As I have been preparing my introductory remarks for my spring classes I have been trying to gather fresh data, and create new charts, and maps. So I was initially pleased to see that IMF and World Bank have put up some new mashups which combine their data sets with interactive maps and charts.
I kind of like the
IMF's Data Mapper which has a relatively intuitive user interface. However, the program does tend to freeze up if you change your mind in the middle of making a map. You can export the maps and charts (in spreadsheet format), but the range of variables is still very limited for any serious research. Personally, I still prefer to use their
World Economic Outlook Database which generates files in spreadsheet format and has a wider range of variables. However, Data Mapper might be of some use for students looking to get an impressionistic survey of levels of development and financial stability in different countries and regions.
The World Bank recently launched a beta version of
Geo, which is a rather explicit mashup with Google maps. I am a bit disappointed by this feature so far for two reasons: 1) the level of complexity in writing this program is only slightly more sophisticated than something I could write - so the program looks a bit amateur from a technical standpoint; 2) the sub-national country level data is nonexistent. For example, at the moment the most that you can learn by clicking on the icon on New Delhi is that India is a low income country and there are 226 World Bank projects in India. You can get an RSS feed inside the information bubble as well. It would be infinitely more useful to see graphically where each project is being carried out. It would also be useful for the news feed bubbles to be linked dynamically to the exact location of a particular project. My hunch is that adding this level of detail might be politically sensitive, since the World Bank's activities in recent years tend to pile-on to states that are already lifting themselves up by their own
boot er... chappal straps.
So once again, I think it makes more sense for a researcher to stick with the World Bank's general
Data and Research portal.
I should add that the Bank's
Doing Business map also has a lot of potential but has yet to deliver. The map essentially generates the same level of detail as the Geo map, i.e. one icon per country with a bubble cloud containing lots of raw data. It might be more useful to generate a map like the IMF one which is color coded by range on a scale. And again, the maps would be more useful if they went into more depth at the subnational level. What most political "small-n" researchers, investors, and development workers want to know is which sub-national state or city is making the most or least progress. Most of us already know the income levels and aggregate indicators of a country we are researching.
The Bank's
MDG Atlas does a better job of providing data that is color coded but they have opted for a slick interface at the expense of real usability. Honestly, I just can't read half the stuff that the program lists because the font is too small and the color scheme does not work.
The IMF and World Bank need to sit their programmers down with real political economists, development workers, ngo's, and economists to see how they actually use the data. Moreover, it would be useful for the these meetings to take place in Cairo, Dhaka, or Patna instead of New York, London, or Chicago.
The current mashups will only be useful to students just getting a lay of the land and (maybe) those toiling away at "large-n" research.
Labels: development, political economy, research, web technology