AuvergneR

AuvergneR is an open-source software platform and data ecosystem designed for regional analysis and planning in the Auvergne region of central France. It integrates statistical data, geographic information, and cultural heritage records to support researchers, policymakers, and civic tech initiatives.

Origin and development: Conceived in the early 2020s by a coalition of universities, local authorities, and data scientists, AuvergneR is maintained by an international community. The project emphasizes open data, reproducible workflows, and interoperability with existing data standards.

Architecture and features: AuvergneR consists of a data catalog, a spatial database (PostgreSQL with PostGIS), an API, and a web client. It provides data ingestion pipelines, an R/Python integration layer, and modular plugins for analytics, mapping, and visualization. Access controls and audit logs support governance requirements, while an extensible plugin system allows regional datasets to be added.

Data scope and applications: The platform hosts demographic, economic, environmental, transport, and cultural datasets relevant to Auvergne. It is used for regional planning, academic research, tourism development, and cultural preservation. The platform follows open-data licensing where possible and encourages community contributions through pull requests and issue tracking.

Reception and future plans: AuvergneR has been adopted by several municipal bodies and research groups. Ongoing work focuses on expanding data coverage, improving performance on large regional datasets, and enhancing international interoperability with other regional data platforms. The project maintains governance through a lightweight steering committee and community norms for contribution.