Anticipated Web 3.0 jibes with open-government goals

Transparency and accountability have become the watchwords of the Obama administration, and part of that promise is making all sorts of government data available to citizens and public interest groups via the Web. But go past the slick home pages of public access Web sites such as Data.gov and Recovery.gov, and one finds frustrating inconsistencies in the volume and presentation of available information. Critics look at these shortcomings and gripe about the oxymoron of "government accountability." But it's also certainly true that the Web tools the Obama team is using are not cut out for the job. Almost every morsel of government data exists in electronic form somewhere, and with the exception of classified data, it is perfectly acceptable for public consumption. However, making it easy for people to find, analyze, share and ultimately understand the information is another story. Many tech experts say the solution lies in the Semantic Web, a slowly emerging set of technologies that aim to improve access to and the usability of information and software services on the Internet, ushering in a new era of Internet applications that some are already calling Web 3.0. Whereas Web 2.0 is about connecting people through social-networking applications such as Facebook, wikis and Twitter, the next generation will be about connecting information in new ways that people will find more useful, relevant and enjoyable.