App Review: The World in Figures

Somehow, last year, we got a free subscription to The Economist magazine. It’s not on the top of list for “must reads” each week (New Yorker and Time hold that spot) but it can be interesting at times as it sees the news through a world financial lens. I’ve been noticing a free app that the magazine is touting called The World in Figures, and decided to give it a go to see what it is.

Well, it’s pretty nifty.

The app is built around data from countries around the world, and the results come out as a sort of infographic format. You can search through categories such as education, crime and punishment, and freedom of the press, and see how countries are faring. You can even choose two countries and compare data points. Or you can randomly wander through topics or even use the trivia option to get random information about countries. The app is fairly easy to navigate and provides a glimpse at the world through numbers.

I could see students using this app to gather information around important topics as part of a research query. The visual rendering of information is useful for understanding the world.

Peace (in the app),
Kevin

 

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