Susie Cambria's List: Data

Some great examples of the kind of data DC should be making public.

The promise is great. If we can interpret and apply the information we have access to in an intelligent way, we could solve many issues – such as how to cut waste in our food supply chains, make it easy to move around our megacities, or turn our gas-guzzling homes into smart systems.

But for some, it’s more than mere problem-solving: it’s a form of art. Take David McCandless, Founder of Information is Beautiful: a book, online platform and – arguably – an aesthetic movement. His aim is to create data visualisations which reveal the “hidden connections, patterns and stories” in the world. Recent examples, including one which charts the decline of North Atlantic fish stocks from 1900-2000, and another showing the risk to major cities of sea level rise, are worth a thousand words about climate change…

For Hugh Knowles, Principal Sustainability Advisor for Forum of the Future, this issue of presentation is the question of the data age. Data by itself is overwhelming, he argues. But if your aim is to use the data to incite more sustainable patterns of behaviour, making it look pretty isn’t enough:

“Even the most beautiful visualisation has to be given cultural relevance if it’s going to encourage sustainable change”, says Knowles. “If you can make data meaningful within the community, through comparison or by giving it a social context, then you have a chance to create behaviour change on a long-term basis.”