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23 December 2024

Where does your money go?

Article published: Monday, November 30th 2009

Ever wondered where the taxes from your hard-earned money go? Now you can find out, thanks to an innovative new application launched by a leading free knowledge organisation. A couple of weeks ago the Open Knowledge Foundation announced the release of its alpha version of the ‘Where Does My Money Go?’ prototype, a web-based application that allows users to explore the areas of UK public spending.

Where Does My Money Go?Through coloured graphs and pie-charts users are provided with an at-a-glance view of the main areas of expenditure on both national and regional levels.

One of the most impressive features of the application is a visualisation of the pattern of long-term public expenditure dating back to 1987, both in real terms and as a percentage of GDP – a measure of the total value of the economy. A closer focus is given to the specific division of funds in ‘social protection’, ranging across varying areas such as unemployment, health and housing, where users can also see how spending compares in different regions.

The designers are asking the public for comments as well as specific feedback on any technical bugs or problems.

One of the motivations of its creators was to make it clear where funds from the public purse go, as a means of improving transparency and holding politicians to account.

The OKF is a not-for-profit organisation founded in 2004, dedicated to “promoting open knowledge in all its forms”. To this end it commissions projects to working groups, as well as putting on presentations and workshops to enhance the circulation of ideas and knowledge.

While the application has already won plaudits for making a broad and largely inaccessible subject digestible, you can’t help thinking they will have their work cut out for them when it comes to picking apart the exact expenses of MPs…

wheredoesmymoneygo

Michael Pooler

More: News

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