Background

The World Health Organization (WHO) embarked on a project to improve the availability of and access to evidence on inequalities in health system performance, including quality of care and the structural determinants of these inequalities. The project’s initial focus was on countries in the European Union.

The aim was to take into account the geographical nature of the regional data and not just to reflect national averages. The WHO team was led by Dr Claudia Stein and also included Drs Enrique Loyola, Ivo Rakovac and Anatoliy Nosikov who are based in Denmark. Dr Loyola explains that the intention was to use data  at the regional (NUTS2) level that was already available and avoid requests for further information. “Part of what we were hoping to achieve was to show that there is already a lot of data out there and that it is often not fully analysed.”

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Background

The East Riding Observatory is an online resource that provides easy access to population, economic, community safety, health and education data for local authorities, partner agencies and communities across the East Riding of Yorkshire. The East Riding Data Observatory is a member of the Humber Data Observatory Group. Other Observatories in this group are: North Lincolnshire Council, North East Lincolnshire and Kingston upon Hull.

Gareth Hughes is senior research officer at the Observatory. He explains that Regional Improvement and Efficiencies Partnership (RIEP) funding was made available and Humber Data Observatory Group members were asked to highlight areas for investment.

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Background

The National Cancer Intelligence Network (NCIN) is a UK-wide initiative, working to drive improvements in standards of care and clinical outcomes by improving data and information collected about cancer patients, producing analyses and enabling and promoting research.

We spoke to Trish Watts at the NCIN who, along with colleague Steve Davies, has been involved in a project to present data relating to cancer in a format that can be easily accessed and understood. The NCIN works with the UK Association of Cancer Registries (UKACR), the organisation of the 11 Cancer Registries which routinely collect data on cancer in the UK, as well as with the NHS and cancer charities.

A vast quantity of information is produced by the NCIN and its partners. Statistics are published on how many people are diagnosed with, or die from cancer and reports are produced on how it affects different groups of people within the UK. For example, how it affects teenagers and young adults, or different ethnic groups.

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Background

The Roanoke Council of Community Services was set up in 1960 to aid the planning of community services in Roanoke Valley. Its vision is to establish a community where organizations are able to work collaboratively to increase social wealth, provide greater access to resources, reduce redundancy and focus on human potential as the drivers for economic development and individual well-being. The Council has three areas of activity. First it acts as the central hub for identifying community needs and developing solutions to address these needs. Second it serves as a central clearinghouse, or gateway, connecting individuals in the community to programmes that are best suited to address their needs and third the Council serves as a launching pad for developing new programmes to meet community needs.

We spoke to Dan Meranda, Vice President of Planning & Consultation at the Council about data visualization and how it is being used to provide community organizations with timely insight about the local community. Dan explains that the Council put a lot of effort into establishing which indicators could be used to develop a picture of trends over time.

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Background

IPPR, the Institute for Public Policy Research, is the UK’s leading progressive think tank, producing rigorous research and innovative policy ideas. IPPR publishes more than 50 reports each year and it uses its website as a hub for progressive thinking.

Getting started

One of its recent projects was supported by the City Bridge Trust – a charity that supports charitable activity benefitting Greater London. The project culminated in a report Older Londoners that highlighted the urgent need to tackle social isolation among the oldest members in society. It found that the number of people in London aged over-65 is expected to rise by a third in the next 20 years and those aged over 90, by 95 per cent.

Senior research fellow Kayte Lawton says: “It was a project looking at ageing and growing problems faced by the over-80s. This is a group of people who are often classed with the over-65s but we wanted to differentiate the needs of this older group. They often have greater social care and health needs.”

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At home with InstantAtlas in Edinburgh

As the festive season approaches we have brought a little bit of Edinburgh to your doorstep to give you a feel for what happens in Scotland over the holiday break. You may not know that until the 1950s Christmas was not celebrated in Scotland. Oliver Cromwell, who ruled United Kingdom banned Christmas in 1647. Although the ban was lifted in England with the fall of Cromwell, Scotland continued with it. The Presbyterian Church in Scotland discouraged Christmas celebrations and people who went against it suffered severe punishments. It wasn’t even a public holiday until 1958 so if you want a traditional Scottish Christmas, you should go to work on Christmas Day.

A lot of our Christmas customs have come from either the US or England. Conventional Christmas lunch includes Scotch broth, smoked salmon, roast turkey, roast potatoes, carrots, brussel sprouts, Christmas pudding and brandy custard. A Pudding known as Clootie dumpling is a traditional Christmas dessert in Scotland. Children eat it with custard sauce while adults prefer rum or whisky with it. Bannock cakes, made of oatmeal, are also traditionally eaten during Christmas.

Click here to read our full Christmas article – Enjoy!! 

Due to the fantastic success of our Local Information System Workshops over the last couple of years we have decided next year to run our first ever Free User Conferences for all UK customers of InstantAtlas. The InstantAtlas User Conferences (IAUC) will offer a mix of presentation and open discussion style sessions to help delegates get the most from InstantAtlas and learn from best practice.

