Core design principles

Redistribute data as-is

DBnomics redistributes data from providers without modifying it. Only the format of the data may be normalized to ensure consistency across different providers. The original dataset and series codes are preserved, numerical values are never modified, and NA (not available) values are kept. The category tree of datasets is also kept as-is, when published by the provider.

The concrete rules about what is preserved as-is and what is normalized are documented on the Data model page.

Automatic data updates

We want up-to-date data on DBnomics, so data is updated automatically.

Data acquisition is done by the fetchers which are run automatically by the fetcher pipeline.

We also want to keep track of the execution of fetchers, and that's way we have a dashboard.

Provider data versioning

DBnomics is designed to store each revision of the data fetched from a provider when running a fetcher from the pipeline.

As a consequence, past revisions of time series remain accessible. This enables reproducible research for your project.

Access data from work environment

DBnomics is designed to allow consumers to download time series directly from their work environment, by exposing data using the data types they are familiar with without having to parse file formats (e.g. XML, CSV, Excel) or copy-paste data by hand.

Read more about the clients of the Web API.