The Valencian Community collaborates with the Polytechnic University of Valencia in transparency and open data matters

The Plenary Session of the Council of the Valencian Community has approved a collaboration agreement between the Ministry of Participation, Transparency, Cooperation and Democratic Quality and the Polytechnic University of Valencia (UPV) with the aim of promoting the development of activities in the field of transparency and open data during 2023.

Thus, the Transparency Ministry will allocate 65,000 euros to promote the activities of the agreement focused on the opening and reuse of data present at different levels of public administrations.

Among the planned actions, the third edition of the Open Data Datathon stands out, an event that seeks to encourage the use of open data to develop applications and services that provide benefits to citizens. This collaboration will also promote the reuse of data related to the business sector, promoting innovation, dissemination, and awareness in various fields.

In parallel, it is planned to work jointly with different entities from civil society to establish a series of intelligent sensors for collecting data, while also promoting workshops and seminars on data journalism.

In turn, a series of informative sessions are included aimed at disseminating knowledge on the use and sharing of open data, the presentation of the Datos y Mujeres project, or the dissemination of open data repositories for research or transparency in algorithms.

Likewise, the collaboration includes the programming of talks and workshops to promote the use of open data in high schools, the integration of open data in different subjects of the PhD, bachelor's, and master's degrees on Public Management and Administration, the Master's degree in Cultural Management, and some transversal doctoral subjects.

Finally, this collaboration between the university and the administration also seeks to promote and mentor a large part of the work on transparency and open data, including the development of a guide to the reuse of open data aimed at reuse organizations, as well as activities to disseminate the Open Government Alliance (OGP) and action plans of the Valencian Community.

Previous projects related to open data

Apart from the plan of activities designed for this 2023 and detailed in the previous lines, this is not the first time that the Polytechnic University of Valencia and the Department of Participation and Transparency have worked together in the dissemination and promotion of open data. In fact, to be exact, they have been actively working through the Open Data and Transparency Observatory, belonging to the same university, to promote the value and sharing of data both in the academic and social spheres.

For instance, in line with this dissemination work, last year 2022, they promoted the 'Women and Data' initiative from the same entity, a project that brought together several women from the data field to talk about their professional experience, the challenges and opportunities addressed in the sector.

Among the interviewees, prominent names included Sonia Castro, coordinator of datos.gob.es, Ana Tudela, co-founder of Datadista, or Laura Castro, data visualization designer at Affective Advisory, among many other professionals.

Likewise, last spring and coinciding with the International Open Data Day, the second edition of Datathon took place, whose purpose was to promote the development of new tools from open data linked to responsible consumption, the environment or culture.

Thus, this particular alliance between the Department of Participation and Transparency and the Polytechnic University of Valencia demonstrates that not only is it possible to showcase the potential of open data, but also that dissemination opportunities are multiplied when institutions and the academic sphere work together in a coordinated and planned manner towards the same objectives.