Can You Use Big Data to Track an Elephant Poacher? [Interactive Map]
Publisher: Foreign Policy
Author(s): Kalev Leetaru
Date: 2015
Topics: Data and Technologies, Governance, Monitoring and Evaluation, Renewable Resources
Using the Global Database of Events, Language, and Tone (GDELT) Project, which monitors local media around the world (and live-translates it from 65 languages, along with Google's BigQuery system and CartoDB's online mapping platform), this map offers a glimpse through the nearly 30,000 articles relating to wildlife and environmental crime monitored by GDELT from Feb. 19 through June 2. Each dot on the map represents a location mentioned alongside wildlife crime during that period - clicking on a dot will display a list of monitored coverage mentioning that location. A separate live-updating map refreshes every hour and provides a real-time glimpse of the most recent coverage.