"You can access NDFD elements via file transfer protocol (ftp), http, eXtensible Markup Language (XML), or web browser. Links to the data, supporting information and software are listed below:…"

The government’s use of public cloud services got a boost this summer with the General Services Administration decision to sign a $28.1 million enterprise license agreement with Salesforce.com.

The five-year deal covers Salesforce’s customer relationship management modules, Force.com development platform and Chatter collaboration suite and can be used by GSA’s 17,000 employees, GSA and Salesforce officials said.

"Microtasking" approaches like the one being used by the State Department do just that. They employ technology platforms to distribute small, discrete tasks to online workers. A slew of organizations are popping up to dole out microtasks to willing global good citizens. Organizations have discovered crowd power in everything from charitable donations (Crowdrise) to human intelligence tasks (Amazon Mechanical Turk).