Dentsu Aegis Network alongside NZME are now powering interactive, real-time Covid-19 charts and graphs within NZ Herald articles to show the comparison between New Zealand and other countries.
Using data engineering and visualisation, the team at Denstu Aegis Network built a unique tool that shows New Zealand’s Covid related updates, and compares them to the rest of the world.
These charts and graphs that are found within articles on The Herald are based on a live, global database assembled from multiple sources, the charts enable real-time comparisons between New Zealand and hundreds of countries around the world.
Metrics include percentages of the population infected & tested, percentage of deaths and live vs recovered cases.
Dentsu Aegis Networks GM products, partners and platforms, Richard Pook, says, “They might look simple but these data visualisations were extremely complex to build”
Pook says the data collection is a first of its kind in some regards for the network.
“We assembled all the data from scratch from multiple sources, which took around a week to pull into a live database and the original internal real time dashboard. It was then another few long days working with Chris at the Herald to develop the code to enable the Herald to show the information the way they wanted to.”
While the networks group director data & technology, Bram Stevens says he was proud of how their team tackled the complex project and notes the team effort between the network and the head of data journalism, Chris Knox at the NZ Herald.
“I’m really proud to see my team’s skills and expertise in data engineering, data visualisation and data science being put to use on this innovative project”
Paul Hancox, chief revenue officer at NZME said, “This is a great example of how the media industry can collaborate in new and exciting ways, even in challenging times like these.”
Pook reiterates that even on the tail end of lockdown, this move was an important one to be able to provide New Zealanders with up to date information.
“This provides global context and perspective, and whilst we may be coming out of lockdown the implications of this will endure many months if not years. New Zealanders are also curious about the world around them so will be interested in the ongoing trends around the world and comparing countries against each other, not just New Zealand.”
