The White House is joining Data Foundation’s annual #opendata conference

Hey, federal open data enthusiasts — here’s one for you.
Data Transparency 2016 (DT2016), the Data Foundation’s fourth annual open data policy conference, will convene at the Washington Convention Center on Sept. 28. As in previous years, the conference “will bring together government leaders, transparency advocates, and the technology industry to transform government information from disconnected documents into open data.”
This year’s event will be slightly different in a couple ways, though. First, it is the first edition of the conference hosted by the Data Foundation, an organization that only launched this winter. Previous editions have been hosted by the Foundation’s sister organization, the Data Coalition.
Second, and perhaps more importantly, this conference will also include the first-ever White House Open Data Innovation Summit.
What’s the White House Open Data Innovation Summit, you ask? According to an announcement, the summit will aim to “showcase the power of data in tackling the biggest challenges of our democracy, creating positive change and strengthening the broader civic community.”

NEW:@WhiteHouse to host 1st-ever Open Data Innovation Summit at Data Transparency 2016 on Sept.28 in #DC!! https://t.co/4MohvDrzlS #Data2016

— Data Foundation (@data_foundation) August 22, 2016

The Obama Administration has been continuously interested in open government and open data (“Open data is core to President Obama’s leadership and legacy,” an announcement of the summit declares). Thus, participating in this conference is a chance to demonstrate how leaders are working toward this goal.
The White House-sponsored summit will be one of three tracks at DT2016, joined by tracks on Open Data in Management and Open Data in Regulation.
More information on, and registration for, Data Transparency 2016 can be found here.