R&D Dashboard

Project Overview

The R&D Dashboard is a web-based visualization tool designed to provide insights into research and development (R&D) activities across various themes and countries. The dashboard includes multiple visualizations, such as gauge charts, bar charts, pie charts, and heatmaps, which offer a comprehensive overview of the distribution and intensity of R&D efforts across the Accelerator Labs.

Key Features

• Gauge Charts: Display the intensity of R&D activities across different themes.
• Bar Chart: Compare R&D activities across different regions.
• Pie Chart: Visualize the distribution of topics across various themes.
• Heatmap: Show the distribution of R&D themes across countries.

Project Structure

├── _config.yml          # Jekyll configuration file
├── _data                # Directory containing data files used for visualizations
│   ├── activities_per_country.json
│   ├── themes_per_country.json
│   ├── topics_per_theme.json
├── assets               # Directory for static assets (e.g., CSS, JS)
│   └── ...
├── index.html           # Main HTML file for the dashboard
├── process_data.py      # Python script to process the data and generate JSON files
├── data.json    # The JSON file containing data for the dashboard.
├── README.md            # This README file
└── .github              # GitHub Actions workflow directory
    └── workflows
        └── deploy.yml   # GitHub Actions workflow file for deployment

Setup and Installation

Prerequisites

• Python 3.x: Required for running the data processing script.
• Jekyll: Static site generator used to build the dashboard.
• GitHub Pages: Hosting platform for the dashboard.

Installation

1. Clone the Repository:

   git clone https://github.com/UNDP-Accelerator-Labs/rd_dashboard.git
   cd rd-dashboard

2. Install Python Dependencies:

   pip install pandas

3. Process the Data: Run the Python script to generate the necessary JSON files for the dashboard.

   python process_data.py

4. Build the Jekyll Site: Install Jekyll and build the site locally.

   bundle install
   bundle exec jekyll serve

   Visit http://localhost:4000 to view the dashboard locally.

Deployment

This project uses GitHub Actions for continuous deployment to GitHub Pages. The deployment process is triggered automatically on every push to the main branch.

GitHub Actions Workflow

The deployment is managed via a GitHub Actions workflow located in .github/workflows/jekyll.yml. The workflow:

1. Checks out the repository.
2. Installs necessary dependencies.
3. Runs the Python script to generate JSON data files.
4. Builds the Jekyll site.
5. Deploys the site to the gh-pages branch.

Usage

After deployment, the R&D Dashboard can be accessed via the GitHub Pages URL associated with this repository. The dashboard provides real-time insights into R&D activities, which can be use to monitor and analyze global research trends across the Accelerator labs.

Updating the Data

The dashboard is powered by data from an JSON file located in this repository. Contributors can update this file directly. After any changes are made, the process_data.py script will automatically convert the updated data into JSON files, which are then used for the visualizations displayed on the dashboard.

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! To contribute:

1. Fork the repository.
2. Create a new branch for your feature or bugfix.
3. Make your changes.
4. Submit a pull request.

Please ensure that your code adheres to the existing code style and passes all tests.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License. See the LICENSE file for details.

Acknowledgments

• Plotly - For data visualization.
• GitHub Actions - For continuous integration and deployment.
• Jekyll - For static site generation.