Swivel looks like it might be interesting. They’re billing their service as “YouTube for Data,” where you can upload your data sets and then graph or compare them to other sets. In its best form I can imagine something like this supporting open source style research, especially if they support ways to explain and present your data (that or a good API for bloggers to link in data). In its worst form I could see any sensible analysis of the data sets getting burried under a pile of meaningless correlation statistics.
Description via TechCrunch (via Datamining Blog):
Swivel Co-founders Dmitry Dimov and Brian Mulloy start off by describing their company as “YouTube for Data.” That’s a good start for someone trying to understand it, because the site allows users to upload data – any data – and display it to other users visually. The number of page views your website generates. Or a stock price over time. Weather data. Commodity prices. The number of Bald Eagles in Washington state. Whatever. Uploaded data can be rated, commented and bookmared by other users, helping to sort the interesting (and accurate) wheat from the chaff. And graphs of data can be embedded into websites. So it is in fact a bit like a YouTube for Data.
But then the real fun begins. You and other users can then compare that data to other data sets to find possible correlation (or lack thereof). Compare gas prices to presidential approval ratings or UFO sightings to iPod sales. Track your page views against weather reports in Silicon Valley. See if something interesting occurs.