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Education has the power to transform lives. Recognized as a fundamental right by the international community, it is a key pillar for human and social development. However, according to UNESCO data, 272 million children and young people still do not have access to school, 70% of countries spend less than 4% of their GDP on education, and 69 million more teachers are still needed to achieve universal primary and secondary education by 2030. In the face of this global challenge, open educational resources and open access initiatives are presented as decisive tools to strengthen education systems, reduce inequalities and move towards inclusive, equitable and quality education.

Open educational resources (OER) offer three main  benefits: they harness the potential of digital technologies to solve common educational challenges; they act as catalysts for pedagogical and social innovation by transforming the relationship between teachers, students and knowledge; and they contribute to improving equitable access to high-quality educational materials.

What are Open Educational Resources (OER)

According to UNESCO, open educational resources are "learning, teaching, and research materials in any format and support that exist in the public domain or are under copyright and were released under an open license." The concept, coined at the forum held in Paris in 2002, has as its fundamental characteristic that these resources allow "their access at no cost, their reuse, reorientation, adaptation and redistribution by third parties".

OER encompasses a wide variety of formats, from full courses, textbooks, and curricula to maps, videos, podcasts, multimedia applications, assessment tools, mobile apps, databases, and even simulations.

Open educational resources are made up of three elements that work inseparably:

1. Educational content: includes all kinds of material that can be used in the teaching-learning process, from formal objects to external and social resources. This is where open data would come in, which can be used to generate this type of resource.
2. Technological tools: software that allows content to be developed, used, modified and distributed, including applications for content creation and platforms for learning communities.
3. Open licenses: differentiating element that respects intellectual property while providing permissions for the use, adaptation and redistribution of materials.

Therefore, OER are mainly characterized by their universal accessibility, eliminating economic and geographical barriers that traditionally limit access to quality education.

Educational innovation and pedagogical transformation

Pedagogical transformation is one of the main impacts of open educational resources in the current educational landscape. OER are not simply free digital content, but catalysts for innovation that are redefining teaching-learning processes globally.

Combined with appropriate pedagogical methodologies and well-designed learning objectives, OER offer innovative new teaching options to enable both teachers and students to take a more active role in the educational process and even in the creation of content. They foster essential competencies such as critical thinking, autonomy and the ability to "learn to learn", overcoming traditional models based on memorization.

Educational innovation driven by OER is materialized through open technological tools that facilitate their creation, adaptation and distribution. Programs such as eXeLearning allow you to develop digital educational content in a simple way, while LibreOffice and Inkscape offer free alternatives for the production of materials.

The interoperability achieved through open standards, such as IMS Global or SCORM, ensures that these resources can be integrated into different platforms and therefore accessibility for all users, including people with disabilities.

Another promising innovation for the future of OER is the combination of decentralized technologies like Nostr with authoring tools like LiaScript. This approach solves the dependency on central servers, allowing an entire course to be created and distributed over an open, censorship-resistant network. The result is a single, permanent link (URI de Nostr) that encapsulates all the material, giving the creator full sovereignty over its content and ensuring its durability. In practice, this is a revolution for universal access to knowledge. Educators share their work with the assurance that the link will always be valid, while students access the material directly, without the need for platforms or intermediaries. This technological synergy is a fundamental step to materialize the promise of a truly open, resilient and global educational ecosystem, where knowledge flows without barriers.

The potential of Open Educational Resources is realized thanks to the communities and projects that develop and disseminate them. Institutional initiatives, collaborative repositories and programmes promoted by public bodies and teachers ensure that OER are accessible, reusable and sustainable.

Collaboration and open learning communities

The collaborative dimension represents one of the fundamental pillars that support the open educational resources movement. This approach transcends borders and connects education professionals globally.

The educational communities around OER have created spaces where teachers share experiences, agree on methodological aspects and resolve doubts about the practical application of these resources. Coordination between professionals usually occurs on social networks or through digital channels such as Telegram, in which both users and content creators participate. This "virtual cloister" facilitates the effective implementation of active methodologies in the classroom.

Beyond the spaces that have arisen at the initiative of the teachers themselves, different organizations and institutions have promoted collaborative projects and platforms that facilitate the creation, access and exchange of Open Educational Resources, thus expanding their reach and impact on the educational community.

OER projects and repositories in Spain

In the case of Spain, Open Educational Resources have a consolidated ecosystem of initiatives that reflect the collaboration between public administrations, educational centres, teaching communities and cultural entities. Platforms such as Procomún, content creation projects such as EDIA (Educational, Digital, Innovative and Open) or CREA (Creation of Open Educational Resources), and digital repositories such as Hispana show the diversity of approaches adopted to make educational and cultural resources available to citizens in open access. Here's a little more about them:

• The EDIA (Educational, Digital, Innovative and Open) Project, developed by the National Center for Curriculum Development in Non-Proprietary Systems (CEDEC), focuses on the creation of open educational resources designed to be integrated into environments that promote digital competences and that are adapted to active methodologies. The resources are created with eXeLearning, which facilitates editing, and include templates, guides, rubrics and all the necessary documents to bring the didactic proposal to the classroom.
• The Procomún network  was born as a result of the Digital Culture in School Plan launched in 2012 by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Sport. This repository currently has more than 74,000 resources and 300 learning itineraries, along with a multimedia bank of 100,000 digital assets under the Creative Commons  license and which, therefore, can be reused to create new materials. It also has a mobile application. Procomún also uses eXeLearning and the LOM-ES standard, which ensures a homogeneous description of the resources and facilitates their search and classification. In addition, it is a semantic web, which means that it can connect with existing communities through the Linked Open Data Cloud.

