 F. van Cappelle, StatPlanet developer,
and R. B. Zoellick, President of the World Bank |
Recognition for data visualization for development
|
StatPlanet, initiated at IIEP, won first prize in a World Bank competition
StatPlanet World Bank, developed by Frank van Cappelle* when he was an IIEP staff member, has won first prize in the World Bank’s “Apps for Development” competition. The application enables researchers to explore and analyse all the 3,000+ indicators available from the World Bank database through interactive maps and graphs.
The judging criteria for the prize included “creativity and originality”, “user experience, design and performance” and the degree to which the application raised awareness of, or contributed to, meeting one or more of the Millennium Development Goals. Among the prominent judges were Shaida Badiee, Director of the Development Data Group at the World Bank, Shanta Devarajan, World Bank’s Chief Economist for the Africa Region, Kannan Pashupathy, Director of Engineering of Google, and Craig Newmark (founder of Craigslist).
More than 107 entries were submitted from 36 countries. The 15 finalists were invited to the World Bank Headquarters (Washington DC), where they were presented with their awards by Robert B. Zoellick, President of the World Bank. In his speech during the awards ceremony, Mr Zoellick praised the winning application, saying "You can use the StatPlanet app to follow the story of development in a specific country over the course of decades."
Using the app for planning education: the example of SACMEQ
StatPlanet World Bank is a useful tool for educational planners and policy-makers who need quick and easy access to relevant data in a format suitable for analyses. StatPlanet World Bank contains a wealth of education data, including data from SACMEQ (Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality), which has its Co-coordinating Centre at IIEP Headquarters. The StatPlanet software on which StatPlanet World Bank is based is already used by ministries of education in SACMEQ countries, and has been customized to display SACMEQ data at both national and sub-national levels. It can be downloaded through the SACMEQ website free of charge. Other organizations using StatPlanet include FAO, UNDP, and UNEP.
* Frank van Cappelle is currently based at the University of Melbourne, Australia.
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