Knowledge is power. For many the current world pandemic and the resulting feelings of lack of control, instill a sense of being powerless and afraid. We are inundated with news, opinions, Tweets, Facebook posts, Instagram infographics, sound bites, all feeding our curiosity, but also our fears.
Again, knowledge is power. How do we get the power back and take control of the situation we are in and make the right decisions?
We need to understand what has happened in the past and where are we right now, so we can make an informed and educated guess as to where we are going. If you only look at a single source of information, then you should expect a narrow scope of possible outcomes. While it might be more comfortable for you to have smaller number of outcomes or choices, is it the best and will it allow you to make the best decision? Would you rather be comfortable and ignorant, or uncomfortable and have the power of knowledge? You can probably tell, I believe in reading and learning from sources on all sides of an issue or challenge. Notice I did not say both sides, because issues have multiple sides and often are not purely polar in nature. Where does technology come into play? Now more then ever we need access to analytics based on multiple data sets. The current COVID-19 situation is a perfect example. Data is coming from each hospital and health unit, that is then assembled into a regional and province wide view of what is happening. The Province of Ontario has the Ontario Data Catalogue which makes data available to the general public so we, the citizens, can glean knowledge and understanding. We at pavliks.com, used Microsoft Power BI to pull data published multiple times per day in the Ontario Data Catalogue to produce a dynamic Power BI Dashboard. This dashboard lets anyone drill down and slice the data to see trends and make more informed decisions based on multiple data sets.
Microsoft Power BI helps you bring together disparate data and turn it into information. And then take that information and slice it and dice it to consume it from different perspectives. In our COVID-19 dashboard you can select your region and see how the curve is shaping. You can select an age range and see how that curve is changing across the province. Powerful stuff. We are living in quickly changing times, and in our “new world”, access to information is going to be increasingly important. Make sure you pull data from multiple sources and use tools like Power BI to analyze and then inform your decisions. Want to learn more about Power BI? Read my previous blog, Are You Ready for Power BI? or contact us