• The autonomous communities have also promoted the creation of open educational resources. An example is CREA, a programme of the Junta de Extremadura aimed at the collaborative production of open educational resources. Its platform allows teachers to create, adapt and share structured teaching materials, integrating curricular content with active methodologies. The resources are generated in interoperable formats and are accompanied by metadata that facilitates their search, reuse and integration into different platforms.

  There are similar initiatives, such as the REA-DUA project  in Andalusia, which brings together more than 250 educational resources for primary, secondary and baccalaureate, with attention to diversity. For its part, Galicia launched the 2022-23 academic year cREAgal whose portal currently has more than 100 primary and secondary education resources. This project has an impact on inclusion and promotes the personal autonomy of students. In addition, some ministries of education make open educational resources available, as is the case of the Canary Islands.

Hispana, the portal for access to Spanish cultural heritage

In addition to these initiatives aimed at the creation of educational resources, others have emerged that promote the collection of content that was not created for an educational purpose but that can be used in the classroom. This is the case of Hispana, a portal for aggregating digital collections from Spanish libraries, archives and museums.

To provide access to Spanish cultural and scientific heritage, Hispana collects and makes accessible the metadata of digital objects, allowing these objects to be viewed through links to the pages of the owner institutions. In addition to acting as a collector, Hispana also adds the content of institutions that wish to do so to Europeana, the European digital library, which allows increasing the visibility and reuse of resources.

Hispana is an OAI-PMH repository, which means that it uses the Open Archives Initiative – Protocol for Metadata Harvesting, an international standard for the collection and exchange of metadata between digital repositories. Thus, Hispana collects the metadata of the Spanish archives, museums and libraries that exhibit their collections with this protocol and sends them to Europeana.

International initiatives and global cooperation

At the global level, it is important to highlight the role of UNESCO through the Dynamic Coalition on OER, which seeks to coordinate efforts to increase the availability, quality and sustainability of these assets.

In Europe, ENCORE+ (European Network for Catalysing Open Resources in Education) seeks to strengthen the European OER ecosystem. Among its objectives is to create a network that connects universities, companies and public bodies to promote the adoption, reuse and quality of OER in Europe. ENCORE+ also promotes interoperability between platforms, metadata standardization and cooperation to ensure the quality of resources.

In Europe, other interesting initiatives have been developed, such as EPALE (Electronic Platform for Adult Learning in Europe), an initiative of the European Commission aimed at specialists in adult education. The platform contains studies, reports and training materials, many of them under open licenses, which contributes to the dissemination and use of OER.

In addition, there are numerous projects that generate and make available open educational resources around the world. In the United States, OER Commons functions as a global repository of educational materials of different levels and subjects. This project uses Open Author, an online editor that makes it easy for teachers without advanced technical knowledge to create and customize digital educational resources directly on the platform.

Another outstanding project is Plan Ceibal, a public program in Uruguay that represents a model of technological inclusion for equal opportunities. In addition to providing access to technology, it generates and distributes OER in interoperable formats, compatible with standards such as SCORM and structured metadata that facilitate its search, integration into learning platforms and reuse by teachers.

Along with initiatives such as these, there are others that, although they do not directly produce open educational resources, do encourage their creation and use through collaboration between teachers and students from different countries. This is the case for projects such as eTwinning and Global Classroom.

The strength of OER lies in their contribution to the democratization of knowledge, their collaborative nature, and their ability to promote innovative methodologies. By breaking down geographical, economic, and social barriers, open educational resources bring the right to education one step closer to becoming a universal reality.

Between ice cream and longer days, summer is here. At this time of year, open information can become our best ally to plan getaways, know schedules of the bathing areas in our community or even know the state of traffic on roads that take us to our next destination.

Whether you're on the move or at home resting, you can find a wide variety of datasets and apps  on the datos.gob.es portal that can transform the way you live and enjoy the summer. In addition, if you want to take advantage of the summer season to train, we also have resources for you.

Training, rest or adventure, in this post, we offer you some of the resources that can be useful this summer.

An opportunity to learn: courses and cultural applications

Are you thinking of making a change in your professional career? Or would you like to improve in a discipline? Data science is one of the most in-demand skills for companies and artificial intelligence offers new opportunities every day to apply it in our day-to-day lives.

To understand both disciplines well and be up to date with their development, you can take advantage of the summer to train in programming, data visualization or even generative AI. In this post, which we published at the beginning of summer, you have a list of proposals, you are still in time to sign up for some!

If you already have some knowledge, we advise you to review our step-by-step exercises. In each of them you will find the code reproducible and fully documented, so you can replicate it at your own pace. In this infographic we show you several examples, divided by themes and level of difficulty. A practical way to test your technical skills and learn about innovative tools and technologies.

