The below sample Dashboard reflects publicly available information from government websites, including the Government Printing Office (GPO), Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), Minnesota Fed, and World Bank. Index Analytics gathered and integrated this information into a data model and then presented it to the MicroStrategy Business Intelligence tool for visualization. The Dashboard’s goal is to consolidate key metrics from federal government data and present them on a single screen for public consumption.
The top left quadrant of the Dashboard presents a graph of the total revenues and expenditures of the federal government. The slide bar at the top of the graph can be adjusted to view the information for different time periods between 1980 and 2011. Other metrics are available beneath the time slider. Check or uncheck the checkboxes next to them to gather additional insights.
On the top right quadrant, you can track the monthly unemployment rate in different U.S. states since 1976. Use the year slider on the top of the map and the month slider on the left to focus on a specific month. Hovering on a state displays additional information around the unemployment rate for that state at that point of time.
The bottom left of the screen presents the revenues the federal government receives in different categories. Use the same time slider from the top left quadrant to select the time period to track in the bottom left quadrant.
The bottom right quadrant tracks major categories of expenditures the federal government incurred over a period of time. The “play” button on this graph shows bubble values using a time series animation. The horizontal axis of the graph represents the amount of the expenditure, whereas the vertical axis represents the change in the expenditure incurred on an annual basis. The size of the bubble represents the percentage that particular expenditure category contributes to the overall total. Additional controls beneath the graph enable the user to select a particular expenditure category on which to focus.
