datos abiertos

March is approaching and with it a new edition of the Open Data Day. It is an annual worldwide celebration that has been organised for 12 years, promoted by the Open Knowledge Foundation through the Open Knowledge Network. It aims to promote the use of open data in all countries and cultures.

This year's central theme is "Open data to address the polycrisis". The term polycrisis refers to a situation where different risks exist in the same time period. This theme aims to focus on open data as a tool to address, through its reuse, global challenges such as poverty and multiple inequalities, violence and conflict, climate risks and natural disasters.

If several years ago the activities were limited to a single day, from 2023 we have a week to enjoy various conferences, seminars, workshops, etc. centred on this theme. Specifically, in 2025, Open Data Day activities will take place from 1 to 7 March.

Through its website you can see the various activities that will take place throughout the week all over the world. In this article we review some of those that you can follow from Spain, either because they take place in Spain or because they can be followed online.

Open Data Day 2025: Women Leading Open Data for Equality

Iniciativa Barcelona Open Data is organising a session on the afternoon of 6 March focusing on how open data can help address equality challenges. The event will bring together women experts in data technologies and open data, to share knowledge, experiences and best practices in both the publication and reuse of open data in this field.

The event will start at 17:30 with a welcome and introduction. This will be followed by two panel discussions and an interview:

• Round Table 1. Publishing institutions. Gender-sensitive data strategy to address the feminist agenda.
• DIALOGUE Data lab. Building feminist Tech Data practice.
• Round Table 2. Re-users. Projects based on the use of open data to address the feminist agenda.

The day will end at 19:40 with a cocktail and the opportunity for attendees to discuss the topics discussed and expand their network through networking.

How can you follow the event? This is an in-person event, which will be held at Ca l'Alier, Carrer de Pere IV, 362 (Barcelona).

Registration

Open access scientific and scholarly publishing as a tool to face the 21st century polycrisis: the key role of publishers

Organised by a private individual, Professor Damián Molgaray, this conference looks at the key role of editors in open access scientific and scholarly publishing. The idea is for participants to reflect on how open knowledge is positioned as a fundamental tool to face the challenges of the 21st century polycrisis, with a focus on Latin America.

The event will take place on 4 March at 11:00 in Argentina (15:00 in mainland Spain).

How can you follow the event? This is an online event through Google Meet.

Registration

WhoFundsThem

The organisation mySociety will show the results of its latest project. Over the last few months, a team of volunteers has collected data on the financial interests of the 650 MPs in the UK House of Commons, using sources such as the official Register of Interests, Companies House, MPs' attendance at debates etc. This data, checked and verified with MPs themselves through a 'right of reply' system, has been transformed into an easily accessible format, so that anyone can easily understand it, and will be published on the parliamentary tracking website TheyWorkForYou.

At this event, the project will be presented and the conclusions will be discussed. It takes place on Tuesday 4 at 14:00 London time (15:00 in Spain peninsular).

How can you follow the event? The session can be followed online, but registration is required. The event will be in English.

Registration

Science on the 7th: A conversation on Open Data & Air Quality

El viernes 7 a las 9:00 EST – (15:00 en España peninsular) se podrá seguir online una conferencia sobre datos abiertos y calidad del aire. La sesión reunirá a diversos expertos para debatir los temas de actualidad en materia de calidad del aire y salud mundial, y se examinará la contaminación atmosférica procedente de fuentes clave, como las partículas, el ozono y la contaminación relacionada con el tráfico.

Esta iniciativa está organizada por Health Effects Institute, una corporación sin ánimo de lucro que proporciona datos científicos sobre los efectos de la contaminación atmosférica en la salud.

A conference on open data and air quality will be available online on Friday 7 at 9:00 EST (15:00 in mainland Spain). The session will bring together a range of experts to discuss topical issues in air quality and global health, and will examine air pollution from key sources such as particulate matter, ozone and traffic-related pollution.

This initiative is organised by Health Effects Institute, a non-profit corporation that provides scientific data on the health effects of air pollution.

How can you follow the event? The conference, which will be in English, can be viewed on YouTube. No registration is required.

Watch the event online

Deadline open for new event proposals

The above events are just a few examples of the activities that are part of this global celebration, but, as mentioned above, you can see all the actions on the initiative's website.

In addition, the deadline for registering new events is still open. If you have a proposal, you can register it via this link.

From datos.gob.es we invite you to join this week of celebration, which serves to vindicate the power of open data to generate positive changes in our society. Don't miss it!

Housing is one of the main concerns of Spanish citizens, according to the January 2025 barometer of the Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas (CIS). In order to know the real situation of access to housing, it is necessary to have public, updated and quality data, which allows all the actors in this ecosystem to carry out analyses and make informed decisions.

In this article we will review some examples of available open data, as well as tools and solutions that have been created based on them to bring this information closer to citizens.

Examples of housing data Open data can have several uses in this sector:

• Enable public bodies to understand citizens' needs and develop policies accordingly.
• Helping individuals to find homes to rent or buy.
• Providing information to builders and companies so that they can develop housing that responds to these needs.

Therefore, in this field, the most used data include those referring to housing, but also to demographic and social aspects, often with a high geospatial component. Some of the most popular datasets in this sense are the Housing and Consumer Price Indexes of the National Statistics Institute (INE) or the Cadastre data.

Different public bodies have made available to the public spaces where they gather various data related to housing. This is the case of Barcelona City Council and its portal "Housing in data", an environment that centralises access to information and data from various sources, including datasets from its open data portal.

Another example is the Madrid City Council data visualisation portal, which includes dashboards with information on the number of residential properties by district or neighbourhood, as well as their cadastral value, with direct access to download the data used.

Further examples of bodies that also provide access to this type of information are the Junta de Castilla y León, the Basque Government or the Comunidad Valenciana. In addition, those who wish to do so can find a multitude of data related to housing in the National Catalogue of Open Data, hosted here, at datos.gob.es.

It should also be noted that it is not only public bodies that open data related to this subject. A few months ago, the real estate portalidealistareleased a dataset with detailed information on thousands of properties in Madrid, Barcelona and Valencia. It is available as a package in R via Github.

