There is probably no bigger dream for a data geek like myself than creating the ultimate data dashboard or scorecard of the world. One that summarizes and enables the analysis of all the data in the world.
Well, for those of you who have also dreamt about this, Kalev H. Leetaru, a senior fellow at the George Washington University Center for Cyber & Homeland Security has tapped into your dreams—and is working on something in this realm. Leetaru, whom some have called “The Wizard of Big Data,” is developing a platform for monitoring and better understanding how human society works.
The project called Global Database of Events, Language, or simply The GDELT Project, is an ambitious endeavor created to “crack” the social numbers of the world, and has the aim of improving our understanding of human society.
As described by the folks at GDELT:
The GDELT Project came from a desire to better understand global human society and especially the connection between communicative discourse and physical societal-scale behavior. The vision of the GDELT Project is to codify the entire planet into a computable format using all available open information sources that provides a new platform for understanding the global world.
To do this, The GDELT Project has collected information dated back to 1979 and keeps updating it regularly, so its catalogs are always fresh. According to GDELT, the project has already more than a quarter billion event records in more than 300 categories. It also keeps up to date a massive network diagram that connects each individual with all existing entities and events in the world, such as locations, organizations, themes, emotions, and other data.
Information is gathered from many sources including: Google, Google ideas, Google News, the Internet Archive, BBC Monitoring, among many others.
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So what makes The GDELT Project so interesting?
Well, it’s a perfect opportunity for data aficionados to lay their hands on social data from around the world in three different ways:
- Using GDELT Analysis Service, a free cloud-based offering that includes tools and services to visualize, explore, and export the data.
- Using the complete dataset available at Google’s Big Query service.
- Downloading data in CSV format.
This allows different types of users to get their hands on the data in the way that suits them best. So, for immediate consumption and analysis, users can go with the first option. Users with more specific requirements or with complex projects can use the data provided by the second or third option.
Whichever way you choose to access the worldwide data, this could be a great opportunity for you, my dear data junkie, to explore and embark upon a data deluge journey for a new school, entrepreneurial, or just playtime project.
This is just a brief intro into really cool project. I’ll update you on major advancements of The GDELT Project as they come along.
In the meantime, I would encourage you to have a look at this nice 20-minute video about The GDELT Project.
As always, you can also drop me a line below. Enjoy.
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