Adventures in Data Dissemination: The DHL Global Connectedness Tracker

In November 2024, the DHL Initiative on Globalization at NYU Stern added a new offering to its series of publications: the DHL Global Connectedness Tracker. This new publication-a shorter but more frequently updated report on global connectedness at the worldwide level-comes in a hybrid online and print format. The online version features new, interactive charts that allow readers to dig deeper into each of the analyses, while the print version is available for people on the go, as well as for archival and citation purposes.

In order to do this, it was necessary to develop a workflow of data analysis and processing to make updating as efficient as possible. Key priorities were:

• Develop a framework that makes updating two formats as simple as possible and avoid errors or discrepancies
• To the extent possible, avoid reliance on people outside the team to do updates (graphic designer, web developer, etc.)
• Automate updates by making all calculations directly in R

The presentation will explore the process used to develop this hybrid version, from working with a JavaScript developer to program an interactive web app to designing the print version as a Word template that can be updated using Quarto and ggplot2. Now that the tracker has gone through the design and implementation phases and has now been released and updated, we are ready to explore what went well, what didn't go well, and what could be done better under different constraints.

communication

R

data visualization

interactivity

Quarto

ggplot2 

Software & Data Science Technologies

Symposium on Data Science and Statistics (SDSS) 2025