Tools and solutions to bring this data closer to citizens

Data such as the above can be reused for multiple purposes, as we showed in previous articles and as we can see in this new approach to the various use cases:

Data journalism

The media use open housing data to provide a more accurate picture of the housing market situation, helping citizens understand the dynamics affecting prices, supply and demand. By accessing data on price developments, housing availability or related public policies, the media can generate reports and infographics that explain in an accessible way the situation and how these factors impact on people's daily lives. These articles provide citizens with relevant information, in a simple way, to make decisions about their housing situation.

One example is this article which allows us to visualise, neighbourhood by neighbourhood, the price of rent and access to housing according to income, for which open data from the Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda, the Cadastre and the INE, among others, were used. Along the same lines is this article on the percentage of income to be spent on rent.

Reporting and policy development

Open data on housing is used by public bodies such as the Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda in its Housing and Land Observatory, where electronic statistical bulletins are generated that integrate data available from the main official statistical sources. The aim is to monitor the sector from different perspectives and throughout the different phases of the process (land market, built products, accessibility and financing, etc.). The Ministry of Housing and Urban Agenda also uses data from various sources, such as the Tax Agency, the Cadastre or the INE, for its State Reference System of Housing Rental Prices, which defines ranges of rental price values for housing in areas declared as stressed.

Offer of real estate services

Open data can be valuable for the construction sector: open information on land use and permits is consulted before excavation work is undertaken and new construction starts.

In addition, some of the companies using open data are real estate websites. These portals reuse open data sets to provide users with comparable property prices, neighbourhood crime statistics or proximity to public educational, health and recreational facilities. This is helped, for example, by tools such as Location intelligence, which provides access to census data, rental prices, housing characteristics or urban planning. Public bodies can also help in this field with their own solutions, such as Donde Vivo, from the Government of Aragon, which allows you to obtain an interactive map and related information of the nearest points of interest, educational and health centres as well as geostatistical information of the place where you live.

There are also tools that help to forecast future costs, such as Urban3r, where users can visualise different indicators that help them to know the energy demand data of residential buildings in their current state and after undergoing energy refurbishment, as well as the estimated costs of these interventions.This is a field where data-driven disruptive technologies, such as  artificial intelligence, will play an increasingly important role, optimising processes and facilitating decision-making for both home buyers and suppliers. By analysing large volumes of data, AI can predict market trends, identify areas of high demand or provide personalised recommendations based on the needs of each user. Some companies have already launched chatbots, which answer users' questions, but AI can even help create projects for the development of affordable and sustainable housing.

In short, we are in a field where new technologies are going to make it easier and easier for citizens to find out about the supply of housing, but this supply must be aligned with the needs of users. It is therefore necessary to continue promoting the opening up of quality data, which will help to understand the situation and promote public policies and solutions that facilitate access to housing.

The Sistema Nacional de Publicidad de Subvenciones y Ayudas Públicas (SNPSAP) is a tool that contributes to the transparency, dissemination and re-use of data related to public subsidies and grants. This system centralises all the information on calls for applications and concessions of subsidies and public aid approved by the General State Administration, the autonomous communities and local entities.

Origins of the project

We have to go back to 2014 to find the beginning of this project. That year saw a reform of the 2003 General Law on Subsidies (Law 38/2003) with a huge impact in two significant respects:

• On the one hand, the National Subsidies Database, which had been created by the aforementioned Law in 2003, became available for full consultation by the managing bodies of subsidies and grants of all public administrations and those others legally authorised.

• Moreover, the National System of Publicity of Public Subsidies and Grants was created as a public website, with free and unrestricted access for all citizens. This complied with the requirements of publicity and transparency of all public subsidies and aid granted in Spain, especially calls for applications and awards, with identification of the beneficiaries. This space began operating on 1 January 2015, offering data from the state administration. The following year it was extended to regional and local administrations, thus covering the entire spectrum of the public sector.

Initial data formats and functionalities

From its origin, there was a serious support for the re-use of data for the society that originates it. Already initially the website allowed  downloading of data in different formats (CSV, XLSX and PDF) that allow their reuse, although limiting the size of the downloads to 10,000 records for performance and technical capacity reasons.

In addition, a alert subscription mechanismwas available from the outset. A citizen or company could - and can - register as many alerts as they need so that the system automatically notifies them when any call of interest to them is published, sending them a link to it. The tedious need to consult the dozens of official newspapers published in Spain on a daily basis to find out about calls for grants and subsidies was thus eliminated at a stroke.

A project in constant evolution to cope with growth

Regulatory developments in the field of aid and subsidies in the European Union, and Spain's accession to the United Nations Open Government Partnership initiative, shaped the growth of the website in successive years, increasing the offer of specific data views (State aid and minimis, large beneficiaries, political parties, etc.), which made it easier for citizens and data reusers to access them.

At the dawn of the pandemic, the system was already supporting 1.3 million visits per year, serving 3.3 million pages of grants and calls for proposals. This posed a challenge in terms of performance, as volumes never foreseen in the initial technical designs were achieved. A deep technological reform was needed to support the high demand for information and service level.

The reform was approached not only from a technological point of view, but also taking into account:

• The new features established in the Royal Decree 130/2019 regulating the National Grants Database.
• The socially demanded need to enable a API-REST interface for downloading information in reusable JSON format to overcome technical limitations.

Characteristics of the current platform

The new website was put into production at the end of November 2023, offering multiple views of calls for proposals (520,000 as of December 2024), grants (27,700,000), State aid awards (5.000,000), grants of minimis (3,190,000), strategic grant plans (1,341), very serious infringements (4), grants to parties (7,580), and grants to large beneficiaries (145,000).

All this information is accessible today via screen, downloadable in PDF, CSV, XSLX and API-REST interface formats in JSON and XML, being freely reusable by infomediary companies and citizens, with no restrictions other than those established by law.

Figure 1. Capture of the website of the National System for the Publicity of Public Subsidies and Grants (SNPSAP).

Since it went into production 11 months ago, the new system has received 7.5 million visits from citizens and businesses. And through the API-REST interface, thousands of downloads are made daily, making a powerful contribution to the dissemination of "raw" subsidy information for reuse by society for all kinds of analyses, studies, etc. In addition, an average of 35,000 e-mail alerts are issued daily to citizens and companies to inform them of new calls for subsidies.

Advantages of SNPSAP

The social dissemination and reuse of all this information eliminates asymmetries and frictions in the markets, and allows operators and citizens to work more efficiently and productively, resulting in higher levels of welfare for society.

The publication of open data allows citizens and organisations not only to know how public funds are distributed, but also to identify new opportunities. This system ensures that all individuals and organisations have equal access to information, regardless of their size or resources, contributing to a more equitable distribution of public support.

