University of Chicago’s 'Plenario' Changes How We Use Open Data

"Plenario breaks free from borders to provide data from data sets and portals around the country, all on the same continuum of time and space (or, simply put, one map). This means that with one query, users can access, combine, download and visualize disparate sets of data all in the same place. Plenario currently has data from the portals of Chicago; New York; Los Angeles; San Francisco; Boston; Austin, Texas; Washington, D.C.; Illinois; and New York state, among others. Since its design accommodates data from any open portal, international data can also be imported.  Glasgow’s University of Strathclyde, for instance, has installed Plenario to integrate data from multiple UK cities. Given the platform’s reach, what does Plenario look like from a user’s point of view? ..."