The WDI package on CRAN already provide access to the World Bank data
through their API, we also have an inhouse package for FAOSTAT here at
FAO but it is not mature enough to be released on CRAN yet.
Not sure about other international organisations but I do agree that it
would be nice if there is a package which would make these data more
readily to R users.
On 13/01/12 22:58, Sarah Goslee wrote:
R is Open Source. You're welcome to write tools, and submit your
package to CRAN. I think some part of this has been done, based
on questions to the list asking about those parts.
Personally, I've been using S-Plus and then R for 18 years, and never
required data from any of them. Which doesn't make it not important,
but suggests that public databases aren't the be-all and end-all for
R use.
Sarah
On Fri, Jan 13, 2012 at 4:14 PM, Benjamin Weber<m...@bwe.im> wrote:
Dear R Users -
R is a wonderful software package. CRAN provides a variety of tools to
work on your data. But R is not apt to utilize all the public
databases in an efficient manner.
I observed the most tedious part with R is searching and downloading
the data from public databases and putting it into the right format. I
could not find a package on CRAN which offers exactly this fundamental
capability.
Imagine R is the unified interface to access (and analyze) all public
data in the easiest way possible. That would create a real impact,
would put R a big leap forward and would enable us to see the world
with different eyes.
There is a lack of a direct connection to the API of these databases,
to name a few:
- Eurostat
- OECD
- IMF
- Worldbank
- UN
- FAO
- data.gov
- ...
The ease of access to the data is the key of information processing with R.
How can we handle the flow of information noise? R has to give an
answer to that with an extensive API to public databases.
I would love your comments and ideas as a contribution in a vital discussion.
Benjamin
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