8 Android Apps The Government Can Get Into

Jenifer Reinhardt

MARLBOROUGH, Mass. - January 15, 2010 - In October, OhMyGov! reported some of the ways that the government was using the latest technology available on iPhone. Applications such as Congress +, FBI Most Wanted, and the US Citizen Test brought government information to the fingertips of iPhone owners everywhere. Unfortunately, for all but Apple, every application written for iPhone has to be either written by them or approved by them and that limits variety and competition.

That is why the new Verizon Wireless Droid is making government agencies stand up and take notice. According to John Breeden II of Government Computer News the best way to explain the new droid is that it is an iPhone without all of Apple's restrictions. That is good news for the feds because being able to create apps from an open source, Android OS, will allow for unlimited options

Already there are examples of government use of this new technology. Federal employees, contractors, businesses and regular citizens have started the process of building new apps that use available government information. Here are eight examples that show the potential of the technology:

1. Let's go ahead and start at the head of the food chain, so to speak. There is an application for WhiteHouse.gov that is an unofficial source of Presidential scoop. With this app you can find White House blogs, photos, You Tube streams, and information from Recovery.gov.
2. An agency that is absolutely always in the forefront when it comes to taking advantage of new technology, the Department of Defense, has done so here too. Army Major Keith Powell recently said that the Army Knowledge Online's new Go Mobile Program was perpetuating a bottoms up approach to finding solutions to problems. Soldiers can actually write the application themselves in order to get a job done.
3. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is full of geeks who get it and the proof is in the too cool SkyMap by Google for Android phones. Imagine being able to point your cell phone at any part in the sky and have it identify what in the heck you're looking at. For those of us who can't retain a star map in our heads, this is the app for us.
4.  
5. For the weather nuts out there, it is now possible to download a droid application that will provide regular updates from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and Google weather. Now you'll never have to wonder if that really is rain falling on your head. 
6. On a more serious note, the government contractor Raytheon has created their new Raytheon Android Tactical System or RATS. It is a battlefield networking system that allows soldiers in the field to connect with other soldiers. A soldier will now be able to do real-time recon, find friendly units, and photo analysis. This could be one of the most helpful tools developed for the military in years, or a complete intelligence disaster if the app fell into enemy hands.
7. If getting up to the minute updates on congressional members and their activities is something that you actually enjoy, or at least need, then there is an app for you too. At Sunlight Labs they have developed an app that will provide you with that information along with congressional twits, oops, I mean tweets, and YouTube feeds. Have fun. 
8. Need to know more about what diseases may be lurking in your neck of the woods? Then Skyscape has an application that will answer your questions. Skyscape uses three resources for medical information and has a MedAlert service where you can easily add free channels like the Center for Disease Control and Prevention spotlights. 
9. Although still under development by the Department of Homeland Security and NASA, there is an application that will allow for your Droid or iPhone to sniff the surrounding air for chemical and biological agents. The Cell-All program hopes to use the mobile devices to sniff out the threat and then use their internal GPS capabilities to locate and analyze the scope of the attack.