From a conch shell that maps disappearing biodiversity, to an interactive game where players govern the Pacific in 2050: Pacific Dataviz Challenge participants have turned raw numbers into narratives that explore the depth of the region’s open data, its past, present and future.
Eight designers and data storytellers from across the Pacific and world were recognised last week at the Pacific Dataviz Challenge 2025 prize ceremony, which invited participants to use regional open data in transforming complex statistical indicators into visual insights and interactivity, highlighting the region’s pressing challenges and potential.
Now in its fourth year, the Challenge has grown from niche competition into an international showcase of data-driven storytelling. This year’s theme, ‘Blue Pacific 2050’, invited participants to engage with the shared 2050 Strategy for the Blue Pacific Continent, using the Pacific Data Hub and other open data to explore the region’s development journey and trajectory through graphical narratives.
Each of the award-winning entries provide a distinct lens on the Pacific’s most critical challenges—from climate vulnerability and marine degradation, to digital equity and education gaps.
An international competition in participation and quality, submissions may be either static (such as posters or infographics) or interactive (like websites, dashboards, apps or animations). Participants compete in Open, Pacific or Pacific Youth categories, individually or as a team.
Running through June and July, entries grew by 50% from last year’s Pacific Dataviz Challenge, with Pacific participants now one-half of all competitors. Those aged 25 or younger accounted for 55% of participants, underscoring the Challenge’s role in driving data literacy and civic engagement.
Open category winners
The top interactive prize went to Nur Adhyaksa Hamid, whose piece ‘Paying the Heaviest of the Carbon Debt Never Incurred’ juxtaposes climate exposure with socio-economic indicators across Pacific Island countries and territories. The work invites reflection on the disproportionate burden borne by those least responsible for global emissions.
Top static prize went to Eduardo España’s ‘Echoes of the Unprotected Sea’. Shaped like a conch shell—a symbol of ancestral communication—the visualisation layers data on marine protection and biodiversity, revealing that less than a quarter of Pacific marine areas are currently safeguarded.
Pacific category winners
In the Pacific category, highlighting talent from and for the Pacific region, Eunice Rigo’s interactive ‘Blue Paradigm’ reimagines policy engagement as play. Her narrative game lets users assume the role of Pacific leaders navigating the 2050 Strategy’s seven themes. With dynamic charts and sonified ocean tides from Suva, it’s a multisensory experience that makes abstract policy tangible.
Sarah Mouniama’s static visualisation ‘When Our Waste Suffocates the Ocean’ exposes the scale of unmanaged plastic and household waste across Pacific coastlines. Drawing on regional pollution data, it turns invisible cycles of consumption into a stark visual reckoning.
Pacific Youth category winners
The Pacific Youth category reveals a new generation of Pacific storytellers, with Pélagie Sivitongo’s interactive ‘The Silence of Mother Whale’ blending satellite data and Kanak motifs to explore marine debris density. Her poetic narrative underscores the environmental and emotional toll of pollution.
Inès Reboul’s static visualisation ‘Education in the Pacific’ offers a comparative analysis of foundational learning indicators across eight countries. Through clear, layered visuals, it reveals both progress and persistent gaps in early education.
Highly commended entries
Reflecting the diversity and strength of submissions this year, judges decided to make two special ‘Highly Commended’ mentions, recognising notability in two additional entries.
Crispin Laka’s ‘Visualising Digital Access across the Blue Pacific’ highlights digital connectivity by mapping internet usage, 4G coverage, broadband connections and e-government readiness, transforming complex data into a compelling narrative for digital equity, resilience and inclusion.
Lusiana Boutu and Elia Komaitoga’s ‘Resource & Economic Development: Tourism in Fiji’ explores the role of tourism in shaping Fiji’s economic and resource development, and how evidence-based insights can drive sustainable growth in the tourism sector. The visualisation turns complex datasets into an engaging narrative, emphasising informed decision-making for inclusive regional development.
Beyond the ceremony
Powered by the Pacific Data Hub, led by SPC together with CROP agencies, and supported by New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Pacific Dataviz Challenge continues to build a regional culture of open data, data literacy, and evidence-based decision-making.
“The Dataviz Challenge is not just a competition,” said Dr Stuart Minchin, SPC’s Director-General, in his opening. “It’s an invitation for everyone to take hold of Pacific data and use it to tell the stories that matter most to them—their challenges, hopes and vision of the Pacific they want to see.
“Through the Pacific Data Hub—a platform built by the Pacific, for the Pacific—we aim to make data more accessible, more relevant (…) The Challenge helps bring this vision to life, showing us that data can be transformed into something powerful: a story that educates, informs, and inspires action.”
Winners from past years have gone on to present their work on international platforms and even launch new ventures. For example, Ms Fiona Umpa from Papua New Guinea, a 2024 winner, used her experience in the Challenge as a springboard to start her own data consulting business.
Mr Sefanaia Nawadra, Director-General of the Secretariat of the Pacific Regional Environment Programme (SPREP), commented on the need to use data to support informed decision-making for sustainable futures.
“Every dataviz is a concrete contribution to Pacific environmental resilience,” he said. “Keep building these skills in your communities and careers—and use data as a voice for change in addressing climate and environmental challenges.”
The success of the vision at the core of this year’s theme, Blue Pacific 2050, depends on this cooperation, strong leadership and the continued participation at all levels of society, said Mr Esala Nayasi, a Deputy Secretary General with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, at the event.
“[This year’s theme] is about imagining our shared future,” he said. “One where our ocean, our islands, our people, our culture, and our technology are interconnected and thriving.
“Through your participation, you’ve turned numbers into insights on our environment, fisheries, economies, and social well-being that can directly inform decisions. Whatever the topic, you each showed us that data is not just technical. It is human. It is about people’s lives.”
For more information on this story, contact Mr Ben Campion, Communications Adviser, Statistics for Development Division, Pacific Community (SPC).
