ESSPIN - Relational Matrix Platform

ESSPIN - Web Application

This project is part of the ESSPIN (Economic, Social, and Spatial Inequalities in Europe) Horizon research initiative. It provides an open-access relational matrix platform that enables the estimation and analysis of inequalities under different scenarios involving drivers and policy choices.

Project Description

The Relational Matrix Platform is designed and implemented as a Full-Stack Web Application.

• Frontend: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Embedded JavaScript (EJS)
• Backend: Node.js with Express for routing, logic, and data integration.
• Database: Initially developed with MySQL, later migrated to Postgres for deployment

The app enables users to explore, query, and view data on inequalities across Europe.

It's structured to support multi-step navigation, result summaries, and user interaction features such as bookmarking of individual results and search history of the selected economic variables as well as of the search queries.

Project Structure

ESSPIN-Relational-Matrix-Platform/
├─ public/
│ ├─ images/ # PNG/SVG icons (Phosphor)
│ ├─ scripts/ # Frontend JavaScript
│ └─ styles/ # Frontend CSS
├─ views/ # EJS templates for every page of the app
│ ├─ partials/ # Shared components of every page
│ ├─ ... # Page templates
├─ index.js # Server entry point
├─ package.json
├─ package-lock.json
└─ README.md

Data Availability

This repository contains only the repository code. The underlying database, which stores the results of the ESSPIN research team's work, is not publicly available.

• Database access is restricted to the project consortium.
• Deployment instances connect to the database through environment variables (not committed to Git).
• The published web application provides user access to aggregated results without exposing the raw research data.

Deployment

The application will soon be hosted on Render, using:

• A Web Service to host the Node.js + Express application.
• A Postgres Service to host the project's database (not publicly available).

and integrated into the main ESSPIN website for user access.

License & Attributions

• Phosphor Icons are used in the interface. They're distributed under the MIT License. Repository: Phosphor Icons

• Project code license: MIT License (see LICENSE).