You will be able to hear from established users about some great examples of data presentation applications using InstantAtlas products coupled with lessons they have learned and their future challenges. GeoWise staff will also be discussing the latest release of InstantAtlas and the future direction of InstantAtlas technology.

We think both conferences will provide a stimulating environment for existing customers and those interested in learning new skills. Each conference will help you to share your InstantAtlas ideas and help guide the future development of IA application and either conference would be an ideal opportunity to hear and discuss practical examples of cutting-edge solutions.

They will help you:

• View examples of InstantAtlas reports through to high-end LIS good practice and innovation.
• Explore how others are seeking to ‘mainstream’ their data presentations and reporting.
• Review issues around data and its application to key policy & practice areas like JSNA, Place-based Budgeting, Economic Assessments, Citizen and Community Empowerment.
• Meet with others in your position and share your common challenges and potential solutions.
• Hear the latest update from InstantAtlas staff on making best use of InstantAtlas technologies.
• Find out about our future plans for InstantAtlas products and solutions.
• Contribute to an active open discussion on all matters related to InstantAtlas solutions and applications.

Who should attend

The conferences are aimed at a wide range of data professionals, researchers and LIS practitioners. The event format is designed to be informal and discussion-focused so please bring your questions and ideas.

Further information including the current agendas for both conferences is available on our IAUC page at:

http://www.instantatlas.com/IAUC_2012

On this page you will see a full list of the organisations who will be presenting next year.

Example presenters include:

• London Borough of Newham
• London Borough of Harrow
• London Fire Brigade
• Greater London Authority
• Cumbria County Council
• Wolverhampton City Council
• National Cancer Intelligence Network
• South East Public Health Observatory

We hope that you would strongly consider attending one of these events – and perhaps bring a colleague or two. You can register interest your interest in attending through our email registration link on the IAUC web page.

Background

Perth & Kinross Council delivers or facilitates a wide range of services including education, land use planning, roads, housing, care for vulnerable people, parks, street cleansing, economic development and refuse collection.

The Council produces an annual report to provide an assessment of the current environmental state and help it monitor trends. The report also provides a strong evidence base to evaluate the effectiveness of the Council’s efforts to deal with environmental pressures in land use and sustainability terms. The first State of the Environment Report was published in September 2007. The indicators are updated as and when data becomes available and a number of them are used in the Perth & Kinross Single Outcome Agreement. The Council views the report as an essential tool in meeting its sustainability goals, improving the environment and providing the public with access to information.

The State of the Environment indicators are organised into nine key areas which include climate change, air quality, landscape and geology, biodiversity, historic environment, transportation, waste, communities and energy.

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The International Studies Bureau for Peace and Development (ISBPD) unveiled today the monitoring and parallel tabulation system of election results that it intends to use for the presidential election in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) scheduled for November 28, 2011. This system allows for the publication of the election results in interactive, neutral and transparent ways, while allowing users to analyse the published results.

“For the first time, this user-friendly system will be used for elections results in the DRC. In addition, as several presidential and parliamentary elections are planned in Africa over the 2011-2012 period, the experience from DRC will benefit many other countries in the use of this interactive tool, “said the ISBPD Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Alidor K. Dumbi.

Click this image to track surveillance results hour by hour

Background

InstantAtlas has been used by the International Diabetes Federation to create the fifth edition of the Diabetes Atlas. The interactive online map presents a world view allowing users to make international comparisons by rolling over selected countries. Users can also select between a number of different data sets from mean Diabetes-related expenditure per person to the number of deaths attributable to the disease.

The atlas is based on new figures which indicate that the number of people living with diabetes is expected to rise from 366 million in 2011 to 552 million by 2030, unless urgent action is taken.

The IDF says this equates to approximately three new cases every ten seconds. In some of the poorest regions in the world such as Africa, where infectious diseases have traditionally been the focus of health care systems, diabetes cases are expected to increase by 90 per cent by 2030. At least 78 per cent of people in Africa are undiagnosed and do not know they are living with diabetes.

The release of these figures and the interactive online map follow the September meeting of 193 Heads of State and government at the UN High Level Meeting in New York to agree on a Political Declaration on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) including diabetes.

See interactive atlas

From the InstantAtlas archive

Diabetes UK deploys InstantAtlas to help it inform, promote and campaign

Using InstantAtlas, Diabetes UK presents information online such as local service provision and regional and national service performance made available from survey information. The ease with which users can analyse the statistics and the power of eye-catching graphics is helping the charity provide better support for people with diabetes and to campaign for improved local care and support services to meet with national service framework targets.

Diabetes UK is the largest organisation in the UK working for people with diabetes, funding research, campaigning and helping people live with the condition. There are an estimated 2.35 million people with diabetes in England. This is predicted to grow to more than 2.5 million by 2010 – 9% of which will be due to an increase in obesity.

The charity’s stated mission is “to improve the lives of people with diabetes and to work towards a future without diabetes.” Two central areas of its work supporting this mission are campaigning and information provision.

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