If instead of data science, you want to take advantage of it to gain more cultural knowledge, we also have options for you. First of all, we recommend this dataset on the cultural agenda of events in the Basque Country to discover festivals, concerts and other cultural activities. Another  interesting dataset is that of tourist information offices in Tenerife where they will inform you how to plan cultural itineraries. And this application will accompany you on a tour of Castilla y León through a gamified map to identify tourist places of interest.

Plan your perfect getaway: datasets for tourism and vacations

Some of the open datasets you can find on datos.gob.es are the basis for creating applications that can be very useful for travel. We are talking, for example, about the dataset of campsites in Navarre that provides updated data on active tourism camps, including information on services, location and capacity. In this same autonomous community, this dataset on restaurants and cafeterias may be useful to you.

On the other hand, this dataset on the supply of tourist accommodation in Aragon presents a complete catalogue of hotels, inns and hostels classified by category, allowing travellers to make informed decisions according to their budget and preferences.

Another interesting resource is this dataset published by  the National Institute of Statistics, which you can also find federated in datos.gob.es on trips, overnight stays, average duration and expenditure per trip. Thanks to this dataset, you can get an idea of how people travel and take it as a reference to plan your trip.

Enjoy the Water: Open Datasets for Water Activities

Access to information about beaches and bathing areas is essential for a safe and pleasant summer. The Bizkaia beach dataset  provides detailed information on the characteristics of each beach, including available services, accessibility and water conditions. Similarly, this dataset of bathing areas in the Community of Madrid provides data on safe and controlled aquatic spaces in the region.

If you want a more general view, this application developed by the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge (MITECO) with open data offers a national visualization of beaches at the national level. More recently, RTVE's data team has developed this Great Map of Spain's beaches that includes more than 3,500 destinations with specific information.

For lovers of water sports and sailing,  tide prediction datasets  for  both Galicia and  the Basque Country offer crucial information for planning activities at sea. This data allows boaters, surfers and fishermen to optimize their activities according to ocean conditions.

Smart mobility: datasets for hassle-free travel

It is not news that mobility during these months is even greater than in the rest of the year. Datasets  on traffic conditions in Barcelona and the roads in Navarra provide real-time information that helps travellers avoid congestion and plan efficient routes. This information is especially valuable during periods of increased summer mobility, when roads experience a significant increase in traffic.

The applications that provide information on the price of fuel at the different Spanish petrol stations are among the most consulted on our portal throughout the year, but in summer their popularity skyrockets even more. They are interesting because they allow you to locate the service stations with the most competitive prices, optimizing the travel budget. This information can also be found in regularly updated datasets and is especially useful for long trips and route planning.

The future of open data in tourism

The convergence of open data, mobile technology and artificial intelligence is creating new opportunities to personalize and enhance the tourism experience. The datasets and resources available in datos.gob.es not only provide current information, but also serve as a basis for the development of innovative solutions that can anticipate needs, optimize resources, and create more satisfying experiences for travelers.

From route planning to selecting accommodations or finding cultural activities, these datasets and apps empower citizens and are a useful resource to maximize the enjoyment of this time of year. This summer, before you pack your bags, it's worth exploring the possibilities offered by open data.

The open data sector is very active. To keep up to date with everything that happens, from datos.gob.es we publish a compilation of news such as the development of new technological applications, legislative advances or other related news.

Six months ago, we already made the last compilation of the year 2024. On this occasion, we are going to summarize some innovations, improvements and achievements of the first half of 2025.

Regulatory framework: new regulations that transform the landscape

One of the most significant developments is the publication of the Regulation on the European Health Data Space by the European Parliament and the Council. This regulation establishes a common framework for the secure exchange of health data between member states, facilitating both medical research and the provision of cross-border health services. In addition, this milestone represents a paradigmatic shift in the management of sensitive data, demonstrating that  it is possible to reconcile privacy and data protection with the need to share information for the common good. The implications for the Spanish healthcare system are considerable, as it will allow greater interoperability with other European countries and facilitate the development of collaborative research projects.

On the other hand, the entry into force of the European AI Act establishes clear rules for the development of this technology, guaranteeing security, transparency and respect for human rights. These types of regulations are especially relevant in the context of open data, where algorithmic transparency and the explainability of AI models become essential requirements.

In Spain, the commitment to transparency is materialised in initiatives such as the new Digital Rights Observatory, which has the participation of more than 150 entities and 360 experts. This platform is configured as a space for dialogue and monitoring of digital policies, helping to ensure that the digital transformation respects fundamental rights.

Technological innovations in Spain and abroad

One of the most prominent milestones in the technological field is the launch of ALIA, the public infrastructure for artificial intelligence resources. This initiative seeks to develop open and transparent language models that promote the use of Spanish and Spanish co-official languages in the field of AI.

ALIA is not only a response to the hegemony of Anglo-Saxon models, but also a strategic commitment to technological sovereignty and linguistic diversity. The first models already available have been trained in Spanish, Catalan, Galician, Valencian and Basque, setting an important precedent in the development of inclusive and culturally sensitive technologies.