Geospatial data capture is essential for understanding our environment, making informed decisions and designing effective policies in areas such as urban planning, natural resource management or emergency response. In the past, this process was mainly manual and labour-intensive, based on ground measurements made with tools such as total stations and levels. Although these traditional techniques have evolved significantly and are still widely used, they have been complemented by automated and versatile methods that allow more efficient and detailed data collection.

The novelty in the current context lies not only in technological advances, which have improved the accuracy and efficiency of geospatial data collection, but also because it coincides with a widespread shift in mindset towards transparency and accessibility. This approach has encouraged the publication of the data obtained as open resources, facilitating their reuse in applications such as urban planning, energy management and environmental assessment. The combination of advanced technology and an increased awareness of the importance of information sharing marks a significant departure from traditional techniques.

In this article, we will explore some of the new methods of data capture, from photogrammetric flights with helicopters and drones, to ground-based systems such as mobile mapping, which use advanced sensors to generate highly accurate three-dimensional models and maps. In addition, we will learn how these technologies have empowered the generation of open data, democratising access to key geospatial information for innovation, sustainability and public-private collaboration.

Aerial photogrammetry: helicopters with advanced sensors

In the past, capturing geospatial data from the air involved long and complex processes. Analogue cameras mounted on aircraft generated aerial photographs that had to be processed manually to create two-dimensional maps. While this approach was innovative at the time, it also had limitations, such as lower resolution, long processing times and greater dependence on weather and daylight. However, technological advances have reduced these restrictions, even allowing operations at night or in adverse weather conditions.

Today, aerial photogrammetry has taken a qualitative leap forward thanks to the use of helicopters equipped with state-of-the-art sensors. The high-resolution digital cameras allow images to be captured at multiple angles, including oblique views that provide a more complete perspective of the terrain. In addition, the incorporation of thermal sensors and LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) technologies adds an unprecedented layer of detail and accuracy. These systems generate point clouds and three-dimensional models that can be integrated directly into geospatial analysis software, eliminating much of the manual processing.

Figure 1. Table with advantages and disadvantages of aerial photogrammetry with helicopters.

Mobile mapping: from backpacks to BIM integration

The mobile mapping is a geospatial data capture technique using vehicles equipped with cameras, LiDAR scanners, GPS and other advanced sensors. This technology allows detailed information to be collected as the vehicle moves, making it ideal for mapping urban areas, road networks and dynamic environments.

In the past, topographic surveys required stationary measurements, which meant traffic disruptions and considerable time to cover large areas. In contrast, mobile mapping has revolutionised this process, allowing data to be captured quickly, efficiently and with less impact on the environment. In addition, there are portable versions of this technology, such as backpacks with robotic scanners, which allow access to pedestrian or hard-to-reach areas.

Figure 2. Image captured with mobile mapping techniques.

Figure 3. Table with advantages and disadvantages of mobile mopping.

The mobile mapping is presented as a versatile and efficient solution for capturing geospatial data on the move, becoming a key tool for the modernisation of urban and territorial management systems.

HAPS and ballons: new heights for information capture

HAPS (High-Altitude Platform Stations) and hot-air balloons represent an innovative and efficient alternative for capturing geospatial data from high altitudes. These platforms, located in the stratosphere or at controlled altitudes, combine features of drones and satellites, offering an intermediate solution that stands out for its versatility and sustainability:

• HAPS, like zeppelins and similar aircraft, operate in the stratosphere, at altitudes between 18 and 20 kilometres, allowing a wide and detailed view of the terrain.
• The aerostatic balloons, on the other hand, are ideal for local or temporary studies, thanks to their easiness of deployment and operation at lower altitudes.

Both technologies can be equipped with high-resolution cameras, LiDAR sensors, thermal instruments and other advanced technologies for data capture.

Figure 4. Table with advantages and disadvantages of HAPS and ballons

HAPS and balloons are presented as key tools to complement existing technologies such as drones and satellites, offering new possibilities in geospatial data collection in a sustainable, flexible and efficient way. As these technologies evolve, their adoption will expand access to crucial data for smarter land and resource management.

Satellite technology: PAZ satellite and its future with PAZ-2

Satellite technology is a fundamental tool for capturing geospatial data globally. Spain has taken significant steps in this field with the development and launch of the PAZ satellite. This satellite, initially designed for security and defence purposes, has shown enormous potential for civilian applications such as environmental monitoring, natural resource management and urban planning.

PAZ is an Earth observation satellite equipped with a synthetic aperture radar (SAR), which allows high-resolution imaging, regardless of weather or light conditions.

The upcoming launch of PAZ-2 (planned for 2030) promises to further expand Spain''s observation capabilities. This new satellite, designed with technological improvements, aims to complement the functions of PAZ and increase the availability of data for civil and scientific applications. Planned improvements include:

• Higher image resolution.
• Ability to monitor larger areas in less time.
• Increased frequency of captures for more dynamic analysis.

Figure 5. Table with advantages and disadvantages of PAZ and PAZ-2 satellite technology

With PAZ and the forthcoming PAZ-2, Spain strengthens its position in the field of satellite observation, opening up new opportunities for efficient land management, environmental analysis and the development of innovative solutions based on geospatial datas. These satellites are not only a technological breakthrough, but also a strategic tool to promote sustainability and international cooperation in data access.

Conclusion: challenges and opportunities in data management 

The evolution of geospatial data capture techniques offers a unique opportunity to improve the accuracy, accessibility and quality of data, and in the specific case of open data, it is essential to foster transparency and re-use of public information. However, this progress cannot be understood without analysing the role played by technological tools in this process.

Innovations such as LiDAR in helicopters, Mobile Mapping, SAM, HAPS and satellites such as PAZ and PAZ-2 not only optimise data collection, but also have a direct impact on data quality and availability.

In short, these technological tools generate high quality information that can be made available to citizens as open data, a situation that is being driven by the shift in mindset towards transparency and accessibility. This balance makes open data and technological tools complementary, essential to maximise the social, economic and environmental value of geospatial data.

You can see a summary of these techniques and their applications in the following infographic:

Download the infographic here

Content prepared by Mayte Toscano, Senior Consultant in Data Economy Technologies. The contents and points of view reflected in this publication are the sole responsibility of the author.

