Category Archives: Software

Project in a Box – new edition

planningImage5We have long been admirers of the Community Edition of Project in a Box.

This great, free resource is one we always recommend to our charity clients – being a great way think about, plan and deliver projects using the bones of the recognised Prince 2 methodology.

PIAB have just released a new version of the free Community Edition which offers more project planning templates for those less demanding, less layered projects.

You can use the three step template (or the five step for more detailed project planning) in the new system to clearly map your thinking about project formulation, inception and delivery.

If your Third Sector organisation has previously felt rather pale when reviewing project planning methodologies or software like MsProject, then this new Community Edition is just for you.

The new version is also bundled with Planner, another great free resource from PIAB. Check out the PIAB web site for more details.

If you can get, as a beginner, past some of the language – then this free download is a great resource for helping you think clearly about projects, how they are delivered and how they are reported about when finished. If you are expert, this is still a great resource too.

PIAB – we recommend it.

(Planning symbol: Marine Institute Ireland – Creative Commons)

Web-based Analysis
and Visualisation Environment

Weave - data analysis tools...

 

Weave is a new web based tool for use by novices and experts alike, to develop analysis and to visualise the results in a clear and informative way.

Weave has been developed at the Institute for Visualization and Perception Research of the University of Massachusetts Lowell in partnership with the Open Indicators Consortium, a fifteen member national collaborative of public and nonprofit organizations working to improve access to more and higher quality data.

As part of our ongoing list of resources to help develop understanding of and access to the tools for better data analysis, Weave is a perfect candidate.

Free and Open Source, with levels of interaction that can suit those simply exploring the techniques of data analysis and visualisation – Weave should be a go to tool for young people in the UK, wishing to explore or develop their skills in data analysis.

With the impending curriculum changes in the UK, and the governments revitalised commitment to Open Source software, Weave should be part of the new ICT landscape for young people, we would argue.

You can see a great example of the software in use delivering an analysis of the recent UK election here. ( A great U.S. view of our electoral system…).

You can see more about this software, and download it, from the Weave Wiki pages here.  To see the software deployed and to interact with the data use this example page here.

You can reach the Collected Works home page here.