Infographics are everywhere.  An infographic (aka, information graphic) is a “representation of information in a graphic format designed to make the data easily understandable at a glance” (whatis.techtarget.com).  The use and supply of infographics have dramatically expanded in the past four years, probably because of their effectiveness in communicating visual sound bites compactly.  As a tool for local governments, infographics can assist in community engagement by providing easily understandable data to citizens who are not experts on local government administration.  Infographics are also a usefu lway to inform elected officials about the highlights of the budget or a policy proposal. Uses of infographics in local government are limited only by your imagination.   

With the growing popularity of infographics, I compiled a list of my favorite resources on infographics:

• This article on big data mentions that infographics can be a great tool for administration to help guide better decision making, especially when it comes to resource deployment.
• Government Technology explains how to formulate an effective infographic for local governments.
• WebpageFX writes about what they learned from one million views of their infographics.  Their experience can be applied to your community development and use of infographics.
• It takes time, money, and skill to create a good infographic, but easel.ly has created a web application to overcome these challenges in infographic development.    

Here are some interesting (and useful) examples of infographics that are on the Knowledge Network:

• This infographic explains how local governments are sharing services.
• Govloop created this infographic to educate local government officials on how to stay ahead in the modern technological age.  
• Check out the 9 reasons to define quality requirements in your software selection process infographic from NEUBRAIN.
• A great infographic for local government is the “Excelling in Community Planning” from Hyland Software and Govloop.

Have you used infographics in your community?  Please post comments below. If you have one please upload it to the Knowledge Network (“Submit a Document”).

Douglas Shontz

Knowledge Network Intern