{"id":1735,"slug":"gps-civilian-1983-noaa-weather-1970s","title":"GPS opened for civilian use after KAL 007 (1983); NOAA began releasing weather data in the 1970s — McKinsey cites both as top open-data economic impact","kind":"reference","scope":"business","status":"current","audiences":["kevin","candid-team"],"topics":["open-data","web-tech-history"],"reference_body":"**Claim:** Reagan directive after the **KAL 007 shootdown (1983)** opened GPS for civilian use; **NOAA** began releasing weather data in the **1970s**. **McKinsey** cited GPS + NWS weather as two of the biggest economic-impact open datasets.\n\n**Source:** Wikipedia \"Open data in the US.\"\n\n**Confidence:** Verified.\n\n**Why this matters for Candid:** Establishes that the \"data became free\" story predates the dot-com era — the foundation was laid decades earlier. The 2009 data.gov launch built on this existing posture, it didn't invent it. Pair with [[nws-weather-api-free-no-key]] (the modern API surface).","rationale_body":null,"metadata":null,"links":{"outgoing":[],"incoming":[{"slug":"research-brief-falling-cost-floor-real-web-functionality-smb-june-2026","title":"Research brief: the falling cost floor of \"real\" web functionality for SMBs (June 2026)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"datagov-launched-may-2009-47-datasets","title":"data.gov launched May 21, 2009 with 47 datasets — now 370,000+ (with >2,000 removed Jan 2025)","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"},{"slug":"nws-weather-api-free-no-key","title":"NWS/NOAA api.weather.gov — free public REST/JSON API, no key, no registration, no rate-limit account","kind":"reference","scope":"business","link_type":"relates-to"}]},"created_at":"2026-06-21T13:17:00.628Z","updated_at":"2026-06-21T13:17:00.628Z"}