Visualisation is the name of the game. It is the art of bringing life to boring statistics, getting them to jump off dense grey text into colourful graphics that will actually make sense.
That is why the United Nations has linked up with Google's innovative Public Data Explorer to feature its latest Human Development Index (HDI) and its extensive Human Development Report (HDR) database. The application is also available at >http://hdr.undp.org/en/data/explorer .
Simply speaking, the UNDP shares its data with Google's Public Data Explorer, which will allow individuals to create their own visualisations of data relevant to them. “The actual process is a little more complex than that,” says William Orme, HDR, Chief, Communications & Publishing.
“Our data works with their systems, going back and forth. A team of highly professional statisticians collect the data, put them together, and code them for cross references.” The UN team did an intensive test on the Google application before going live.
“Making this information more accessible through Google gives Internet users everywhere a compelling new way to see the trends and patterns in human development today and over time,” says Jeni Klugman, director, UNDP's Human Development Report office. “This brings the HDI graphically to life.”
According to Google, its “Public Data Explorer (a project of Google Labs) makes large datasets easy to explore, visualise and communicate.” And the best part? You don't have to be a data expert to do this. Visualisations can be linked online or embedded in the user's own webpages. Embedded charts and links update automatically.
Hans Rosling's Gapminder ( >www.gapminder.org ) is also dedicated to making a fact-based world more interesting. Gapminder World contains, among others, a wealth of data, including colourful visualisations on the wealth and health of nations, and CO2 emissions since 1890.