The EU Open Data Days 2025 is an essential event for all those interested in the world of open data and innovation in Europe and the world. This meeting, to be held on 19-20 March 2025, will bring together experts, practitioners, developers, researchers and policy makers to share knowledge, explore new opportunities and address the challenges facing the open data community.

The event, organised by the European Commission through data.europa.eu, aims to promote the re-use of open data. Participants will have the opportunity to learn about the latest trends in the use of open data, discover new tools and discuss the policies and regulations that are shaping the digital landscape in Europe.

Where and when does it take place?

El evento se celebrará en el Centro Europeo de Convenciones de Luxemburgo, aunque también se podrá seguir online, con el siguiente horario:

• Wednesday 19 March 2025, from 13:30 to 18:30.
• Thursday 20 March 2025, from 9:00 to 15:30.

What issues will be addressed?

The agenda of the event is already available, where we find different themes, such as, for example:

• Success stories and best practices: the event will be attended by professionals working at the frontline of European data policy to share their experience. Among other issues, these experts will provide practical guidance on how to inventory and open up a country's public sector data, address the work involved in compiling high-value datasets or analyse perspectives on data reuse in business models. Good practices for quality metadata or improved data governance and interoperability will also be explained.
• Focus on the use of artificial intelligence (AI): open data offers an invaluable source for the development and advancement of AI. In addition, AI can optimise the location, management and use of this data, offering tools to help streamline processes and extract greater insight. In this regard, the event will address the potential of AI to transform open government data ecosystems, fostering innovation, improving governance and enhancing citizen participation. The managers of Norway's national data portal will tell how they use an AI-based search engine to improve data localisation. In addition, the advances in linguistic data spaces and their use in language modelling will be explained, and how to creatively combine open data for social impact will be explored.
• Learning about data visualisation: event attendees will be able to explore how data visualisation is transforming communication, policy making and citizen engagement. Through various cases (such as the family tree of 3,000 European royals or UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage relationships) it will show how iterative design processes can uncover hidden patterns in complex networks, providing insights into storytelling and data communication. It will also address how design elements such as colour, scale and focus influence the perception of data.
• Examples and use cases: multiple examples of concrete projects based on the reuse of data will be shown, in fields such as energy, urban development or the environment. Among the experiences that will be shared is a Spanish company, Tangible Data, which will tell how physical data sculptures turn complex datasets into accessible and engaging experiences.

These are just some of the topics to be addressed, but there will also be discussions on open science, the role of open data in transparency and accountability, etc.

Why are EU Open Data Days so important?

Access to open data has proven to be a powerful tool for improving decision-making, driving innovation and research, and improving the efficiency of organisations. At a time when digitisation is advancing rapidly, the importance of sharing and reusing data is becoming increasingly crucial to address global challenges such as climate change, public health or social justice.

The EU Open Data Days 2025 are an opportunity to explore how open data can be harnessed to build a more connected, innovative and participatory Europe.

In addition, for those who choose to attend in person, the event will also be an opportunity to establish contacts with other professionals and organisations in the sector, creating new collaborations that can lead to innovative projects.

How can I attend?

To attend in person, it is necessary to register through this link. However, registration is not required to attend the event online.

If you have any queries, an e-mail address has been set up to answer any questions you may have about the event: EU-Open-Data-Days@ec.europa.eu.

More information on the event website.

Promoting the data culture is a key objective at the national level that is also shared by the regional administrations. One of the ways to achieve this purpose is to award those solutions that have been developed with open datasets, an initiative that enhances their reuse and impact on society.

On this mission, the Junta de Castilla y León and the Basque Government have been organising open data competitions for years, a subject we talked about in our first episode of the datos.gob.es podcast that you can listen to here.

In this post, we take a look at the winning projects in the latest editions of the open data competitions in the Basque Country and Castilla y León.

Winners of the 8th Castile and Leon Open Data Competition

In the eighth edition of this annual competition, which usually opens at the end of summer, 35 entries were submitted, from which 8 winners were chosen in different categories.

Ideas category: participants had to describe an idea to create studies, services, websites or applications for mobile devices. A first prize of 1,500€ and a second prize of 500€ were awarded.

• First prize: Green Guardians of Castilla y León presented by Sergio José Ruiz Sainz. This is a proposal to develop a mobile application to guide visitors to the natural parks of Castilla y León. Users can access information (such as interactive maps with points of interest) as well as contribute useful data from their visit, which enriches the application.
• Second prize: ParkNature: intelligent parking management system in natural spaces presented by Víctor Manuel Gutiérrez Martín. It consists of an idea to create an application that optimises the experience of visitors to the natural areas of Castilla y León, by integrating real-time data on parking and connecting with nearby cultural and tourist events.

Products and Services Category: Awarded studies, services, websites or applications for mobile devices, which must be accessible to all citizens via the web through a URL. In this category, first, second and third prizes of €2,500, €1,500 and €500 respectively were awarded, as well as a specific prize of €1,500 for students.

• First prize: AquaCyL from Pablo Varela Vázquez. It is an application that provides information about the bathing areas in the autonomous community.
• Second prize: ConquistaCyL presented by Markel Juaristi Mendarozketa and Maite del Corte Sanz. It is an interactive game designed for tourism in Castilla y León and learning through a gamified process.
• Third prize: All the sport of Castilla y León presented by Laura Folgado Galache. It is an app that presents all the information of interest associated with a sport according to the province.
• Student prize: Otto Wunderlich en Segovia by Jorge Martín Arévalo. It is a photographic repository sorted according to type of monuments and location of Otto Wunderlich's photographs.

Didactic Resource Category: consisted of the creation of new and innovative open didactic resources to support classroom teaching. These resources were to be published under Creative Commons licences. A single first prize of €1,500 was awarded in this category.

• First prize: StartUp CyL: Business creation through Artificial Intelligence and Open Data presented by José María Pérez Ramos. It is a chatbot that uses the ChatGPT API to assist in setting up a business using open data.

Data Journalism category: awarded for published or updated (in a relevant way) journalistic pieces, both in written and audiovisual media, and offered a prize of €1,500.

• First prize: Codorniz, perdiz y paloma torcaz son las especies más cazadas en Burgos, presented by Sara Sendino Cantera, which analyses data on hunting in Burgos.

Winners of the 5th edition of the Open Data Euskadi Open Data Competition

As in previous editions, the Basque open data portal opened two prize categories: an ideas competition and an applications competition, each of which was divided into several categories. On this occasion, 41 applications were submitted for the ideas competition and 30 for the applications competition.

