Next month starts one of the more interesting courses related to Information Visualization in Spain. The University Pompeu Fabra (Barcelona) offers again, after a first successful edition, the Postgraduate in Information Visualization.

I did it myself last year and I recommend it to everyone interested in this field. From the teaching staff to the academic contents and methodology, all I can say are good reviews. Have a look to its website if you are interested.

At the end of the course we had to create a project of a non-trivial information visualisation based on the knowledge and assignments completed as part of the postgraduate. So my group created a blog to cover and explain all the work done, here below you can find the links (in spanish) for more info:

• Blog – “En 12 pasos”
• The visualization

Which is the best way to visualize effectively a train timetable? Well probably there is a lot of ways to visualize this kind of data, and one of them is using the stem-and-leaf plot (called also stemplot). Using this technique the amount of data to display (hours and minutes) can be reduced.

Why are the stem-and-leaf plots useful in that case? This kind of plot is a method for showing the frequency with which certain classes of values occur. You could achieve the same by making a frequency distribution table or a histogram for the values, or you can use a stem-and-leaf plot and let the numbers themselves to show pretty much the same information.

Lately I’m pleasantly surprised due to two great initiatives which demonstrate the interest that has Catalunya for the world of the open data and the data visualization.

The first one demonstrates how the catalan government is sensible about the value of providing data to the general public, businesses and other organisations so they would be able to re-use public sector data and create value.

The second one is from my point of view such an awesome project that needs an entire post but for the moment, remember that name and its concept: Impure, a visual programming interface designed to give non-programmers access to professional tools for data visualization. Users can use it to process and display data from social media feeds, financial information and more.

Let’s go back to the first initiative:

Government of Catalonia Open Data Project

The government of Catalonia has launched Gencat Open Data, an open government data portal where information of a public nature is published with the goal of fostering the use and reuse of information that comes from the administration. This portal groups together all the Government’s open data initiatives into a single catalogue, and adds the most important information associated with them for reuse purposes.

That’s the book I’m currently reading and if you are interested in the field of the Data Visualization, this book is a good starting point.

The author is Ben Fry, the founder (with Casey Reas) of Processing, a programming language, and development environment. Initially created to serve as a software sketchbook and to teach fundamentals of computer programming within a visual context, Processing quickly developed into a tool for creating finished professional work as well.