One of the most important promises of open data from government agencies is the potential for greater transparency. As Jeni Tennison, technical director of the Open Data Institute, puts it: Publishing open data is one way of being more transparent about what you're doing. More transparency can help with being more accountable for your decisions [and] help engender trust. Trust and transparency are central to the Consumer Financial...
In my previous post, I explored commonalities found in any given "data project." Here we'll run the first of the five gauntlets: data access. A few moons ago, we visited a customer to talk about some analytics he wanted to explore. Big company. Big ideas. Big IT infrastructure. The idea sounded great and we were happy to help 'em out. "All we need is the XYZ file,"...
At this point, we've all heard the news. Data is growing at an exponential rate. Data is the new oil. Data is a strategic advantage. Data is big. Data is small. Certainly Goldilocks believes her porridge data is jusssst right. Meh. Data is simply a means to an end. So, how does one go from "data is super awesome" to actually getting value from it? Well, it's a...
[Editors note: As a bunch of data geeks, we always enjoy getting our hands dirty exploring interesting data. This is the third of a three-part series on data sets with a story to tell; check out part one and part two. Also, you can find the source data here.] When looking at how well NFL teams perform, we often talk about everything from offensive formations to...
[Editors note: As a bunch of data geeks, we always enjoy getting our hands dirty exploring interesting data. This is the second of a three-part series on data sets with a story to tell; you can find part one here. Also, check out the source data here.] Take a moment to close your eyes and think about the taste of an apple. Sweet, slightly tart and...