In relation to this innovation, the practical applications of artificial intelligence are multiplying in various sectors. For example, in the financial field, the Tax Agency has adopted an ethical commitment in the design and use of artificial intelligence. Within this framework, the community has even developed a virtual chatbot trained with its own data that offers legal guidance on fiscal and tax issues.

In the healthcare sector, a group of Spanish radiologists is working on a project for the early detection of oncological lesions using AI, demonstrating how the combination of open data and advanced algorithms can have a direct impact on public health.

Also combining AI with open data, projects related to environmental sustainability have been developed. This model developed in Spain combines AI and open weather data to predict solar energy production over the next 30 years, providing crucial information for national energy planning.

Another relevant sector in terms of technological innovation is that of smart cities. In recent months, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria has digitized its municipal markets by combining WiFi networks, IoT devices, a digital twin and open data platforms. This comprehensive initiative seeks to improve the user experience and optimize commercial management, demonstrating how technological convergence can transform traditional urban spaces.

Zaragoza, for its part, has developed a vulnerability map using artificial intelligence applied to open data, providing a valuable tool for urban planning and social policies.

Another relevant case is the project of the Open Data Barcelona Initiative, #iCuida, which stands out as an innovative example of reusing open data to improve the lives of caregivers and domestic workers. This application demonstrates how open data can target specific groups and generate direct social impact.

Last but not least, at a global level, this semester DeepSeek has launched DeepSeek-R1, a new family of generative models specialized in reasoning, publishing both the models and their complete training methodology in open source, contributing to the democratic advancement of AI.

New open data portals and improvement tools

In all this maelstrom of innovation and technology, the landscape of open data portals has been enriched with new sectoral initiatives. The Association of Commercial and Property Registrars of Spain has presented its open data platform, allowing immediate access to registry data without waiting for periodic reports. This initiative represents a significant change in the transparency of the registry sector.

In the field of health, the 'I+Health' portal of the Andalusian public health system collects and disseminates resources and data on research activities and results from a single site, facilitating access to relevant scientific information.

In addition to the availability of data, there is a treatment that makes them more accessible to the general public: data visualization. The University of Granada has developed 'UGR in figures', an open-access space with an open data section that facilitates the exploration of official statistics and stands as a fundamental piece in university transparency.

On the other hand, IDENA, the new tool of the Navarre Geoportal, incorporates advanced functionalities to search, navigate, incorporate maps, share data and download geographical information, being operational on any device.

Training for the future: events and conferences

The training ecosystem in this ecosystem is strengthened every year with events such as the Data Management Summit in Tenerife, which addresses interoperability in public administrations and artificial intelligence. Another benchmark event in open data that was also held in the Canary Islands was the National Open Data Meeting.

Beyond these events, collaborative innovation has also been promoted through  specialized hackathons, such as the one dedicated to generative AI solutions for biodiversity or the Merkle Datathon in Gijón. These events not only generate innovative solutions, but also create communities of practice and foster emerging talent.

Once again, the open data competitions of Castilla y León and the Basque Country have awarded projects that demonstrate the transformative potential of the reuse of open data, inspiring new initiatives and applications.

International perspective and global trends: the fourth wave of open data

The Open Data Policy Lab spoke at the EU Open Data Days about what is known as the "fourth wave" of open data, closely linked to generative AI. This evolution represents a quantum leap in the way public data is processed, analyzed, and used, where natural language models allow for more intuitive interactions and more sophisticated analysis.

Overall, the open data landscape in 2025 reveals a profound transformation of the ecosystem, where the convergence between artificial intelligence, advanced regulatory frameworks, and specialized applications is redefining the possibilities of transparency and public innovation.

 The Work Trends 2024 Index on the State of Artificial Intelligence in the Workplace and reports from T-Systems and InfoJobs indicate that 78% of workers in Spain use their own AI tools in the workplace. This figure rises to 80% in medium-sized companies. In addition, 1 in 3 workers (32%) use AI tools in their day-to-day work. 75% of knowledge workers use generative AI tools, and almost half have started doing so in the last six months. Interestingly, the generation gap is narrowing in this area. While 85% of Generation Z employees (18-28 years old) use personalised AI, it turns out that more than 70% of baby boomers (58+) also use these tools. In fact, this trend seems to be confirmed by different approaches.

Figure 1. References on BYOAI

This phenomenon has been called BYOAI (Bring Your Own AI ), for short. It is characterised by the fact that the person employed usually uses some kind of open source solution such as ChatGPT. The organisation has not contracted the service, the registration has been made privately by the user and the provider obviously assumes no legal responsibility. If, for example, the possibilities offered by Notebook, Perplexity or DeepSeek are used, it is perfectly possible to upload confidential or protected documents.

On the other hand, this coincides, according to data from EuroStat, with the adoption of AI in the corporate sector. By 2024, 13.5% of European companies (with 10 or more employees) were using some form of AI technology, a figure that rises to 41% in large companies and is particularly high in sectors such as information and communication (48.7%), professional, scientific and technical services (30.5%). The trend towards AI adoption in the public sector is also growing due not only to global trends, but probably to the adoption of AI strategies and the positive impact of Next Generation funds.