Idea competition: In this category, two prizes of €3,000 and €1,500 have been awarded in each category.

Health and Social Category

• First prize: Development of a Model for Predicting the Volume of Patients attending the Emergency Department of Osakidetza by Miren Bacete Martínez. It proposes the development of a predictive model using time series capable of anticipating both the volume of people attending the emergency department and the level of severity of cases.
• Second prize: Euskoeduca by Sandra García Arias. It is a proposed digital solution designed to provide personalised academic and career guidance to students, parents and guardians.

Category Environment and Sustainability

• First prize: Baratzapp by Leire Zubizarreta Barrenetxea. The idea consists of the development of a software that facilitates and assists in the planning of a vegetable garden by means of algorithms that seek to enhance the knowledge related to the self-consumption vegetable garden, while integrating, among others, climatological, environmental and plot information in a personalised way for the user.
• Second prize: Euskal Advice by Javier Carpintero Ordoñez. The aim of this proposal is to define a tourism recommender based on artificial intelligence.

General Category

• First prize: Lanbila by Hodei Gonçalves Barkaiztegi. It is a proposed app that uses generative AI and open data to match curriculum vitae with job offers in a semantic way.. It provides personalised recommendations, proactive employment and training alerts, and enables informed decisions through labour and territorial indicators.
• Second prize: Development of an LLM for the interactive consultation of Open Data of the Basque Government by Ibai Alberdi Martín. The proposal consists in the development of a Large Scale Language Model (LLM) similar to ChatGPT, specifically trained with open data, focused on providing a conversational and graphical interface that allows users to get accurate answers and dynamic visualisations.

Applications competition: this modality has selected one project in the web services category, awarded with €8,000, and two more in the General Category, which have received a first prize of €8,000 and a second prize of €5,000.

Category Web Services

• First prize: Bizidata: Plataforma de visualización del uso de bicicletas en Vitoria-Gasteiz by Igor Díaz de Guereñu de los Ríos. It is a platform that visualises, analyses and downloads data on bicycle use in Vitoria-Gasteiz, and explores how external factors, such as the weather and traffic, influence bicycle use.

General Category

• First prize: Garbiñe AI by Beatriz Arenal Redondo. It is an intelligent assistant that combines Artificial Intelligence (AI) with open data from Open Data Euskadi to promote the circular economy and improve recycling rates in the Basque Country.
• Second prize: Vitoria-Gasteiz Businessmap by Zaira Gil Ozaeta. It is an interactive visualisation tool based on open data, designed to improve strategic decisions in the field of entrepreneurship and economic activity in Vitoria-Gasteiz.

All these award-winning solutions reuse open datasets from the regional portal of Castilla y León or Euskadi, as the case may be. We encourage you to take a look at the proposals that may inspire you to participate in the next edition of these competitions. Follow us on social media so you don't miss out on this year's calls!

Researchers and students from various centers have also reported advances resulting from working with data:The last days of the year are always a good time to look back and assess the progress made. If a few weeks ago we took stock of what happened in the Aporta initiative, now it is time to compile the news related to data sharing, open data and the technologies linked to them.

Six months ago, we already made a first collection of milestones in the sector. On this occasion, we will summarise some of the innovations, improvements and achievements of the last half of the year.

Regulating and driving artificial intelligence

La inteligencia artificial (IA) continúa siendo uno de los campos donde cada día se aprecian nuevos avances. Se trata de un sector cuyo auge es relativamente nuevo y que necesita regulación. Por ello, la Unión Europea publicó el pasado julio el Reglamento de inteligencia artificial, una norma que marcará el entorno regulatorio europeo y global. Alineada con Europa, España ya presentó unos meses antes su nueva Estrategia de inteligencia artificial 2024, con el fin de establecer un marco para acelerar el desarrollo y expansión de la IA en España.

Artificial intelligence (AI) continues to be one of the fields where new advances are being made every day. This is a relatively new and booming sector in need of regulation. Therefore, last July, the European Union published the Artificial Intelligence Regulation, a standard that will shape the European and global regulatory environment. Aligned with Europe, Spain had already presented its new Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2024 a few months earlier, with the aim of establishing a framework to accelerate the development and expansion of AI in Spain.

On the other hand, in October, Spain took over the co-presidency of the Open Government Partnership. Its roadmap includes promoting innovative ideas, taking advantage of the opportunities offered by open data and artificial intelligence. As part of the position, Spain will host the next OGP World Summit in Vitoria.

Innovative new data-driven tools

Data drives a host of disruptive technological tools that can generate benefits for all citizens. Some of those launched by public bodies in recent months include:

• The Ministry of Transport and Sustainable Mobility has started to use Big Data technology to analyse road traffic and improve investments and road safety.
• The Principality of Asturias announces a plan to use Artificial Intelligence to end traffic jams during the summer, through the development of a digital twin.
• The Government of Aragon presented a new tourism intelligence system, which uses Big Data and AI to improve decision-making in the sector.
• The Region of Murcia has launched “Murcia Business Insight”, a business intelligence application that allows dynamic analysis of data on the region's companies: turnover, employment, location, sector of activity, etc.
• The Granada City Council has used Artificial Intelligence to improve sewerage. The aim is to achieve "more efficient" maintenance planning and execution, with on-site data.
• The Segovia City Council and Visa have signed a collaboration agreement to develop an online tool with real, aggregated and anonymous data on the spending patterns of foreign Visa cardholders in the capital. This initiative will provide relevant information to help tailor strategies to promote international tourism.

Researchers and students from various centers have also reported advances resulting from working with data:

• Researchers from the Center for Genomic Regulation (CRG) in Barcelona, the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU), the Donostia International Physics Center (DIPC) and the Fundación Biofísica Bizkaia have trained an algorithm to detect tissue alterations in the early stages and improve cancer diagnosis.
• Researchers from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and KIDO Dynamics have launched a project to extract metadata from mobile antennas to understand the flow of people in natural landscapes. The objective is to identify and monitor the impact of tourism.
• A student at the University of Valladolid (UVa) has designed a project to improve the management and analysis of forest ecosystems in Spain at the local level, by converting municipal boundaries into a linked open data format. The results are available for re-use.

