Todd Park Invites Food & Tech Innovators to the Health Datapalooza

Danielle Gould | Forbes | March 20, 2012

At Food+Tech Connect, we often write about how the food tech community, particularly startups, can benefit from open government data. Just as open data has been used to fuel multi-billion dollar industries in other sectors, like the weather industry that uses raw satellite data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has spent the last few years nurturing entrepreneurial innovation in the health space through open government data. And now, they are looking to engage food and nutrition innovators.

“Food and nutrition related issues are a critical driver of health and well being,” commented Todd Park, chief technology officer of HSS by email. “The growth of the food tech community, along with the release of new food and health data sources, can give consumers new tools to help them make more informed choices about the food they eat, and ultimately their health. Innovators can help drive change by empowering consumers through the use of new technologies, making now an incredible time to be an innovator in this space...”