Data is a resource that is all around, can be shaped to provide new innovations and new insights and it’s easily mined.

It sometimes feels like we’re suffering from information overload. We have more data than we know what to do with, and in most cases, how to make sense of it.

In his TED talk, David McCandless, a data visualization expert, asks, “Is Data the New Soil?”

He suggests it is a fertile, creative medium. To him, it seems that the visualizations and infographics are like flowers blooming from it.

Interesting, and even beautiful, insights can appear and different patterns can be revealed when working with data.

Visualizing information in a way that patterns and connections are clear allows us to focus on the information that’s most important.

Hans Rosling said, “Let the dataset change your mindset.”

Maybe it can also change behavior.

David McCandless is a London-based data-journalist and information designer. He is the founder of Information Is Beautiful.