Economic Truth Dashboard
THE QUESTION
Can accessible, real-time economic data shift Moldovan citizens from emotion-driven reactions to a fact-based understanding of their economy?
LOCATION: Moldova
SECTOR: Human rights and Democracy
TECH: AI
TIMELINE: November 2025 - Present
PIONEER: TBC
PARTNERS: Newsmaker
The Challenge
Moldova sits at the crossroads of competing narratives—caught between European integration and Russian influence—where economic misinformation thrives on fear and uncertainty. Following a gas war with Russia, the invasion of Ukraine, and cascading energy crises, Moldovan citizens face soaring prices for goods, utilities, and housing. Into this anxiety-filled environment, Russian disinformation exploits emotions, amplifying narratives that "Europe will ruin your pocket money" while ignoring countervailing data like salary growth or EU utility subsidies.
Current fact-based economic journalism arrives too slowly—comprehensive analyses published monthly or quarterly cannot counter daily speculation and manipulation. Citizens lack accessible tools to independently verify economic claims in real-time, leaving them vulnerable to emotionally charged misinformation that drowns out nuanced economic reality. Meanwhile, speculation shifts rapidly from inflation rates to fish prices, requiring responsive information systems that traditional journalism cannot provide.
The Idea
This This pilot will develop an AI-powered economic dashboard and interactive map providing Moldovan citizens with trustworthy, real-time economic data that shows how different indicators connect. By aggregating and visualizing key economic metrics daily—from inflation and salary growth to utility costs and EU support—the dashboard will offer citizens an always-available reference point to counter economic manipulation and understand the complete picture.
Key components include:
Daily Data Collection: AI-driven system pulling real-time economic data from official sources (ministries, EU, national statistics) and updating daily
Interactive Visualisation: Map and dashboard showing connections between economic indicators, helping citizens understand relationships between prices, wages, subsidies, and inflation
Integrated Distribution: Embedded directly into Newsmaker's media webpage and monthly newsletter, meeting audiences where they already consume trusted information
Responsive Parameters: Flexible architecture allowing Newsmaker to add or remove indicators based on current speculation topics (recent example: fish prices became a two-day national controversy)
Contextualised Content: Regular news pieces and newsletters generated directly from dashboard data, explaining the significance of numbers to current events
The pilot will test whether accessible, real-time economic data that shows indicator connections can effectively pre-bunk economic misinformation and shift citizens from emotion-driven reactions to fact-based understanding, while providing insights on audience engagement patterns across Newsmaker's diverse communities.
“In Moldova we had speculations on all kinds of numbers and parameters, beginning from inflation and ending with the prices for fish—it’s been quite a topic during the last two days in Moldova. I think this is where we can address what’s happening right now, so people can ask: ‘So, why exactly are these numbers so important right now?’”
Our learnings and stories so far
This pilot hasn’t started to publish yet, but there are plenty of other blogs to read below. Check back soon!
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