How open data visualisations can connect us to our history
As more data becomes available, the world is accessible with a tap of
our fingertips. With this increase in information, people can satisfy
their curiosity, for example, by looking up their own homes or the
area they live in. Through satellite imaging, they can discover not
only their current homes but also how they have changed throughout the
years.

In the current era of technology, a lot of pictures are taken and
published on various social media platforms to connect people. These
types of images can also be used to develop or support services, such
as the ‘Archives of the planet
[https://opendata.hauts-de-seine.fr/explore/dataset/archives-de-la-planete/map/?disjunctive.operateur&sort=identifiant_fakir&location=2,32.24997,18.98438&basemap=jawg.streets]’,
a project led by the French Albert-Khan museum
[https://albert-kahn.hauts-de-seine.fr/en/]. The collection contains
over 75.000 pictures from around the world, dating back to 1909. The
open datasets make it possible for viewers to zoom into a city and see
what it looked like a hundred years ago. Similar initiatives on a
local level exist, for example, Berlin showing its city through the
ages [https://luftbilder.berlin.codefor.de/] on its data portal
[https://daten.berlin.de/anwendungen/luftbilderberlin] and Eindhoven
having a collection of thousands of aerial photos
[https://data.eindhoven.nl/explore/dataset/historische-vogelvluchtfotos/images/?disjunctive.periode&sort=jaar]
taken from 1920 up until the drone era.  

Albert Kahn was driven by an ideal of universal peace, leading to his
conviction: ‘Knowledge of foreign cultures encourages respect and
peaceful relations between peoples’. Modern technology using open
data can help connect individuals, not only to people around the
world, but also to the past. 

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Publication Date/Time
2023-04-05T09:00:00+00:00
Discover examples of open data projects that showcase European history
visually