Advances in data spaces

The Ministry for Digital Transformation and the Civil Service and, specifically, the Secretariat of State for Digitalisation and Artificial Intelligence continues to make progress in the implementation of data spaces, through various actions:

• A Plan for the Promotion of Sectoral Data Spaces has been presented to promote secure data sharing.
• The development of Data Spaces for Intelligent Urban Infrastructures (EDINT) has been launched. This project, which will be carried out through the Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP), contemplates the creation of a multi-sectoral data space that will bring together all the information collected by local entities.
• In the field of digitalisation, aid has been launched for the digital transformation of strategic productive sectors through the development of technological products and services for data spaces.

Functionalities that bring data closer to reusers

The open data platforms of the various agencies have also introduced new developments, as new datasets, functionalities, strategies or reports:

• The Ministry for Ecological Transition and the Demographic Challenge has launched a new application for viewing the National Air Quality Index (AQI) in real time. It includes health recommendations for the general population and the sensitive population.
• The Andalusian Government has published a "Guide for the design of Public Policy Pilot Studies". It proposes a methodology for designing pilot studies and a system for collecting evidence for decision-making.
• The Government of Catalonia has initiated steps to implement a new data governance model that will improve relations with citizens and companies.
• The Madrid City Council is implementing a new 3D cartography and thermal map. In the Blog IDEE (Spatial Data Infrastructure of Spain) they explain how this 3D model of the capital was created using various data capture technologies.
• The Canary Islands Statistics Institute (ISTAC) has published 6,527 thematic maps with labor indicators on the Canary Islands in its open data catalog.
• Open Data Initiative and the Democratic Union of Pensioners and Retirees of Spain, with support from the Ministry of Social Rights, Consumption and Agenda 2030, presented the first Data website of the Data Observatory x Seniors. Its aim is to facilitate the analysis of healthy ageing in Spain and strategic decision-making. The Barcelona Initiative also launched a challenge to identify 50 datasets related to healthy ageing, a project supported by the Barcelona Provincial Council.
• The Centre for Technological Development and Innovation (CDTI) has presented a dashboard in beta phase with open data in exploitable format.

In addition, work continues to promote the opening up of data from various institutions:

• Asedie and the King Juan Carlos University (Madrid) have launched the Open Data Reuse Observatory to promote the reuse of open data. It already has the commitment of the Madrid City Council and they are looking for more institutions to join their Manifesto.
• The Cabildo of Tenerife and the University of La Laguna have developed a Sustainable Mobility Strategy in the Macizo de Anaga Biosphere Reserve. The aim is to obtain real-time data in order to take measures adapted to demand.

Data competitions and events to encourage the use of open data

Summer was the time chosen by various public bodies to launch competitions for products and/or services based on open data. This is the case of:

• The Community of Madrid held DATAMAD 2024 at the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos de Madrid. The event included a workshop on how to reuse open data and a datathon.
• More than 200 students registered for the I Malackathon, organised by the University of Malaga, a competition that awarded projects that used open data to propose solutions for water resource management.
• The Junta de Castilla y León held the VIII Open Data Competition, whose winners were announced in November.
• The II UniversiData Datathon was also launched. 16 finalists have been selected. The winners will be announced on 13 February 2025.
• The Cabildo of Tenerife also organised its I Open Data Competition: Ideas for reuse. They are currently evaluating the applications received. They will later launch their 2nd Open Data Competition: APP development.
• The Government of Euskadi held its V Open Data Competition. The finalists in both the Applications and Ideas categories are now known.

Also in these months there have been multiple events, which can be seen online, such as:

• The III GeoEuskadi Congress and XVI Iberian Conference on Spatial Data Infrastructures (JIIDE).
• DATAforum Justice 2024.

Other examples of events that were held but are not available online are the III Congress & XIV Conference of R Users, the Novagob 2024 Public Innovation Congress, DATAGRI 2024 or the Data Governance for Local Entities Conference, among others.

These are just a few examples of the activity carried out during the last six months in the Spanish data ecosystem. We encourage you to share other experiences you know of in the comments or via our email address dinamizacion@datos.gob.es.​

Language models are at the epicentre of the technological paradigm shift that has been taking place in generative artificial intelligence (AI) over the last two years. From the tools with which we interact in natural language to generate text, images or videos and which we use to create creative content, design prototypes or produce educational material, to more complex applications in research and development that have even been instrumental in winning the 2024 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, language models are proving their usefulness in a wide variety of applicationsthat we are still exploring.

Since Google's influential 2017 paper "Attention is all you need" describing the architecture of the Transformers, the technology underpinning the new capabilities that OpenAI popularised in late 2022 with the launch of ChatGPT, the evolution of language models has been more than dizzying. In just two years, we have moved from models focused solely on text generation to multimodal versions that integrate interaction and generation of text, images and audio.

This rapid evolution has given rise to two categories of language models: SLMs (Small Language Models), which are lighter and more efficient, and LLLMs (Large Language Models), which are heavier and more powerful. Far from considering them as competitors, we should analyse SLM and LLM as complementary technologies. While LLLMs offer general processing and content generation capabilities, SLMs can provide support for more agile and specialised solutions for specific needs. However, both share one essential element: they rely on large volumes of data for training and at the heart of their capabilities is open data, which is part of the fuel used to train these language models on which generative AI applications are based.

LLLM: power driven by massive data

The LLLMs are large-scale language models with billions, even trillions, of parameters. These parameters are the mathematical units that allow the model to identify and learn patterns in the training data, giving them an extraordinary ability to generate text (or other formats) that is consistent and adapted to the users' context. These models, such as the GPT family from OpenAI, Gemini from Google or Llama from Meta, are trained on immense volumes of data and are capable of performing complex tasks, some even for which they were not explicitly trained.

Thus, LLMs are able to perform tasks such as generating original content, answering questions with relevant and well-structured information or generating software code, all with a level of competence equal to or higher than humans specialised in these tasks and always maintaining complex and fluent conversations.

The LLLMs rely on massive amounts of data to achieve their current level of performance: from repositories such as Common Crawl, which collects data from millions of web pages, to structured sources such as Wikipedia or specialised sets such as PubMed Open Access in the biomedical field. Without access to these massive bodies of open data, the ability of these models to generalise and adapt to multiple tasks would be much more limited.