The legal duty of AI literacy

In this context, questions immediately arise. The first concern the phenomenon of unauthorised use by employed persons: Has the data protection officer or the security officer issued a report to the management of the organisation? Has this type of use been authorised? Was the matter discussed at a meeting of the Security Committee? Has an information circular been issued defining precisely the applicable rules? But alongside these emerge others of a more general nature: What level of education do people have? Are they able to issue reports or make decisions using such tools?

The EU Regulation on Artificial Intelligence (RIA) has rightly established a duty of AI literacy imposed on the providers and deployers of such systems. They are responsible for taking measures to ensure that, to the greatest extent possible, their staff and others who are responsible for the operation and use of AI systems on their behalf have a sufficient level of AI literacy. This requires taking into account their expertise, experience, education and training. Training should be integrated into the intended context of use of the AI systems and be tailored to the profile of the individuals or groups in which the systems will be used.

Unlike in the General Data Protection Regulation, here the obligation is formulated in an express and imperative manner.. There is no direct reference to this matter in the GDPR, except in defining as a function of the data protection officer the training of staff involved in processing operations. This need can also be deduced from the obligation of the processor to ensure that persons authorised to process personal data are aware of their duty of confidentiality. It is obvious that the duty of proactive accountability, data protection by design and by default and risk management lead to the training of users of information systems. However, the fact is that the way in which this training is deployed is not always appropriate. In many organisations it is either non-existent, voluntary or based on the signing of a set of security obligations when taking up a job.

In the field of artificial intelligence-based information systems, the obligation to train is non-negotiable and imperative. The RIA provides for very high fines specified in the Bill for the good use and governance of Artificial Intelligence. When the future law is passed, it will be a serious breach of Article 26.2 of the RIA, concerning the need to entrust the human supervision of the system to persons with adequate competence, training and authority.

Benefits of AI training

Beyond legal coercion, training people is a wise and undoubtedly beneficial decision that should be read positively and conceived as an investment. On the one hand, it helps to adopt measures aimed at managing risk which in the case of the BYOAI includes data leakage, loss of intellectual property, compliance issues and cybersecurity. On the other hand, it is necessary to manage risks associated with regular use of AI. In this regard, it is essential that end-users have a very detailed understanding of the ways in which the technology works, its human oversight role in the decision-making process, and that they acquire the ability to identify and report any operational issues.

However, training must pursue high-level objectives. It should be continuous, combining theory, practice and updating permanent and include technical, ethical, legal and social impact aspects to promote a culture of knowledge and responsible use of AI in the organisation. Its benefits for the dynamics of public or private activity are wide-ranging.

With regard to its benefits, artificial intelligence (AI) literacy has become a strategic factor in transforming decision-making and promoting innovation in organisations:.

• By equipping teams with a solid understanding of how AI works and its applications, it facilitates the interpretation of complex data and the use of advanced tools, enabling identification of patterns and anticipation of business-relevant trends .
• This specialised knowledge contributes to minimising errors and biases, as it promotes decisions based on rigorous analysis rather than intuition, and enables the detection of possible deviations in automated systems. In addition, the automation of routine tasks reduces the likelihood of human failure and frees up resources that can be focused on strategic and creative activities.
• The integration of AI into the organisational culture drives a mentality oriented towards critical analysis and the questioning of technological recommendations, thus promoting an evidence-based culture. This approach not only strengthens the ability to adapt to technological advances, but also facilitates the detection of opportunities to optimise processes, develop new products and improve operational efficiency.
• In the legal and ethical sphere, AI literacy helps to manage compliance and reputational risksby fostering transparent and auditable practices that build trust with both society and regulators.
• Finally, understanding the impact and possibilities of AI diminishes resistance to change and favours the adoption of new technologies, accelerating digital transformation and positioning the organisation as a leader in innovation and adaptation to the challenges of today''s environment.

Good practices for successful AI training

Organisations need to reflect on their training strategy in order to achieve these objectives. In this regard, it seems reasonable to share some lessons learned in the field of data protection. Firstly, it is necessary to point out that all training must start by engaging the organisation''s management team. Reverential fear of the Governing Board, the Local Corporation or the Government of the day should not exist. The political level of any organisation should lead by example if it really wants to permeate all human resources. And this training must be very specific not only from a risk management point of view but also from an opportunity approach based on a culture of responsible innovation.

Similarly, although it may involve additional costs, it is necessary to consider not only the users of AI-based information systems but all staff. This will not only allow us to avoid the risks associated with BYOAI but also to establish a corporate culture that facilitates AI implementation processes.

Finally, it will be essential to adapt training to specific profiles: both users of AI-based systems, technical (IT) staff and ethical and legal mediators and enablers, as well as compliance officers or those responsible for the procurement or tendering of products and services.

Without prejudice to the contents that this type of training should logically include, there are certain values that should inspire training plans. First of all, it is important to remember that this training is compulsory and functionally adapted to the job. Secondly, it must be able to empower people and engage them in the use of AI. The EU''s legal approach is based on the principle of human responsibility and oversight: the human always decides. It must therefore be able to make decisions appropriate to the output provided by the AI, to disagree with the machine''s judgement in an ecosystem that protects it and allows it to report incidents and review them.

