Mobile Phones and International Developement
The World Bank Open Data Project - A Data Visualization
A data visualization that explores available economic and infrastructure data offered by The World Bank's Open Data project.
The Dataset
USING THE WORLD BANK OPEN DATA SET
Because of the complexity of the available, overlapping data in the World Bank’s Open Data Set, I used the platform to generate a custom dataset that would make it easy to compare internet and mobile phone usage across the world. After parsing through the data, I narrowed the available datasets down to small list of interesting areas of research, around digital access and micro and macro economic activities. I then assembled a dataset that identified technology start-ups across the world with keywords based on the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.
The Hypothesis
So much data, so many questions
I brainstormed a long list of questions that data might be able to provide answers or insights for.
- Does access to technology increase a country’s ability to produce goods and services?
- Do free trade agreements lead to an increase in internet access or mobile phone usage?
- What changes in governmental regulation of technology impact a businesses access to credit?
I settled on seeking answers to the question:
"How does mobile phone access
impact business development
across the world?"
The Visualization
An interactive map brings the data to life
Using a cholopleth map, I assigned colors to each value range for the data set and mapped those colors to each country. I then assigned content modules to display the corresponding start-up business data.