14 DAY TRIAL // Google is expanding the usefulness of its Public Data Explorer tool by finally enabling regular users to upload their own data for analysis, visualization and sharing. There is already a wealth of data from reliable sources in the Google Public Data Explorer, but this should make the tool a valuable resource to a lot more people.
"Today, we’re opening the Public Data Explorer to your data. We’re making a new data format, the Dataset Publishing Language (DSPL), openly available, and providing an interface for anyone to upload their datasets," Omar Benjelloun, Technical Lead in the Google Public Data Team, announced.
You have to prepare the data to make it viewable in the Public Data Explorer, but after that you can upload your data set to explore it visually or share it with others. You can also use the tools provided to embed it on other sites or blogs.
The data has to formatted using DSPL, but Google says all it takes is a XML file with metadata for your existing CSV data sets.
"DSPL is an XML-based format designed from the ground up to support rich, interactive visualizations like those in the Public Data Explorer. The DSPL language and upload interface are available in Google Labs," Benjelloun explained.
Google has been working on this for a while now, gradually introducing new features and tools. Initially, it started adding data sets to its search results, enabling users to find the number and stats they were looking for without having to go through various websites and pages to find and compile them.
About a year ago, the Google Public Data Explorer was launched in Labs to enable users to visualize the info, making it easier to understand huge data sets. This also made the data more appealing for presentations and making it available for a wider audience.
"Together with our data provider partners, we’ve curated 27 datasets including more than 300 data metrics," Google said. With the latest expansion, the amount of data available should increase significantly.