Problem

The University of Illinois system has over $200 million invested in companies that profit from the extraction, transportation, or combustion of coal, petroleum, or natural gas. With the current annual investment publication format, SECS team members manually extract crucial information from annual reports to an excel file. The entire process is time consuming and inefficient. There is also no efficient or formal way to search for University of Illinois Investments by any categories. Single search in a large database could be time-consuming. Students or any public organizations who are interested in the Investments need a full understanding of bonds, economics, and finance to interpret the public data. It is hard for the public to understand what the data actually means.

Solution

TORIIS (Transparent and Open Resource for Institutional Investments) is an interactive and dynamic web interface designed to efficiently present fossil fuel divestment information along with investment data, ensuring easy search, filter, categorization, and update capabilities. We then process the existing data with Python and leverage external databases and APIs to perform cross analysis on energy consumption. Additionally, we'll incorporate visualization tools to present company-wise data with detailed explanations to raise awareness.

Design

Our application places a strong emphasis on data visualization, incorporating vibrant colors and dynamic elements to enhance its overall appeal and functionality. It's designed to cater to the needs of both regular users and administrators, offering a comprehensive range of features and tools.

One of our key development challenges revolved around effectively displaying extensive textual content with a clear hierarchical structure. Additionally, we put considerable effort into creating a user-friendly and clean search functionality, recognizing the importance of enabling users to access specific information quickly. Our commitment to providing a visually engaging, dynamic, and user-friendly experience ensures that individuals of varying expertise levels can benefit from the application's capabilities, whether they're exploring data or managing administrative tasks.

Tech Stack

TORIIS leverages the T3 Stack, including TypeScript, Next.js, Tailwind CSS, Prisma, tRPC, and NextAuth, integrated with a MongoDB database. Our data processing process utilizes Python and Jupyter Notebooks, with a primary reliance on Pandas and PyMongo. All textual content across the site finds its home in Contentful. Additionally, we made use of several external APIs, including the Enterprise ESG API and Yahoo Finance API, to conduct cross-analysis of the existing investment company data.

Features

Search Functionality

At the heart of TORIIS lies a robust search, providing users with a seamless exploration of institutional investments within the University of Illinois system. This feature empowers users to effortlessly navigate the list of companies, unlocking comprehensive organization-wise information. Going beyond conventional search capabilities, TORIIS introduces advanced filtering options, allowing users to refine results based on sector, industry, environmental grade, or net asset value. This powerful search functionality not only enhances accessibility but aligns with our overarching mission to promote sustainable financial practices within the university landscape. Try it out yourself on toriis.earth.

Data Visualizations

Our commitment to transparency and ease of access is evident through the implementation of dynamic chart visualizations, offering insights into various energy consumption metrics such as carbon accounting and CDP. These visual aids not only simplify complex data but also contribute to our broader goal of fostering awareness. Furthermore, we've introduced a detailed table presenting company-specific investment information, ensuring a comprehensive overview for users. By integrating data visualizations and informative tables, TORIIS transforms intricate financial data into an intuitive and enlightening experience, aligning with our mission to empower students and the public with the knowledge needed to advocate for sustainable practices.

Company Details

Ensuring that users understand the context behind certain company's decisions regarding their environmental impact, we provide company insights by harnessing sector, industry, and description data sourced from Yahoo Finance. With expandable tooltips, users can effortlessly access in-depth explanations of technical terms, enhancing their understanding of the content at hand and better determine which companies are truly doing their part to reduce fossil fuel emissions.

Information Page

Experience a comprehensive view of investment data with our holistic data visualization page. The charts, timelines, and text content that makes up the landing page for TORIIS invite end users to explore the data we've collected and give them a sense of UIUC's responsibility to fossil fuel divestment. The platform allows for seamless management of textual informational content through Contentful CMS, ensuring that Students for Environmental Concerns can easily customize and update content to meet their specific needs.

Administration Control

For SECS, robust administrative capabilities were a must when addressing a new content-driven website to advance their mission. We've made it effortless to add or remove site administrators to streamline the management of the platform. Regarding the sites content, addressing missing data and editing text is handled with a simple to use CMS, ensuring the site is always up-to-date. Additionally, our request management system simplifies the handling of data-change requests and approval workflows for administrators, promoting efficiency and user satisfaction.

Fossil Fuel Information Page

Lastly, we understood that SECS' drive to inform the general public about The University of Illinois' investment responsibility required a baseline understanding of fossil fuels and their detrimental effect on the environment. For this reason, we provide ample educational content on the subject, ensuring SECS' constituents are able to fully utilize the rest of the site.