StumbleSafely.com, one of the websites we built for last year’s Apps for Democracy contest, is the lead to a good overview article on open data and local government on the front page of the business section of today’s New York Times.

The article - Local Governments Offer Data to Miners by Claire Cain Miller- fantastically features Development Seed with some great quotes and screenshots of StumbleSafely.com and DC Bikes, a site that maps bike paths in DC using city data.

The push to publicize government data goes as far back as the 1960s, but technology has made it possible for people to use the data in ways that would not have been possible even a year ago, said Eric Gundersen, president of Development Seed, the Washington company that created Stumble Safely. The company builds data and map applications for international development programs.

“The timing now with the open data movement is really critical because there are a lot of open-source tools that really make that data usable,” Mr. Gundersen said. These include the mapping tool he used to build Stumble Safely and also a site for the United States Agency for International Development that maps public health clinics.

Not to mention the awesome photo of Eric and his fixed gear bike from Mission Bicycle in front of Stetson’s Bar that accompanies the article.