Getting on the Same Page - By John Moore

Government managers are no strangers to the challenge of trying to combine data stored in different systems into a more useful composite picture. The task is even more complex because the systems housing this data were usually not built with flexibility and sharing in mind. 

The emergence of so-called mashups represents a new take on this old problem. Mashups are Web applications that pull together select data and software functionality from two or more sources. Mashups, considered a segment of Web 2.0 technology, come in two flavors: consumer and enterprise mashups.