Incredibly great idea Kiva.org, the distributed micro-lending organization, has recently released a freely available API for accessing their data.
I have just started poking at the data available, as I suspect network analysis will be able to help predict rates of return.
Good on ‘ya Kiva!
Update: hi-res image by request from smoovej
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Let’s see some hi-res action on that image!!
What you see in the post is the relationship between the recent loans (b*) and the partners extending the loans (l*). Here’s a link to the image that’s large enough to be legible.
That was the fun test, am now building a map of relationships between the recipients and the partners. Stay tuned!
Hi there. what is your experience with the API. Good job on the graph
@Ash Thanks! I have been really happy with the API so far. What I would like to see from Kiva next is a more detailed description of what all of the elements mean from a data description point of view. For example: if Alice and Bob both loan to Charlie as part of the same request. Do Alice and Bob have the same loan id? And, are the names of the recipients unique? Or, is there another identifier I should be looking to?
I have put up a complete network map here, hope you like it!