About Us


Official Data is a website based in San Mateo, California that seeks to collect and process government data for the benefit of the public. Our vision is for technology to enable citizens to understand their government and make important life decisions based on facts.

The site is maintained by Ian Webster, a computer scientist and engineer who has worked for Google, NASA, and 10+ governments around the world on public-sector data pipelines and analysis. It would not be possible without the contributions of readers like you as well as public data sources such as the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, EPA, and NHTSA.

This site is a public benefit provided by Alioth LLC, which has worked with organizations such as NASA, SETI, and UCSF to create websites and visualizations that bring complex data to the fingertips of internet users.

Our work has produced results. Our data and visualizations are viewed by millions of people every month. Our work has appeared in major publications like the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post. It is also frequently cited in various internet media such as Engadget, Entrepreneur.com, Salon.com, Business Insider, and so on.

From the economy to transportation to space policy, we're dedicated to making government information open and accessible to the public. Thank you for your support.