First of all, this is an utterly simplified version of the electrical network in Mexico. The sources for the assets are open source and are thus not curated in pretty much any sense.
That being said, this article is not just about maps and data; it's a narrative on how open data sources, graph databases, and geospatial analysis come together to unravel complex networks.
Open Street Map (OSM) is a collaborative project to create a free editable map of the world.
OSM is an invaluable resource for data scientists due to its accessibility and extensive coverage. However, it's crucial to approach this data with a critical eye. OSM's main challenge is its reliance on community contributions, which can lead to inconsistencies and gaps in data, especially in less populated or less developed areas.
For our project on Mexico's transmission network, however, this was a better starting point than other data sources I could find amongst which INEGI (Instituto Nacional de Estadística, Geografía e Informática and UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México).
Enter Neo4j, a graph database management system that's revolutionizing how we handle complex data. Unlike traditional relational databases, Neo4j excels in managing interconnected data. This makes it an ideal choice for modeling networks, where relationships are as crucial as the entities themselves.
Intuitive Data Modeling: Graph databases represent data in a way that's closer to how we naturally visualize relationships, making it easier to model complex networks like transmission systems.
Efficient Query Performance: Neo4j's structure allows for efficient traversal of connected data, essential for analyzing long chains of connections in a network.
Flexibility: Graph databases can easily accommodate changes and additions, a significant advantage in dynamic fields like network analysis.
The GDS library in Neo4j offers a suite of algorithms for network analytics, allowing us to uncover patterns and insights that would be challenging to discern otherwise.
To keep it simple, in this project we will only show the result of some of the most basic of them.