However, as LLMs continue to evolve, the need for open data increases to achieve specific advances such as:

1. Increased linguistic and cultural diversity: although today's LLMs are multilingual, they are generally dominated by data in English and other major languages. The lack of open data in other languages limits the ability of these models to be truly inclusive and diverse. More open data in diverse languages would ensure that LLMs can be useful to all communities, while preserving the world's cultural and linguistic richness.
2. Reducción de sesgos: los LLM, como cualquier modelo de IA, son propensos a reflejar los sesgos presentes en los datos con los que se entrenan. This sometimes leads to responses that perpetuate stereotypes or inequalities. Incorporating more carefully selected open data, especially from sources that promote diversity and equality, is fundamental to building models that fairly and equitably represent different social groups.
3. Constant updating: Data on the web and other open resources is constantly changing. Without access to up-to-date data, the LLMs generate outdated responses very quickly. Therefore, increasing the availability of fresh and relevant open data would allow LLMs to keep in line with current events[9].
4. Entrenamiento más accesible: a medida que los LLM crecen en tamaño y capacidad, también lo hace el coste de entrenarlos y afinarlos. Open data allows independent developers, universities and small businesses to train and refine their own models without the need for costly data acquisitions. This democratises access to artificial intelligence and fosters global innovation.

To address some of these challenges, the new Artificial Intelligence Strategy 2024 includes measures aimed at generating models and corpora in Spanish and co-official languages, including the development of evaluation datasets that consider ethical evaluation.

SLM: optimised efficiency with specific data

On the other hand, SLMs have emerged as an efficient and specialised alternative that uses a smaller number of parameters (usually in the millions) and are designed to be lightweight and fast. Aunque no alcanzan la versatilidad y competencia de los LLM en tareas complejas, los SLM destacan por su eficiencia computacional, rapidez de implementación y capacidad para especializarse en dominios concretos.

For this, SLMs also rely on open data, but in this case, the quality and relevance of the datasets are more important than their volume, so the challenges they face are more related to data cleaning and specialisation. These models require sets that are carefully selected and tailored to the specific domain for which they are to be used, as any errors, biases or unrepresentativeness in the data can have a much greater impact on their performance. Moreover, due to their focus on specialised tasks, the SLMs face additional challenges related to the accessibility of open data in specific fields. For example, in sectors such as medicine, engineering or law, relevant open data is often protected by legal and/or ethical restrictions, making it difficult to use it to train language models.

The SLMs are trained with carefully selected data aligned to the domain in which they will be used, allowing them to outperform LLMs in accuracy and specificity on specific tasks, such as for example:

• Text autocompletion: a SLM for Spanish autocompletion can be trained with a selection of books, educational texts or corpora such as those to be promoted in the aforementioned AI Strategy, being much more efficient than a general-purpose LLM for this task.
• Legal consultations: a SLM trained with open legal datasets can provide accurate and contextualised answers to legal questions or process contractual documents more efficiently than a LLM.
• Customised education: ein the education sector, SLM trained with open data teaching resources can generate specific explanations, personalised exercises or even automatic assessments, adapted to the level and needs of the student.
• Medical diagnosis: An SLM trained with medical datasets, such as clinical summaries or open publications, can assist physicians in tasks such as identifying preliminary diagnoses, interpreting medical images through textual descriptions or analysing clinical studies.

Ethical Challenges and Considerations

We should not forget that, despite the benefits, the use of open data in language modelling presents significant challenges. One of the main challenges is, as we have already mentioned, to ensure the quality and neutrality of the data so that they are free of biases, as these can be amplified in the models, perpetuating inequalities or prejudices.

Even if a dataset is technically open, its use in artificial intelligence models always raises some ethical implications. For example, it is necessary to avoid that personal or sensitive information is leaked or can be deduced from the results generated by the models, as this could cause damage to the privacy of individuals.
The issue of data attribution and intellectual property must also be taken into account. The use of open data in business models must address how the original creators of the data are recognised and adequately compensated so that incentives for creators continue to exist.

Open data is the engine that drives the amazing capabilities of language models, both SLM and LLM. While the SLMs stand out for their efficiency and accessibility, the LLMs open doors to advanced applications that not long ago seemed impossible. However, the path towards developing more capable, but also more sustainable and representative models depends to a large extent on how we manage and exploit open data.

As the year comes to an end, it is the perfect time to pause and reflect on all that we have experienced and shared at Iniciativa Aporta. This year has been full of challenges, learning and achievements that deserve to be celebrated.

One of the milestones we want to share is that we have reached almost two million visits on the platform, which is a 15% growth compared to 2023. The interest in data and related technologies has also been evident in social networks: we have exceeded 14,000 followers on LinkedIn (+56%) and 21,000 on X, the former Twitter (+ 1.5%). In addition, we wanted to reach out to new audiences with the launch of our Instagram and Threads profiles, and the redesign of the YouTube channel.

One of our objectives is to promote the openness of data generated by the public sector so that it can be reused by businesses and citizens. The Aporta Initiative provides qualified technical support to help public bodies overcome their challenges and make quality data available to users, through audits, training sessions and advice.  This work has borne fruit with over 90,000 datasets published in the National Catalogue, 18% more than in 202. These datasets are federated with the European Open Data Portal, data.europa.eu.

But it is not only about publishing data, it is also about promoting its use. In order to promote knowledge about open data and stimulate a market linked to the reuse of public sector information, the Aporta Initiative has developed more than 120 articles, 1,400 tweets and 250 publications on LinkedIn with news, events or analysis of the sector. In this sense, we have tried to gather the latest trends on multiple data-related topics such as artificial intelligence, data spaces or open science. In addition:

• Spain is among the EU countries setting open data trends by 2024.
• We have launched a new content format: the pódcasts from datos.gob.es. The aim is to give you the opportunity to learn more about different topics through audio programmes that you can listen to anytime, anywhere.
• We have strengthened the infographics section, with new content summarising complex data-related issues, such as legislation or strategic documents. Each infographic presents detailed information in a visually appealing way, making it easy to grasp important concepts and allowing you to quickly access key points.
• We have created new data science exercises, designed to guide you step-by-step through key concepts and various analysis techniques so you can learn effectively and practically. In addition, each exercise includes the full code available on GitHub, allowing you to replicate and experiment on your own.
• We have published new guides and reports focusing on how to harness the potential of open data to drive innovation and transparency. Each document includes clear explanations and practical examples to keep you up to date with best practices and tools, ensuring that you are always at the forefront in the use of emerging data-related technologies.
• We have expanded the list of examples of applications and companies that reuse open data. In the case of applications, we have already reached 470 solutions (37 more than in 2023) and in the case of companies, 96 companies (6 more than in 2023)..

