Spanish universities have numerous quality data that have great economic and social potential. For this reason, for some time now we have been witnessing a data opening movement by universities in our country, with the aim of promoting the use and reuse of the information they generate, as well as improving its transparency, among others.

As a result of this openness movement, open data portals linked to universities have emerged, many of which are federated with datos.gob.es, such as the University of Cantabria, the University of Extremadura or Pablo de Olavide University, although there are many more. There have even been collaborative initiatives such as UniversityDATA, which seeks to promote open data in the higher education sector in a harmonized way. UniversiData currently brings together 6 universities, but its intention is to continue growing and act as a single access point where the different universities can share their data in a simple way. Also noteworthy is the role of the Ministry of Universities, which currently offers thus 1,000 datasets through datos.gob.es.

Between the datasets shared by universities we find administrative data, on the profile of the students or the different academic itineraries, although they also have a relevant role in the publication of the data of their research groups.

But the role of universities in the open data ecosystem goes far beyond mere publishers, but also has a prominent role in promoting the opening of more data and its reuse.

Examples of open data groups linked to universities

The field of data in general, and that of open data in particular, has more and more weight and importance within the university environment, in academic matters but also in the area of ​​dissemination. As a consequence, today we find various examples of groups, chairs or professionals linked to higher education focused on promoting the use and reuse of academic data.

Next, we analyze some groups of open data linked to the field of higher education in our country:

Chair of Transparency and Open Data – Valencian Observatory of Open Data and Transparency

What is it and what is its purpose?

This organization has been created by the Valencian Generalitat and the Polytechnic University of Valencia, through its Higher School of Computer Engineering and the University Master's Degree in Information Management, to carry out activities related to transparency, participation and citizen access to public information in the Valencian Community.

What functions does it carry out?

The chair organizes and develops a series of activities related to the field of transparency and open data that can be classified into three different categories:

• Training activities: The chair collaborates in teaching activities, such as the Official University Master's Degree in Information Management; in the implementation of permanent training programs aimed at officials, local entities and associations; or the creation of scholarships and prizes for the best degree projects in the field of transparency for UPV students.
• Technical, technological and artistic dissemination activities: Through workshops, conferences and conferences, it seeks to promote both the publication and reuse of open data. They also develop work spaces together with the administration's technical staff, computer programmers and public managers.
• Research and development activities: From the chair they work on different lines of research, especially in the field of open data from the web GVAObert of the Generalitat. They also promote innovative technological solutions in terms of transparency, participation and access to public information.

Next steps

In addition to the Datathon, they also plan to hold an international conference with the collaboration of Open Knowledge Foundation, a series of news verification workshops through open data together with Newtral, various dissemination and training sessions with several business federations, or a workshop on open data from a gender perspective. Among his plans is also to create a directory of reusers of the Valencian Community.

Although work is being done on them, these events still do not have an official agenda and calendar.

Cajasiete Chair of Big Data, Open Data and Blockchain, University of La Laguna

What is it and what is its purpose?

The University of La Laguna and Cajasiete create last year the Big Data, Open Data and Blockchain Chair with the purpose of contributing to digital transformation and the development of a competitive economy in the Canary Islands, through research, training and dissemination in fields such as Big Data, Open Data or Blockchain. This Chair has in its Advisory Council a group of representatives of public and private entities of the archipelago, which are key players when it comes to promoting digital transformation and the development of public-private business models in the Canary Islands.

What functions does it carry out?

One of their most outstanding projects has been "Mapa BOB", where they analyzed in detail the situation of the Canarian entities in terms of digitization to take concrete actions that help fulfill their mission. After this analysis, from the chair they have focused on various initiatives with the aim of raising the level of digitization in the archipelago, many of which have been focused on open data:

• BOB Webinars: They have developed online seminars on specific topics to learn about and disseminate good practices in the field of technology and data.
• Meetings of Public Administrations: They have also set up spaces so that different AA.PP. Canary Islands can share experiences on specific issues related to data. In the last face-to-face edition there was a discussion table dedicated to the analysis of open data.
• Projects: Among the projects they have carried out, it stands out “Practical application of open data: update and prediction”. This is a Final Degree Project whose objective was based on defining a quality indicator to, based on open data related to COVID-19, make predictions of the evolution of the accumulated incidence.
• Training courses: Within the field of open data, it has organized different training courses, such as:

- Course on the CKAN platform for the Cabildo de Lanzarote.

- Masterclass on Open Data and Big Data for business students at the University of La Laguna.

- Open Data courses for Public Administrations within the initiative "Elements to modernize the Administration and improve the provision of public services in the current context" of the University of La Laguna.

- Python course, whose final project consisted of analyzing open tourism data on the island of Tenerife.

Next steps

Currently, the BOB Chair is collaborating in the initiative "DIGINNOVA”, a training program to train unemployed people in digitization matters specific to the needs of the islands. With regard to 2022, various dissemination, training and research activities have been planned with which they hope to continue growing and adding value, although at the moment none of them have been officially presented yet.

Hablando en data

What is it and what is its purpose?

It is a dissemination channel aimed at sharing information and knowledge of interest with the community of data scientists. In this space we can find interviews, review concepts, news or events on Data Science and Artificial Intelligence. In this case we are not talking about a project linked to a university, but to its professionals. This channel has been created by Abilio Romero Ramos and Ivan Robles Acute, two data scientists with extensive experience in the sector who dedicate part of their professional time to teaching subjects related to the field of data in different master's degrees at higher education centers such as the European University and CEU San Pablo University.

What functions does it carry out?

Their YouTube channel has become the central axis of its dissemination project. Through it they try to approach and explain in an entertaining and simple way various concepts necessary to take advantage of the value that is hidden in the data, especially in those that are available to the public.

On the other hand, in his web page they centralize and collect a multitude of content related to data science. In it we can identify some of the functions that this initiative carries out, such as:

• Divulgation: They have a section dedicated to the dissemination of blogs, websites and channels that have information of interest on this subject.
• Training: On its website we can find a section dedicated to disseminating training materials of interest on data science, either through free books, documentaries or online courses.
• Data science for school: an initiative that tries to bring data to the entire population, especially students. Here they share useful and fun resources to help young people get into the world of data science.

The collaboration that this initiative carries out with SoGoodData, an NGO that helps and supports social projects thanks to the combination of public information and that shared by collaborating companies.

Next steps

The closest future plans for this initiative are to continue disseminating knowledge about data science among its community and to continue taking advantage of the possibilities that this field offers. They will continue to spread the use and reuse of public data, not only from their YouTube channel but also from the masters in which they teach and through initiatives such as SoGoodData.

As we have seen, university entities and their professionals have acquired a relevant role in the open data sector in our country, as publishers, disseminators and reusers, although that is for another article.

Do you know of any other initiative for the dissemination of open data in the university field? Leave us a comment or write us an email at dinamizacion@datos.gob.es and tell us. We will be happy to read you.