Datagraver – the Dutch COVID-19 monitoring tool
An example of a visualisation tool that combines public sector data sources on COVID-19
On 21 January, the Dutch National Data Portal held a webinar discussing the impact of measures undertaken to combat the COVID-19 pandemic, and the role that data plays in these efforts. During the webinar, one of the discussed initiatives for this purpose was Datagraver.
Datagraver is a project that harvests and scrapes data from various online government pages and databases to create figures and dashboards. In doing so, the project aims to provide accurate COVID-19 figures and dashboards that users can understand. Sources include data from Statistics Netherlands (CBS) and the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM).
Though many initiatives like this exist across Europe, Datagraver is unique as it goes beyond straightforward statistics such as the number of infections, hospitalisations, and deaths. The website provides these figures for example in specific, relatively narrow age groups or at a provincial level. Various graphs allow for trend comparisons between regional responses to COVID-19 and the annual average death pre-COVID. In addition, more advanced statistics are provided such as the naïve case fatality rates per age group.
The initiative has gained popularity and is currently used to inform policymakers at the regional as well as national level. Read more about the project at their website.
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