Data USA is the free platform that provides easy access to the troves of U.S. federal data made available to the public.
MIT Media Lab in collaboration with Deloitte and Datawheel brings the project to life, and it's touted as one of the "most comprehensive visualization engine for shared U.S. government data to date."
"The U.S. government offers almost 200,000 data sets for public use, often out of reach for the average citizen. Data USA transforms these datasets into stories, pioneering a new breed of user-friendly government data sites that we urgently need," César Hidalgo, director of Macro Connections and a professor at the MIT Media Lab, says.
Director of Economics at Deloitte Dr. Patricia Buckley says that Data USA will turn the data into stories, ranging from the educational institutions and industries to the people, jobs and places.
For instance, if the user types in "California," then it'll pull up comprehensive information about the state, including the 38.8 million population, the $61,933 median household income and the 36 median age. It even goes into further detail, listing down the wage by gender, the most common occupations and most specialized industries, to name a few. As the crème de la crème, it presents the data in graphs, charts and whatnot.
This tool is particularly useful for business owners who want to conduct a feasibility study in a certain area, students who want to plan out their career better and even public health professionals who need to observe patterns of diseases across the country. On that note, everyone can benefit from it, including journalists and researchers.
"Our team, comprised of economists, data scientists, designers, researchers and business executives, worked for over a year with input from policymakers, government officials and everyday citizens to develop Data USA," the companies say.
Watch the video below for a closer look of what Data USA can offer.
