International initiatives on capactiy building

Building capacities for data producers and users is one of the key aspects in the open data movement. During the last edition of the International Open Data Conference (IODC16), professionals and experts in education gathered to discuss on the most effective methodologies to provide the global community with the knowledge and skills needed to exploit the open data value. 

The event served as a discussion forum where attendees were able to identify the main obstacles in the area, such as the lack of capacity of governments to publish proactively and responsibly open data; the need to respond to the possible reluctance to open information of public employees through data literacy or the inequalities in the global open data movement, especially differences by geography, language and gender.

At the same time, an action plan was defined to overcome these barriers, including the identification of the technical skills needed to advance in the production and re-use of open data; the networking among different regions to share knowledge and experience, or a training approach more focused on the problem to be solved.

This subject is so relevant in the open data sector, that there are many other international initiatives working on the development of learning and teaching materials for the open data community. At Iniciativa Aporta we want to share with you the most outstanding projects in training and capacity development in the world to help users find the necessary resources to improve their knowledge and know-how.

International initiatives on open data capacity

Although further efforts are needed, there are important international initiatives such as the School of Data that empower civil society organizations, journalists and citizens to be able to use data effectively and efficiently. Since its beginning, this entity has developed and maintained a network of professionals specialized in data literacy, including 13 organizations worldwide with a total of 101 active members, who have elaborated dozens of articles, lessons and practical tutorials on how to work with data, and they have trained thousands of people through the three programs developed by the institution: the Global Fellowship, the Network Lab and Curriculum Development, an online training resource center.

One of the international entities that make the greatest effort regarding capacity buidling is the Open Data Institute, which provides one of the most varied training catalogs in the world. Nowadays ODI has eleven interactive courses, taught by open data experts, ranging from the most basic topics on open information to practical modules on open scientific data or specific training for policy makers and open data strategies about risk management, leadership and innovation.

In addition, another international organization working to promote open data knowledge and good practices is the Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN), which has a specific working group on capacity development to advocate for collaborative efforts in agricultural and nutrition open data initiatives; advocate for programs, good practices, and lessons learned that enable the use of open data and  promote capacity development initiatives and diversity of open data users for a more effective accessibility, use, engagement and understanding of open data.

Since last september, this working group is mapping the existing open data initiatives, capacities and training resources in the field of open data -available for its enrichment by the rest of the open data global community- and conducting a survey of people working with open data in the agriculture and nutrition space to create a source of training materials for further progress in the open agricultural data. 

In Europe, the European Data Portal Portal is leading the open data elearning. Nowadays, the platform offers thirteen training modules, aimed at all user levels, on the main open data trends, publication practices, access and re-use or essential concepts such as licenses, formats, standards or platforms.

In addition to these resource, EDP publish regularly studies and reports to help open data policy makers on their work. In this regard, a recent document with recommendations has been created to ensure the sustainability of European open data portals. 

Finally, the GovLab carries out a coaching program, training workshops and master classes through its division The GovLab Academy. A training project designed to offer access to quality content to open data experts, personalized tutorials for the development of open data projects, learning tools and contacts with experts at international level. 

All these initiatives are just a sample of the available materials regarding open data and re-use of the information. Nevertheless, in order to take advantage of all existing resources, a greater international collaboration is needed to enable the exchange of knowledge among those countries leading the open data movement and those regions where the open data movement is just starting. A challenge to provide the community with the skills and abilities needed to meet, through open data, the global sustainable development goals.