[R] The Future of R | API to Public Databases

[Sarah Goslee]

R is Open Source. You're welcome to write tools, and submit your
package to CRAN. I think some part of this has been done, based
on questions to the list asking about those parts.

Personally, I've been using S-Plus and then R for 18 years, and never
required data from any of them. Which doesn't make it not important,
but suggests that public databases aren't the be-all and end-all for
R use.

Sarah

On Fri, Jan 13, 2012 at 4:14 PM, Benjamin Weber <mail at bwe.im> wrote:
> Dear R Users -
>
> R is a wonderful software package. CRAN provides a variety of tools to
> work on your data. But R is not apt to utilize all the public
> databases in an efficient manner.
> I observed the most tedious part with R is searching and downloading
> the data from public databases and putting it into the right format. I
> could not find a package on CRAN which offers exactly this fundamental
> capability.
> Imagine R is the unified interface to access (and analyze) all public
> data in the easiest way possible. That would create a real impact,
> would put R a big leap forward and would enable us to see the world
> with different eyes.
>
> There is a lack of a direct connection to the API of these databases,
> to name a few:
>
> - Eurostat
> - OECD
> - IMF
> - Worldbank
> - UN
> - FAO
> - data.gov
> - ...
>
> The ease of access to the data is the key of information processing with R.
>
> How can we handle the flow of information noise? R has to give an
> answer to that with an extensive API to public databases.
>
> I would love your comments and ideas as a contribution in a vital discussion.
>
> Benjamin
>

-- 
Sarah Goslee
http://www.functionaldiversity.org