Tools for Visualisation

[flyankur]

Data visualization platforms

• DataMarket - portal to share and sell datasets via download and API with powerful visualization options that can be embedded
• Knoema - portal to share datasets publicly or privately via download and API with powerful visualization options that can be embedded
• Tableau Public - free tool to create powerful visualizations and embed them on websites
• Many Eyes - powered by IBM, provides visualization options that can be shared and embedded
• Datamarket - fundamentally a data marketplace, but enables visualizing those data
• ArcGIS.com - upload, save and share your own data, mash up with other data sources. Drag & drop point data. Embed maps on your website
• Google Maps - map your data and make them findable
• Google Fusion Tables - visualize and publish maps, timelines and charts

Data publishing platforms

• Socrata - provide open data services and platforms
• CKAN - open source data portal platform, provided by the Open Knowledge Foundation
• Open Government Platform - basically Data.gov in a box, providing open source tools to launch a data sharing platform
• European Open Government Data Initiative (OGDI) solution - set of software tools to publish data and host them on Microsoft Cloud, mostly aimed at governments
• DevInfo - UN endorsed tool that helps organize, store and present data
• Space-Time Research - analytics and visualization solutions that help share data
• Tableau Software - visualization platform that can be used to share indicator data
• Voyager GIS - cataloguing tool for GIS data, includes option to create portal for internal and external data sharing

Data visualization frameworks (coding required)

• D3 - innovative visualization framework enabling manipulation of documents based on data, JavaScript-based (created by the creators of Protovis); powerful tool but requires somewhat sophisticated coding skills
• Tributary - simple interface for live coding of D3 (see changes to the code come to life immediately)
• Highcharts - charting library in JavaScript for intuitive, interactive charts; a bit easier to use than D3 but more limited in its chart options (line, spline, area, areaspline, column, bar, pie and scatter chart); to visualize timeline, use Highstock.
• StatPlanet - free software to create interactive maps and charts; the free version supports 5 indicators, the full version, StatPlanet Plus, also adds functionality and can be used for free for non-commercial purposes
• Raphaël - visualization library simplifying vector graphics; JavaScript based, uses SVG and VML as base
• Kartograph - mapping framework that works with vector graphics rather than tiles, JavaScript-based
• MetaLayer - discover and share insights from data via infographics
• WEAVE - Web-based analysis and visualization environment
• Processing - layer on top of Java/OpenGL to create images, animations, and interactions, but limited widget support (open source)
• The Miso Project - set of JavaScript libraries that enables the processes of managing data, building reusable components, and authoring narratives; first release: Dataset, a JavaScript client-side data transformation and management library
• Clear maps

GIS packages (coding required)

• PostGIS - spatially enables PostgreSQL server
• Mapbox - map your data on streetmaps provided by OpenStreetMap
• Tilemill - design studio to create maps, powered by MapBox
• Leaflet - JavaScript library to create interactive maps
• MapBox - cloud based platform to store and share maps
• Health Mapper - created by WHO, aimed at public health officials
• Esri ArcGIS suite / GeoIQ
• GeoNode
• InstantAtlas

Data tools: conversion, exploration, analysis

• Microsoft Excel - still the standard for many as the easy first stop to review data
• Data Science Toolkit - collection of useful tools to extract and convert test, GIS and other data (my overview here)
• ScraperWiki - provides software and instructions to extract data and information from web sites
• Google Refine - clean, organize, refine (duh!) and explore your new datasets,  great for exploring new datasets
• Data Wrangler- helps transform messy data into nicely formatted table for user in analysis and visualization software
• Overview - clean, visualize and interactively explore large documents and data set (started by AP)
• The PANDA Project - the new newsroom data appliance
• Stat/Transfer - converts data between formats of statstical analysis packages
• Epi Info - free software package from CDC that provides data collection, advanced statistical analyses, and GIS mapping capability
• VistaMetrix - extract data from any graphic by selecting which points to capture in an overlay; works on pictures and video
• csvkit - performs search, query, filter and other operations on csv files; enables SQL-style joins on csv files

Mobile data collection

• Open Data Kit (ODK) - University of Washington based research group developing an innovative, open source platform to enable mobile data collection
• Frontline SMS
• Medic Mobile - enables data collection via regular phones via SIM apps; extends existing open-source platforms, including FrontlineSMS, OpenMRS, Ushahidi, Google Apps, and HealthMap

Data service providers

• Captricity - start-up that helps turning paper into data, based on Shreddr technology
• Amazon Mechanical Turk - crowdsourcing
• CrowdFlower - crowdsourcing
• MobileWorks - crowdsourcing
• Metadata Technology - providing metadtata solutions and services, focus on DDI and SDMX
• Integrated Data Management Services - providing support for data management, documentation, standardization and more
• Muller Media - rescuing data from old tapes or discs, data conversions and migrations

Source - Health data innovation toolbox

Good Implementations

• Visualise US elections
• Altas Project - More here
• TheBallet.in
• TheBallet.Org - Very Interesting.
• Google Election Centre
• This US Budget Visualization Tool Unveils the Government's Inner Workings
  *USATODAY - Elections - Live results
  *World Bank - Open Data

More Sources of Inspiration

• Development seed projects
• US Data
• 5 ways to visualise elections
• 4 ways to visualise voters sentiment

[drecodeam]

This is pretty cool - http://misoproject.com/dataset/
Actually this whole project is pretty cool - Seems like we have found a solution. It's built on D3 and has support for data and storyboarding. Let's look at it in detail.

[drecodeam]

Read this to understand what is lacking in D3, and what we would have to build. It basically shows examples of combining graphs, animating them, modifying them in run time - http://weblog.bocoup.com/reusability-with-d3/

[flyankur]

Graphite - Scalable Realtime Graphing