Finally, there is one element that cannot be ignored under any circumstances: regardless of whether personal data are processed or not, and regardless of whether AI is intended for humans, its results will always have a direct or indirect impact on individuals or on society. Therefore, the training approach must integrate the ethical, legal and social implications of AI and engage users in guaranteeing fundamental rights and democracy.

Figure 2. Benefits of artificial intelligence literacy. Source: own elaboration

Good practices for successful AI training

Organisations need to reflect on their training strategy in order to achieve these objectives. In this regard, it seems reasonable to share some lessons learned in the field of data protection. Firstly, it is necessary to point out that all training must start by engaging the organisation''s management team. Reverential fear of the Governing Board, the Local Corporation or the Government of the day should not exist. The political level of any organisation should lead by example if it really wants to permeate all human resources. And this training must be very specific not only from a risk management point of view but also from an opportunity approach based on a culture of responsible innovation.

Similarly, although it may involve additional costs, it is necessary to consider not only the users of AI-based information systems but all staff. This will not only allow us to avoid the risks associated with BYOAI but also to establish a corporate culture that facilitates AI implementation processes.

Finally, it will be essential to adapt training to specific profiles: both users of AI-based systems, technical (IT) staff and ethical and legal mediators and enablers, as well as compliance officers or those responsible for the procurement or tendering of products and services.

Without prejudice to the contents that this type of training should logically include, there are certain values that should inspire training plans. First of all, it is important to remember that this training is compulsory and functionally adapted to the job. Secondly, it must be able to empower people and engage them in the use of AI. The EU''s legal approach is based on the principle of human responsibility and oversight: the human always decides. It must therefore be able to make decisions appropriate to the output provided by the AI, to disagree with the machine''s judgement in an ecosystem that protects it and allows it to report incidents and review them.

Finally, there is one element that cannot be ignored under any circumstances: regardless of whether personal data are processed or not, and regardless of whether AI is intended for humans, its results will always have a direct or indirect impact on individuals or on society. Therefore, the training approach must integrate the ethical, legal and social implications of AI and engage users in guaranteeing fundamental rights and democracy.

There is no doubt that artificial intelligence has become a fundamental pillar of technological innovation.  Today, artificial intelligence (AI) can create chatbots specialised in open data, applications that facilitate professional work and even a digital Earth model to anticipate natural disasters.

The possibilities are endless, however, the future of AI also has challenges to overcome to make models more inclusive, accessible and transparent. In this respect, the European Union is developing various initiatives to make progress in this field.

European regulatory framework for a more open and transparent AI.

The EU's approach to AI seeks to give citizens the confidence to adopt these technologies and to encourage businesses to develop them. To this end, the European AI Regulation sets out guidelines for the development of artificial intelligence in line with European values of privacy, security and cultural diversity. On the other hand, the Data Governance Regulation (DGA) defines that broad access to data must be guaranteed without compromising intellectual property rights, privacy and fairness.

Together with the Artificial Intelligence Act, the update of the Coordinated Plan on AI ensures the security and fundamental rights of individuals and businesses, while strengthening investment and innovation in all EU countries. The Commission has also launched an Artificial Intelligence Innovation Package to help European start-ups and SMEs develop reliable AI that respects EU values and standards.

Other institutions are also working on boosting intelligence by pushing open source AI models as a very interesting solution. A recent report by Open Future and Open Source Initiative (OSI) defines what data governance should look like in open source AI models. One of the challenges highlighted in the report is precisely to strike a balance between open data and data rights, to achieve more transparency and to avoid cultural bias. In fact, experts in the field Ricard Martínez and Carmen Torrijos debated this issue in the pódcast of datos.gob.es.

The OpenEuroLLM project

With the aim of solving potential challenges and as an innovative and open solution, the European Union, through the Digital Europe programme has presented  through this open source artificial intelligence project it is expected to create efficient, transparent language models aligned with European AI regulations.

The OpenEuroLLM project has as its main goal the development of state-of-the-art language models for a wide variety of public and private applications. Among the most important objectives, we can mention the following:

1. Extend the multilingual capabilities of existing models: this includes not only the official languages of the European Union, but also other languages that are of social and economic interest. Europe is a continent rich in linguistic diversity, and the project seeks to reflect this diversity in AI models.
2. Sustainable access to fundamental models: lthe models developed within the project will be easy to access and ready to be adjusted to various applications. This will not only benefit large enterprises, but also small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that wish to integrate AI into their processes without facing technological barriers.
3. Evaluation of results and alignment with European regulations: models will be evaluated according to rigorous safety standards and alignment with the European AI Regulation and other European regulatory frameworks. This will ensure that AI solutions are safe and respect fundamental rights.
4. Transparency and accessibility: One of the premises of the project is to openly share the tools, processes and intermediate results of the training processes. This will allow other researchers and developers to reproduce, improve and adapt the models for their own purposes.
5. Community building: OpenEuroLLM is not limited to modelling but also aims to build an active and engaged community, both in the public and private sector, that can collaborate, share knowledge and work together to advance AI research.

