FBI Fugitive Concentration

It didn't take long after the launch of Data.gov for the public to recognize the potential of the newly available data. Today we saw the first entrant to Sunlight Labs' Apps for America 2 contest, which challenges the public to come up with innovative uses for the site's data feeds. It's based on the Apps for Democracy contest Vivek Kundra started as chief technology officer for the District of Columbia.

So to what innovative use does the application put the data? In a word: Memory. Not the technological variety either, the classic children's game. Bertrand Fran has created a version called FBI Fugitive Concentration where users must match faces off the Bureau's Most Wanted Lists. It's a fun and easy way to raise awareness of these fugitives. If even one of them is recognized by someone because of the game, then it would have more than justified the time and energy Fran spent developing it.

We'll be keeping an eye on the contest and looking forward to slick new uses of the data feeds as the Obama administration makes them available.