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

[MK]

The WDI package on CRAN already provide access to the World Bank data 
through their API, we also have an inhouse package for FAOSTAT here at 
FAO but it is not mature enough to be released on CRAN yet.

Not sure about other international organisations but I do agree that it 
would be nice if there is a package which would make these data more 
readily to R users.


On 13/01/12 22:58, Sarah Goslee wrote:
> 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
>>