Power BI Reports for Smarter Decisions and Actionable Insights

The client approached us with a request to create a Scoreboard in Power BI to track the objectives of the European Strategy for Universities (ES4U). This tool, designed for policy users and stakeholders, must present data clearly and easily. The goal was to visualize indicators for comparisons, provide interactive features for deeper exploration, and embed the tool within the EACEA’s National Policies Platform.

One of the challenges was meeting the client’s deadline for launching the scoreboard. We needed to gather their requirements and incorporate their requests despite Power BI’s limitations. Additionally, we had to develop our own solutions to implement certain features that were not natively supported in Power BI.

Reports that display various indicators at the country level, using data from sources such as EUROSTAT and ETER. The challenge was creating an advanced, customized Power BI solution incorporating TopoJSON files to meet these needs. We chose TopoJSON files because they efficiently manage complex geographic data. This allowed us to create interactive maps with detailed information about countries and their outermost territories, making our reports more accurate and comprehensive.

Data Integration & Modeling

The database comprised multiple sources, including EUROSTAT, ETER, EUROSTUDENT, EUROGRADUATES, EUA, and OpenAlex.

Once the data was imported into Power BI, we used Power Query to clean and transform it, ensuring accuracy and consistency. This step was essential for preparing the data for analysis. Then, we built a detailed data model to organize the dataset, allowing for deeper exploration and the creation of meaningful visualizations.

Visualization & User Experience

The biggest challenge was making the reports informative and user-friendly. Due to Power BI’s limitations, we had to develop creative solutions to integrate certain features. This led us to use TopoJSON files, which allowed us to display geographic data more intuitively.

The final Power BI reports include:

• Detailed scoreboard visualizations for key higher education metrics

• Shape maps and country-specific indicators for regional comparisons

• Trend analysis over time, providing insights into long-term developments

• Custom visualizations for outermost territories, addressing specific policy needs

These reports are now a key component of the European Higher Education Sector Scoreboard, providing policymakers and stakeholders with clear, actionable insights. 

Access the Final Solution Here.

We tested the solution step by step and continuously incorporated new requests from the client. One of the main challenges was determining how to visualize the outermost territories—specific countries and their most remote areas. We explored different approaches to representing these regions in the report, ensuring they met the client’s needs while maintaining clear and consistent visuals.

As a result, we developed six different types of reports using Power BI, which are publicly available on the designated website. These reports include:

• Five thematic views:

  • Transnational cooperation in Europe

  • EU values

  • Future-proof skills and cooperation with industrial ecosystems

  • International cooperation

  • Context indicators

• One “Country Pages” report displays each selected country's key indicators.

Our solution provides interactive visuals that enhance usability, improve clarity, and enable detailed data exploration. The reports are designed to be user-friendly and intuitive, ensuring accessibility for many users.

A major achievement of this project is transforming a large volume of complex data into a simple, easy-to-understand format. This allows stakeholders and policy users to analyze and utilize the data more effectively. Now, they have organized, actionable insights that support better decision-making and more efficient policy implementation.