Alec Palmer, CIO for the Federal Election Commission had a clear mandate from his business side: Our database presentation tool doesn't serve the public well. Fix it. And he did, in-house, with no extra staff, for $12,000, in 6 weeks, using a map-based tool from Corda. Doesn’t fit your existing perception of government IT? Maybe you can learn a few things from his approach. And thanks to his project, any citizen can now learn who's funding what presidential campaigns -- much easier than was previously possible. The new interactive tool launches publicly today, take a peek here.

The FEC administers U.S. law regarding campaign funding, including limits and rules regarding donations by individuals, political action committees, and campaign groups. It also shares the relevant campaign funding data regarding presidential and congressional campaigns with the public. Prior to this effort, the FEC already had a database of donation data online, but it wasn't pretty, says Palmer. If you wanted to do research, "you could do it but it took many, many steps," he says.

The revamped database tool achieves a goal that many CIOs would like to emulate: Take key data for business side or external customers and present it in an attractive, useful way on the Web. The new database tool lets you click on a map of the United States to drill down on presidential campaign contributions by candidate name, state, or even zip code. You can sort the data in numerous intuitive ways.

So if, for example, you want to research how Rudy Giuliani's contributions are stacking up against Mitt Romney's in your home zip code, this tool is just the ticket. It's also a good choice if, say, you want to see who your town's mayor is supporting financially. All the data cuts and pastes to Excel. (Previously, all you would have had available was a list of contributors for each candidate, in alphabetical order, but not sortable by geography.)

In the late summer or early fall, the FEC will roll out a second tool, using the same technology, with congressional election funding data.

What's interesting about this project? It's not data that's been buried. Several public interest groups, namely the Center for Responsive Politics are tracking 2008 presidential campaign dollars. Also, the New York Times has a similar campaign funding map, (coincidentally, built using

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