WEAVE – a new open source data visualization platform from

The Open Indicators Consortium

PREVIEW:Mary Jo Meisner, Vice President for

Communications, Community Relations & Public Affairs,

The Boston Foundation

Rappaport Institute, Harvard UniversitySeptember 24, 2010

www.bostonindicators.org

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The Open Indicators Consortium

Weaveopen source data visualization developed by students and faculty at

The University of Massachusetts Lowell’s Institute for Visualization & Perception Research and

Center for Industrial Competitiveness

in partnership with Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC), Boston Indicators Project

MA Dept of Early Education and Care, Rhode Island Dept. of Education, Providence Plan,

Arizona, Connecticut, Arizona, MetroChicago, MetroAtlanta, and Columbus/Central Ohio

Founding Members:

1. Arizona (Innovation and County Indicators, State University of Arizona)

2. Connecticut (City of New Haven, Multiple State Agencies, UConn)

3. Rhode Island (Rhode Island Dept. of Education, Providence Plan)

4. Massachusetts (MA Dept. of Early Education and Care

5. MetroAtlanta (Neighborhood Nexus – Atlanta Regional Council, Community Foundation, United Way, Emory University)

6. MetroBoston (Boston Indicators Project at the Boston Foundation, Metropolitan Area Planning Council)

7. MetroChicago (Chicago Metropolitan Agency for Planning - CMAP)

8. MetroColumbus/Central Ohio (Community Research Partners)

Goal: A high-performance open source data visualization platform to:

– expand access to public data

– enable comparisons in nested geographies - micro to macro

– promote transparency, accountability

– foster greater insight and collaboration with respect to complex patterns and challenges

– stimulate open source innovation

Rhode Island; School Characteristics & Student Performance

Foreclosures by Boston Census Tract

Countries with Gini Ratio above .51

This Map Shows that a Gini Ratio of .51 and above is quite high even among Developing Countries for which there is reliable data.

New England Counties, Gini Ratio, 2007-2009

Fairfield County Gini ratio: .54

Suffolk County Gini ratio: .51

Lincoln County Gini ratio: .48

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Suffolk County was one of just 47 of 3200 US counties with a Gini ratio >.51 (2007-2009)

WHAT WERE WE THINKING? Obesity Rates by States,1997

WHAT WERE WE THINKING? Obesity Rates by States, 2007

Projected release:

• Version 0.8.7 being beta tested by founding partners;

• Soft release of Version 1.0 in late 2010; hard launch in February 2011

– free to the nonprofit and public sectors, with licensing required only for commercial use but we do need to support core functions and quality control of innovations

• Versions 2.0 and 3.0 in late 2011 and 2012 with additional features and innovations