1 Context

Big Data pilot project on the The pilot project used data on the number of use of Wikipedia page views on page views per month for all articles in 31 language versions of Wikipedia (3). The data World Heritage Sites used is made publicly available by the Wikimedia This section contains first experimental results of Foundation. The version of Wikipedia designed a pilot project intended to explore the potential for use on mobile devices was not included in of Big Data for official statistics. The results are the number of views. based on an analysis of Wikipedia page views of Wikipedia articles were selected for each of the World Heritage Sites. 1 031 World Heritage Sites included on UNESCO’s Whenever people use computer-mediated list in 2015. The initial selection was based systems, they unintentionally leave digital traces on the categorisation feature in the English of their activity. These traces are increasingly version of Wikipedia. The articles were linked becoming a relevant source of information for to the corresponding heritage site on the basis official statistics, in particular due to the potential of the information from the info box entitled they offer for improving the timeliness, the detail ‘World heritage site’. Other language versions and, in some cases, the accuracy of the statistics. of the same articles where then selected, where available. Data analysis was based on the For the purpose of this project Wikipedia page number of page views of around 50 000 articles. view counts constituted the main data source. This pilot was run in the context of the Big Data Since its launch in 2001, Wikipedia has grown to Sandbox, an international collaboration project hold a total of 39 million articles in sponsored by the High-Level Group for the 246 languages (1). It is widely used, recording Modernisation of Official Statistics, set up by the 21 million page views per hour (in April 2016) (2). Conference of European Statisticians. It involved, According to the Community survey on ICT besides Eurostat, several national statistical usage in households and by individuals, in 2015 institutes and other international statistical 45 % of individuals between the ages of 16 and bodies. 74 living in the EU consulted wikis to obtain More information can be found on the knowledge (e.g. Wikipedia). The proportion Eurostat website. was 66 % amongst 16 to 24 year olds. Such widespread usage means that data about people’s use of Wikipedia could potentially be a relevant big data source for producing official statistics.

(1) From https://en wikipedia org/wiki/Special:Statistics consulted on 20 May 2016. (2) From https://stats wikimedia org/EN/TablesPageViewsMonthlyCombined htm, consulted on 20 May 2016. (3) 31 Language versions cover 24 official EU languages and as well Icelandic, Macedonian, Norwegian, Russian, Albanian, Serbian and Turkish.

32 Culture statistics Context 1

Figure 4: Top 20 World Heritage Sites in number of page views of related Wikipedia articles, 2015 (number of views in million)

Paris, Banks of the Historic Centre of Rome (1) Historic Areas of Istanbul Auschwitz Birkenau (2) Statue of Liberty The Great Wall Taj Mahal Historic Centre of Vienna Budapest (3) Vatican City Historic Centre of Mexico City and Historic Centre of Prague Archaeological Areas of Pompei (4) Venice and its Lagoon Historic Sanctuary of Machu Picchu Kremlin and Red Square, Moscow Historic Centre of Warsaw Rio de Janeiro (5) Stonehenge, Avebury and Associated Sites Archaeological Site of Troy 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

on

Note: experimental statistics based on the pilot project. For proper graphic visualisation, some names have been shortened. See below the full names: (1) Historic Centre of Rome, the Properties of the Holy See in that City Enjoying Extraterritorial Rights and San Paolo Fuori le Mura. Includes properties of the Holy See. (2) Auschwitz Birkenau, German Nazi Concentration and Extermination Camp (1940-1945). (3) Budapest, including the Banks of the Danube, the Buda Castle Quarter and Andrássy Avenue. (4) Archaeological Areas of Pompei, Herculaneum and Torre Annunziata. (5) Rio de Janeiro: Carioca Landscapes between the Mountain and the Sea. Source: Eurostat and UNESCO, World Heritage List

Culture statistics 33 1 Context

Figure 5: Top 5 World Heritage Sites in number of page views of related Wikipedia articles by language, 2015 (number of views in million)

Paris. Banks Historic Centre of the Seine of Mexico City

Taj Mahal Historic Centre of Rome (1)

Statue Historic Sanctuary of Liberty of Machu

The Great Wall Pre-Hispanic City of Teotihuacan

Historic Centre Paris. Banks of Rome (1) of the Seine

0.0 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 0.0 0.4 0.8 1.2

ni Spanish

Paris. Banks Historic Centre of the Seine of Rome (1)

Statue Historic Centre of Liberty of Naples Historic Site Venice and of its Lagoon . Port of the Moon Paris. Banks of the Seine Historic Centre of Rome (1) Castel del Monte 0.0 0.4 0.8 1.2 0.0 0.4 0.8 1.2

rnc Itin

Note: experimental statistics based on the pilot. (1) For proper graphic visualisation, this name has been shortened. The full name is Historic Centre of Rome, the Properties of the Holy See in that City Enjoying Extraterritorial Rights and San Paolo Fuori le Mura. Includes properties of the Holy See. Source: Eurostat and UNESCO, World Heritage List

34 Culture statistics