Global report on the 4th International Open Data Conference

1,693 attendees, 89 countries represented, 87 talks and 330 speakers. These are some of the figures that summarize the last edition of the International Open Data Conference that took place in Madrid last October. Recently, the global report of the event has been published together with an interactive space where all the materials on the meeting sessions are collected, as well as the regional talks that took place at the Conference and the proposals for action which can be discussed on the online forum created for users.

Thanks to this meeting point for the global community, it is not only possible to discuss over the seven areas of action of the open data movement and the proposed actions for each of them, but also to suggest new topics and act towards the next edition of the Open Data Conference to be held in Buenos Aires next 2018.

In addition, through this interactive panel, it is possible to access all the videos of the tables, workshops and pre-events of the IODC from a single platform, together with the most relevant ideas of the speakers participating in the Conference, links to their professional profiles, notes collected for each of the sessions and the most important tweets of the attendees at the event.

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Moreover, the IODC global report is already available for download, a document designed to define the next steps at the international level, strengthen the networks created during the Conference and explore new ways to re-use the open data that promote social inclusion and economic development in the world.

Produced by the Open Data for Development Network, the report is conceived as a new version of the Action Plan for International Collaboration associated with the global open data roadmap: a starting point for future discussions on the impact of open data and the collective actions that will be necessary to advance in the sector at global and local level. According to these goals, the report is structured into four main sections:

1. The road ahead, opportunities and challenges for the second Action Plan

During the International Open Data Conference a wide range of issues were dealt regarding the open data status at the international level. Based on the main sessions that took place during the meeting, this first chapter focuses on a selection of themes and trends that reshape the movement since the last edition of the IODC, and which should be considered in the elaboration of the second version of the Action Plan: reaching the next level of open data maturity, fighting against money laundering and corruption, priority in the incorporation of official statistics agencies to the open data movement for its key role as data producer or strengthening local efforts around the world, among others.

2. Toward greater impact: Where open data are making a difference

The efforts made continuously to increase the open data impact have meant important advances in different communities of the sector. The Madrid edition was the opportunity to take stock of the innovations in the different topics and discuss new areas of collaboration as regards the open data re-use. During the previous events and conference sessions, attendees shared good practices, success stories and experiences where open data solved citizens' daily problems.

This second section of the global report compiles IODC information on the most innovative uses of open data in the following sectors: cities, transparency and accountability, agriculture, environment, indigenous communities, humanitarian aid, elections, parliaments, Science and journalism.

3. Open data ecosystem in the different global regions

The third chapter of the IODC global report touches on different areas of the planet -Africa, Asia, North America, Eastern Europe, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), Latin America and the Caribbean, and Eastern Europe- compiling the regional initiatives presented during the event and the conclusions drawn at each of the tables.

4. Second Action Plan for International Collaboration

The Canadian edition, IODC 2015, resulted in the elaboration of a roadmap that included the action plan for international collaboration to advance in the sector and unlock the full potential of the open data.

During the meeting in Madrid, different discussions were organized to improve these joint actions in order to find solutions to the challenges faced by the open data movement. Thus, different steps to be followed by the international community were identified to find the answers to local problems through open data across seven specific areas.

Each of these areas is encompassed in the second Action Plan which includes the recent developments, challenges and specific actions to be undertaken by each member of the open data community until the next edition of the IODC 2018. The aim of this plan is to strengthen the networks, create joint initiatives and align efforts in different regions of the world to accelerate the progress in the next two years.

Thanks to the report and the interactive space, it is possible to have all the resources of the last conference in order to delve into the achievements to date in open data and to know the next steps planned to expand the local impact of open data until the next edition that will take place in Buenos Aires next 2018.