The OpenEuroLLM Consortium: a collaborative and multinational project

The OpenEuroLLM project is being developed by a consortium of 20 European research institutions , technology companies and supercomputing centres, under the coordination of Charles University (Czech Republic) and the collaboration of Silo GenAI (Finland). The consortium brings together some of the leading institutions and companies in the field of artificial intelligence in Europe, creating a multinational collaboration to develop open source language models.

The main institutions participating in the project include renowned universities such as University of Helsinki (Finland) and University of Oslo (Norway), as well as technology companies such as Aleph Alpha Research (Germany) or the company from Elche prompsit (Spain), among others. In addition, supercomputing centres such as the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (Spain) or SURF (The Netherlands) provide the infrastructure needed to train large-scale models.

Linguistic diversity, transparency and compliance with EU standards

One of the biggest challenges of globalised artificial intelligence is the inclusion of multiple languages and the preservation of cultural differences. Europe, with its vast linguistic diversity, presents a unique environment in which to address these issues. OpenEuroLLM is committed to preserving this diversity and ensuring that the AI models developed are sensitive to the linguistic and cultural variations of the region.

As we saw at the beginning of this post, technological development must go hand in hand with ethical and responsible values. In this respect, one of the key features of the OpenEuroLLM project is its focus on transparency. Models, data, documentation, training code and evaluation metrics will be fully available to the public. This will allow researchers and developers to audit, modify and improve the models, ensuring an open and collaborative approach.

In addition, the project is aligned with strict European AI regulations. OpenEuroLLM is designed to comply with the EU's AI Law , which sets stringent criteria to ensure safety, fairness and privacy in artificial intelligence systems.

Democratising access to AI

One of the most important achievements of OpenEuroLLLM is the democratisation of access to high-performance AI. Open source models will enable businesses, academic institutions and public sector organisations across Europe to have access to cutting-edge technology, regardless of their size or budget.

This is especially relevant for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which often face difficulties in accessing AI solutions due to high licensing costs or technological barriers. OpenEuroLLM will remove these barriers and enable companies to develop innovative products and services using AI, which will contribute to Europe's economic growth.

The OpenEuroLLM project is also an EU commitment to digital sovereignty that is strategically investing in the development of technological infrastructure that reduces dependence on global players and strengthens European competitiveness in the field of artificial intelligence. This is an important step towards artificial intelligence that is not only more advanced, but also fairer, safer and more responsible.

There is no doubt that digital skills training is necessary today. Basic digital skills are essential to be able to interact in a society where technology already plays a cross-cutting role. In particular, it is important to know the basics of the technology for working with data.

In this context, public sector workers must also keep themselves constantly updated. Training in this area is key to optimising processes, ensuring information security and strengthening trust in institutions.

In this post, we identify digital skills related to open data aimed at both publishing and using open data. Not only did we identify the professional competencies that public employees working with open data must have and maintain, we also compiled a series of training resources that are available to them.

Professional competencies for working with data

A working group was set up in 2024 National Open Data Gathering with one objective: to identify the digital competencies required of public administration professionals working with open data. Beyond conclusions of this event of national relevance, the working group defined profiles and roles needed for data opening, gathering information on their roles and the skills and knowledge required. The main roles identified were:

• Role responsible: has technical responsibility for the promotion of open data policies and organises activities to define policies and data models. Some of the skills required are:
  
  • Leadership in promoting strategies to drive data openness.
  • Driving the data strategy to drive openness with purpose.
  • Understand the regulatory framework related to data in order to act within the law throughout the data lifecycle.
  • Encourage the use of tools and processes for data management.
  • Ability to generate synergies in order to reach a consensus on cross-cutting instructions for the entire organisation.
• Technical role of data entry technician (ICT profile): carries out implementation activities more closely linked to the management of systems, extraction processes, data cleansing, etc. EThis profile must have knowledge of, for example:
  
  • How to structure the dataset, the metadata vocabulary, data quality, strategy to follow...
  • Be able to analyse a dataset and identify debugging and cleaning processes quickly and intuitively.
  • Generate data visualisations, connecting databases of different formats and origins to obtain dynamic and interactive graphs, indicators and maps.
  • Master the functionalities of the platform, i.e. know how to apply technological solutions for open data management or know techniques and strategies to access, extract and integrate data from different platforms.
• Open data functional role (technician of a service): executes activities more related to the selection of data to be published, quality, promotion of open data, visualisation, data analytics, etc. For example:
  
  • Handling visualisation and dynamisation tools.
  • Knowing the data economy and knowing the information related to data in its full extent (generation by public administrations, open data, infomediaries, reuse of public information, Big Data, Data Driven, roles involved, etc.).
  • To know and apply the ethical and personal data protection aspects that apply to the opening of data.
• Data use by public workers: this profile carries out activities on the use of data for decision making, basic data analytics, among others. In order to do so, it must have these competences:
  
  • Navigation, search and filtering of data.
  • Data assessment.
  • Data storage and export
  • Data analysis and exploitation.

In addition, as part of this challenge to increase capacities for open data, a list of free trainings and guides on open data and data analyticswas developed. We compile some of them that are available online and in open format.

