The Disappearance of COVID-19 Data Dashboards: The Case of Ephemeral Data
Data dashboards provide a means for sharing multiple data products at a glance and were ubiquitous during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data dashboards tracked global and country-specific statistics and provided cartographic visualizations of cases, deaths, vaccination rates and other metrics. We examined...
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MDPI AG
2025-01-01
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| Series: | COVID |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-8112/5/1/12 |
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| author | Melinda Laituri Yogya Kalra Chaowei Yang |
| author_facet | Melinda Laituri Yogya Kalra Chaowei Yang |
| author_sort | Melinda Laituri |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Data dashboards provide a means for sharing multiple data products at a glance and were ubiquitous during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data dashboards tracked global and country-specific statistics and provided cartographic visualizations of cases, deaths, vaccination rates and other metrics. We examined the role of geospatial data on COVID-19 dashboards in the form of maps, charts, and graphs. We organize our review of 193 COVID-19 dashboards by region and compare the accessibility and operationality of dashboards over time and the use of web maps and geospatial visualizations. We found that of the dashboards reviewed, only 17% included geospatial visualizations. We observe that many of the COVID-19 dashboards from our analysis are no longer accessible (66%) and consider the ephemeral nature of data and dashboards. We conclude that coordinated efforts and a call to action to ensure the standardization, storage, and maintenance of geospatial data for use on data dashboards and web maps are needed for long-term use, analyses, and monitoring to address current and future public health and other challenging issues. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-ebc29fb124194248a5651cfc7179d8d8 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 2673-8112 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-01-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | COVID |
| spelling | doaj-art-ebc29fb124194248a5651cfc7179d8d82025-01-24T13:27:58ZengMDPI AGCOVID2673-81122025-01-01511210.3390/covid5010012The Disappearance of COVID-19 Data Dashboards: The Case of Ephemeral DataMelinda Laituri0Yogya Kalra1Chaowei Yang2Department of Ecosystem Science and Sustainability, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, CO 80523, USADepartment of Science, University of Western Ontario, London, ON N6A 5B7, CanadaNSF Spatiotemporal Innovation Center, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030, USAData dashboards provide a means for sharing multiple data products at a glance and were ubiquitous during the COVID-19 pandemic. Data dashboards tracked global and country-specific statistics and provided cartographic visualizations of cases, deaths, vaccination rates and other metrics. We examined the role of geospatial data on COVID-19 dashboards in the form of maps, charts, and graphs. We organize our review of 193 COVID-19 dashboards by region and compare the accessibility and operationality of dashboards over time and the use of web maps and geospatial visualizations. We found that of the dashboards reviewed, only 17% included geospatial visualizations. We observe that many of the COVID-19 dashboards from our analysis are no longer accessible (66%) and consider the ephemeral nature of data and dashboards. We conclude that coordinated efforts and a call to action to ensure the standardization, storage, and maintenance of geospatial data for use on data dashboards and web maps are needed for long-term use, analyses, and monitoring to address current and future public health and other challenging issues.https://www.mdpi.com/2673-8112/5/1/12COVID-19 pandemicgeospatial datamapsdata dashboardsgeospatial dataephemeral data |
| spellingShingle | Melinda Laituri Yogya Kalra Chaowei Yang The Disappearance of COVID-19 Data Dashboards: The Case of Ephemeral Data COVID COVID-19 pandemic geospatial data maps data dashboards geospatial data ephemeral data |
| title | The Disappearance of COVID-19 Data Dashboards: The Case of Ephemeral Data |
| title_full | The Disappearance of COVID-19 Data Dashboards: The Case of Ephemeral Data |
| title_fullStr | The Disappearance of COVID-19 Data Dashboards: The Case of Ephemeral Data |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Disappearance of COVID-19 Data Dashboards: The Case of Ephemeral Data |
| title_short | The Disappearance of COVID-19 Data Dashboards: The Case of Ephemeral Data |
| title_sort | disappearance of covid 19 data dashboards the case of ephemeral data |
| topic | COVID-19 pandemic geospatial data maps data dashboards geospatial data ephemeral data |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2673-8112/5/1/12 |
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