Google teams with Gapminder to deliver an interactive service which allows you to see all sorts of interactive Global statistics ranging from life expectancy to internet usage and more.
Gapminder is a non-profit venture for development and provision of free software that visualizes human development. This is done in collaboration with universities, UN organizations, public agencies and non-governmental organizations.
“It all started in 1998 from an idea to enhance the understanding of world health. We developed prototype software showing time series of health statistics as moving graphics and varying life conditions as 360° photo panoramas from homes, schools and health facilities.”
I think it’s important, especially for those of us living in first world nations, to realize how different the world is in terms of access to basic needs ranging from medical care (physicians per 1,000 people) to communication (phone usage per 1,000 people, internet usage per 1,000 people) to sexual equality (ratio of girls to boys in school, % of women in the workforce). Sometimes it really puts things in perspective.
