[okfn-labs] making open data consumable

Tue Apr 15 13:32:38 UTC 2014

I don't follow this group closely, however I am interested in the idea of open data.

I
 think open data should move beyond excel/pdf/spreadsheets.  I think 
technology (visualization/analytics) has progressed a lot in the last 
few years.  To take advantage of the technology, the data should be 
represented in a digitally consumable form.  I think you can convert 
excel/pdf to json with little effort (some effort is required).  The 
returns on that are many fold.  

I wrote a blog post on how I converted the Singapore 2014 budget to JSON  files - http://revelutions.com/?p=461  

If you'd like to see how the data is used take a look at another blog post http://revelutions.com/?p=454 
 In this post I have created a visualization using the data.  Note this 
works better on a laptop/desktop, since I have tooltips which show the 
values.  

(The key concept in converting to JSON is preserving the
 heirarchy in the data.  See this sample : 
http://revelutions.com/budgets/moh.json - I think people on the okfn labs don't need to be told this).

- Nilanjan

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Revelutions

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