Customer's problem.
* All the post offices in the Phoenix area have a backlog of weeks for passport applications in the Summer.
* All appointments are made by telephone. A web interface is not available.
* The various post offices do not have an integrated appointment backend.
* Customer data is subject to the 1974 Privacy Act.
Suggestion.
*Build an enterprise grade, web front end, business logic, and data bases (GIS, acceptance facility [post office], customer, and calendar) to support passport appointment in Maricopa and Pinal counties.
*Also may need phone room and telephone appointment interfaces.
Pros.
*Enterprise size problem with room for expansion (eg. California) will chalenge contributors at all levels.
*Affordable secure appointment systems are widely needed, and should be commodity grade software. (FOSS appointment software exists for medical practices and may be a reasonable starting point.)
*Solves passport consumer customer service problem.
*Matches consumer demand to appointment availability in geographic area.
*Government qualifies as a charity.
Cons.
*Largely transactional, so a poor fit for big data project (Hadoop).
*Not a novel project. (There is other FOSS appointment software).
*The government is not a particularly charitable charity.
*Neither the US Postal Service nor the US Department of State have actually agreed to work on the project.
*To actually see real customer data (say alpha phase), the participant would need a security clearance, as would the development ecology.
Trent.