outcomes to its government users in that it gives the right people access to the right data when and where they need it, empowers non-technical citizens and government employees to interpret data in relevant and meaningful ways and supports the application of data in analyzing and solving problems," said Kevin Merritt, Socrata founder and CEO. "With this update to our platform, we are empowering 21^st century government leaders to deliver a new generation of data-driven digital services to inform and engage the public while improving the efficiency and impact of government programs."

Earlier generations of open data solutions presented machine-readable data via online catalogs and provided some raw-data accessibility and interactivity for citizens, researchers, and entrepreneurs. The Socrata Publica Open Data Cloud is driven by the enterprise needs of government leaders and program managers to mobilize, analyze, and readily share data at scale to improve service delivery and program outcomes.

Designed to meet the demands of the largest, most data-savvy governments such as New York City, Los Angeles, the State of Michigan, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, NASA, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the new Socrata Publica Open Data Cloud offers a wealth of new capabilities, including:

• Socrata Signal visualization engine -- backed by data science, automatically generates a visualized view of each dataset to make data analysis and exploration easier than ever before
• Socrata Plot visualization engine -- makes it simple to explore and analyze data by location
• Integration with Esri ArcGIS for accessing geospatial data, CARTO for creating custom maps, and Tableau and Microsoft Power BI for creating custom visualizations and analytical models
• Integration with the Socrata Open Data Network, making it easy to compare data and benchmark relative to regional and national peers
• An updated, faster, and documented Socrata Open Data API version 3.0 for programmatic access to public data and metadata

Socrata Publica Open Data Cloud also provides new tools for presenting data to internal and external audiences, such as Socrata Signal presentations, which automatically generates landing pages for individual datasets, illuminating metadata and giving users an instant dataset snapshot. Socrata Perspective is the world's first data-centric storytelling solution designed to help government executives, data scientists, and information managers use and present data and facts within the appropriate context and to assist in the narration of program delivery.

"Socrata has become mission critical by improving the management of complex government data and breaking down data silos that stifle transparency and efficiency," said Brett Goldstein, co-founder and managing partner of Ekistic Ventures and former City of Chicago Chief Data Officer. "The Publica Open Data Cloud will transform the ability of governments to work easily and effectively with large amounts of data."

Delivered as a cloud-based, software-as-a-service solution, existing Socrata customers have been automatically and transparently upgraded to Socrata Publica Open Data Cloud, which is immediately available to new government customers. Socrata Publica Open Data Cloud is delivered by Socrata professionals and certified Socrata implementation partners utilizing the proven Socrata Blueprint Success Methodology. For more information, visit www.socrata.com.

About Socrata
Socrata is the market leader in cloud-based data democratization solutions for government. Socrata's software-as-a-service data platform and cloud applications make data discoverable, usable, and actionable for public servants and the citizens they serve. Socrata unlocks antiquated data silos to increase the the effectiveness of programs that improve quality of life, economic development, and government operations. Socrata solutions provide unprecedented data access and are designed and purpose-built to meet strict government standards, optimized for the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Public Sector cloud, and delivered using the proven Socrata Blueprint Success Methodology.