We've talked a lot about the excellent Doing Business reports that the World Bank Group produces every year.  A quick reminder:

The Doing Business database provides objective measures of business regulations and their enforcement. The Doing Business indicators are comparable across 175 economies. They indicate the regulatory costs of business and can be used to analyze specific regulations that enhance or constrain investment, productivity, and growth.

Well, they've taken it a step further.  In partnership with Google and Google Maps, the Doing Business web site now features a link to a mash-up of the Doing Business indicators on a map of the world.  You can scroll around and get a great idea about regional trends.  Clicking on an individual balloon seamlessly transitions into a pop-up with the Doing Business data.  There are even special balloons for the top 10 reformers of last year.

This is a great example of how free and/or open-source technologies can be used to make the case for pro-business policy reforms.  And frankly, it just looks good and runs well.  You should check it out, bookmark it, and share it with your friends.

Via Development Gateway.