Thank you for a good year! In 2025 we will continue to work to drive the data culture in public bodies, businesses and citizens.

You can see more about our activity in the following infographic:

Link to the infographic

Link to the infographic

The ability to collect, analyse and share data plays a crucial role in the context of the global challenges we face as a society today. From pollution and climate change, through poverty and pandemics, to sustainable mobility and lack of access to basic services. Global problems require solutions that can be adapted on a large scale. This is where open data can play a key role, as it allows governments, organisations and citizens to work together in a transparent way, and facilitates the process of achieving effective, innovative, adaptable and sustainable solutions.

The World Bank as a pioneer in the comprehensive use of open data

One of the most relevant examples of good practices that we can find when it comes to expressing the potential of open data to tackle major global challenges is, without a doubt, the case of the World Bank, a benchmark in the use of open data for more than a decade now as a fundamental tool for sustainable development.

Since the launch of its open data portal in 2010, the institution has undergone a complete transformation process in terms of data access and use. This portal, totally innovative at the time, quickly became a reference model by offering free and open access to a wide range of data and indicators covering more than 250 economies. Moreover, its platform is constantly being updated and bears little resemblance to the initial version at present, as it is continuously improving and providing new datasets and complementary and specialised tools with the aim of making data always accessible and useful for decision making. Examples of such tools include:

• The Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP): designed to monitor and analyse global poverty and inequality. With data from more than 140 countries, this platform allows users to access up-to-date statistics and better understand the dynamics of collective well-being. It also facilitates data visualisation through interactive graphs and maps, helping users to gain a clear and quick understanding of the situation in different regions and over time.
• The Microdata Library: provides access to household and enterprise level survey and census data in several countries. The library has more than 3,000 datasets from studies and surveys conducted by the Bank itself, as well as by other international organisations and national statistical agencies. The data is freely available and fully accessible for downloading and analysis.
• The World Development Indicators (WDI): are an essential tool for tracking progress on the global development agenda. This database contains a vast collection of economic, social and environmental development indicators, covering more than 200 countries and territories. It has data covering areas such as poverty, education, health, environmental sustainability, infrastructure and trade. The WDIs provide us with a reliable frame of reference for analysing global and regional development trends.

Figure 1. Screenshots of the web portals Poverty and Inequality Platform (PIP), Microdata Library and World Development Indicators (WDI).

Data as a transformative element for change

A major milestone in the World Bank's use of data was the publication of the World Development Report 2021, entitled "data for better lives". This report has become a flagship publication that explores the transformative potential of data to address humanity's grand challenges, improve the results of development efforts and promote inclusive and equitable growth. Through the report, the institution advocates a new social agenda for data, including robust, ethical and responsible governance of data, maximising its value in order to generate significant economic and social benefit.

The report examines how data can be integrated into public policy and development programmes to address global challenges in areas such as education, health, infrastructure and climate change. But it also marked a turning point in reinforcing the World Bank's commitment to data as a driver of change in tackling major challenges, and has since adopted a new roadmap with a more innovative, transformative and action-oriented approach to data use. Since then, they have been moving from theory to practice through their own projects, where data becomes a fundamental tool throughout the strategic cycle, as in the following examples:

• Open Data and Disaster Risk Reduction: the report "Digital Public Goods for Disaster Risk Reduction in a Changing Climate" highlights how open access to geospatial and meteorological data facilitates more effective decision-making and strategic planning. Reference is also made to tools such as OpenStreetMap that allow communities to map vulnerable areas in real time. This democratisation of data strengthens emergency response and builds the resilience of communities at risk from floods, droughts and hurricanes.
• Open data in the face of agri-food challenges: the report "What's cooking?" shows how open data is revolutionising global agri-food systems, making them more inclusive, efficient and sustainable. In agriculture, access to open data on weather patterns, soil quality and market prices empowers smallholder farmers to make informed decisions. In addition, platforms that provide open geospatial data serve to promote precision agriculture, enabling the optimisation of key resources such as water and fertilisers, while reducing costs and minimising environmental impact.
• Optimising urban transport systems: in Tanzania, the World Bank has supported a project that uses open data to improve the public transport system. The rapid urbanisation of Dar es Salaam has led to considerable traffic congestion in several areas, affecting both urban mobility and air quality. This initiative addresses traffic congestion through a real-time information system that improves mobility and reduces environmental impact. This approach, based on open data, not only increases transport efficiency, but also contributes to a better quality of life for city dwellers.

Leading by example

Finally, and within this same comprehensive vision, it is worth noting how this international organization closes the circle of open data through its use as a tool for transparency and communication of its own activities.That is why among the outstanding data tools in its catalogue we can find some of them:

• Its project and operations portal: a tool that provides detailed access to the development projects that the institution funds and implements around the world. This portal acts as a window into all its global initiatives, providing information on objectives, funding, expected results and progress for the Bank's thousands of projects.
• The Finances One platform: on which they centralise all their financial data of public interest and those corresponding to the project portfolio of all the group's entities. It aims to simplify the presentation of financial information, facilitating its analysis and sharing by customers and partners.

The future impact of open data on major global challenges

As we have also seen above, opening up data offers immense potential to advance the sustainable development agenda and thus be able to address global challenges more effectively. The World Bank has been demonstrating how this practice can evolve and adapt to current challenges. Its leadership in this area has served as a model for other institutions, showing the positive impact that open data can have on sustainable development and in tackling the major challenges affecting the lives of millions of people around the world.

However, there is still a long way to go, as transparency and access to information policies need to be further improved so that data can reach the benefit of society as a whole in a more equitable way. In addition, another key challenge is to strengthen the capacities needed to maximise the use and impact of this data, particularly in developing countries. This implies not only going beyond facilitating access, but also working on data literacy and supporting the creation of the right tools to enable information to be used effectively.

The use of open data is enabling more and more actors to participate in the creation of innovative solutions and bring about real change. All this gives rise to a new and expanding area of work that, in the right hands and with the right support, can play a crucial role in creating a safer, fairer and more sustainable future for all. We hope that many organisations will follow the World Bank's example and also adopt a holistic approach to using data to address humanity's grand challenges.

Content prepared by Carlos Iglesias, Open data Researcher and consultant, World Wide Web Foundation. The contents and views reflected in this publication are the sole responsibility of the author.