MIP Orbis, a world-leading online data visualisation tool, has been developed by Austrade and now enables Australian stakeholders to create interactive dashboards, visualising student enrolments and visa grants for particular markets, for example.
The tool allows Austrade’s Market Information Package (MIP) subscribers to explore Australian international education data and trends dating back to 2005.
Since its launch, the tool has received positive feedback and access of it is “almost 10 times greater than those downloading the [previous] pivot tables,” said Sonal Srivastava, MIP Orbis Product Manager.
She explained that the tool had been developed after a 2014 survey, consultation with MIP subscribers and Austrade website analytics.
“Subscribers valued any data and analysis distributed through the MIP but… wanted an easier way to access the data,” she told The PIE News.
Prior to MIP Orbis, data was distributed through Excel pivot tables which “requires manual manipulation of datasets to extract value.”
Austrade believes the new tool is the most sophisticated of its kind and was specifically designed for ease of use to “lower the entry barrier for users who may not be tech-savvy but who wish to see trends at a glance or to perform basic manipulation of data.”
Srivastava said MIP Orbis will “level the playing field so that subscribers can discover insights themselves and make decisions driven by data without the need to consult data or analytics experts.”
Datasets include international student enrolment numbers, student visa grants and education exports and explores the data through interactive visualisations such as maps, graphs, and other charts.
Filters can further break down stats by market, students’ home country, education sector and state or territory. Its Sandbox feature allows further manipulation of charts, comparison of data attributes and a drag-and-drop interface.
Austrade said MIP Orbis will continue to develop over time to become as user-centric as possible and may include data earlier than 2005.
