VIS keynote address

Abstract

Recent theories of the wealth and poverty of nations put the accent on the accumulation of collective know how. The fundamental difference between rich and poor countries is not in the average level of individual skills of their citizens but in the kinds of things that can be done collectively. This creates an important visualization problem: how to measure and represent the differential levels of collective know how between countries and regions? How to visualize its evolution in time? How to identify more feasible and effective paths for progress? How can visualization help orient the efforts of the public and private sectors in enhancing progress?