Representing statistical indexes as linked data including metadata about their computation process

Abstract

In this paper we describe the development of the Web Index linked data portal that represents statistical index data and the computations from which it has been obtained. TheWeb Index is a multi-dimensional measure of theWorldWideWeb’s contribution to development and human rights globally. It covers 81 countries and incorporates indicators that assess several areas like universal access; freedom and openness; relevant content; and empowerment. In order to empower theWeb Index transparency, we established as an internal requirement that every published data could be externally verified. The verification could be that it was just raw data obtained from a secondary source, in which case, the system must provide a link to that data source or that the value has been internally computed, in which case, the system provides links to the values from which it has been calculated. The resulting portal contains data that can be tracked to its sources so an external agent can validate the whole index computation process. We describe the different aspects involved in the development of theWebIndex data portal that also offers new linked data visualization tools. Although in this paper we concentrate on the Web Index development, this approach can be generalized to other projects which involve the publication of externally verifiable computations.