Figure 1. Table of own elaboration with training resources. Source: https://encuentrosdatosabiertos.es/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Reto-2.pdf

INAP''s continuing professional development training offer

The Instituto Nacional de Administración Pública (INAP) has a Training Activities Programme for 2025, framed in the INAP Learning Strategy 2025-2028.. This training catalogue includes more than 180 activities organised in different learning programmes, which will take place throughout the year with the aim of strengthening the competences of public staff in key areas such as open data management and the use of related technologies.

INAP''s 2025 training programme offers a wide range of courses aimed at improving digital skills and open data literacy. Some of the highlighted trainings include:

• Fundamentals and tools of data analysis.
• Introduction to Oracle SQL.
• Open data and re-use of information.
• Data analysis and visualisation with Power BI.
• Blockchain: technical aspects.
• Advanced Python programming.

These courses, aimed at different profiles of public employees, from open data managers to information management technicians, allow to acquire knowledge on data extraction, processing and visualisation, as well as on strategies for the opening and reuse of open data in the Public Administration.  You can consult the full catalogue here..

Other training references

Some public administrations or entities offer training courses related to open data. For more information on its training offer, please see the catalogue with the programmed courses on offer.

• FEMP''s Network of Local Entities for Transparency and Citizen Participation: https://redtransparenciayparticipacion.es/.
• Government of Aragon: Aragon Open Data: https://opendata.aragon.es/informacion/eventos-de-datos-abiertos
• School of Public Administration of Catalonia (EAPC): https://eapc.gencat.cat/ca/inici/index.html#googtrans(ca|es
• Diputació de Barcelona: http://aplicacions.diba.cat/gestforma/public/cercador_baf_ens_locals
• Instituto Geográfico Nacional (IGN): https://cursos.cnig.es/

In short, training in digital skills, in general, and in open data, in particular, is a practice that we recommend at datos.gob.es. Do you need a specific training resource? Write to us in comments, we''ll read you!

As we do every year, the datos.gob.es team wishes you happy holidays. If this Christmas you feel like giving or giving yourself a gift of knowledge, we bring you our traditional Christmas letter with ideas to ask Father Christmas or the Three Wise Men.

We have a selection of books on a variety of topics such as data protection, new developments in AI or the great scientific discoveries of the 20th century. All these recommendations, ranging from essays to novels, will be a sure hit to put under the tree.

Maniac by Benjamin Labatut.

• What is it about? Guided by the figure of John von Neumann, one of the great geniuses of the 20th century, the book covers topics such as the creation of atomic bombs, the Cold War, the birth of the digital universe and the rise of artificial intelligence. The story begins with the tragic suicide of Paul Ehrenfest and progresses through the life of von Neumann, who foreshadowed the arrival of a technological singularity. The book culminates in a confrontation between man and machine in an epic showdown in the game of Go, which serves as a warning about the future of humanity and its creations.
• Who is it aimed at? This science fiction novel is aimed at anyone interested in the history of science, technology and its philosophical and social implications. Es ideal para quienes disfrutan de narrativas que combinan el thriller con profundas reflexiones sobre el futuro de la humanidad y el avance tecnológico. It is also suitable for those looking for a literary work that delves into the limits of thought, reason and artificial intelligence.

Take control of your data, by Alicia Asin.

• What is it about? This book compiles resources to better understand the digital environment in which we live, using practical examples and clear definitions that make it easier for anyone to understand how technologies affect our personal and social lives. It also invites us to be more aware of the consequences of the indiscriminate use of our data, from the digital trail we leave behind or the management of our privacy on social networks, to trading on the dark web. It also warns about the legitimate but sometimes invasive use of our online behaviour by many companies.
• Who is it aimed at? The author of this book is CEO of the data reuse company Libelium who participated in one of our Encuentros Aporta and is a leading expert on privacy, appropriate use of data and data spaces, among others. In this book, the author offers a business perspective through a work aimed at the general public.

Governance, management and quality of artificial intelligence by Mario Geraldo Piattini.

• What is it about? Artificial intelligence is increasingly present in our daily lives and in the digital transformation of companies and public bodies, offering both benefits and potential risks. In order to benefit properly from the advantages of AI and avoid problems it is very important to have ethical, legal and responsible systems in place. This book provides an overview of the main standards and tools for managing and assuring the quality of intelligent systems. To this end, it provides clear examples of best available practices. 
• Who is it aimed at? Although anyone can read it, the book provides tools to help companies meet the challenges of AI by creating systems that respect ethical principles and align with engineering best practices.

Nexus, by Yuval Noah.

• What is it about?  In this new installment, one of the most fashionable writers analyzes how information networks have shaped human history, from the Stone Age to the present era.  This essay explores the relationship between information, truth, bureaucracy, mythology, wisdom and power, and how different societies have used information to impose order, with both positive and negative consequences. In this context, the author discusses the urgent decisions we must make in the face of current threats, such as the impact of non-human intelligence on our existence.
• Who is it aimed at? It is a mainstream work, i.e. anyone can read it and will most likely enjoy reading it. It is a particularly attractive option for readers seeking to reflect on the role of information in modern society and its implications for the future of humanity, in a context where emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence are challenging our way of life.

Generative Deep Learning: Teaching Machines to Paint, Write, Compose, and Play by David Foster (second edition 2024)

• What is it about? This practical book dives into the fascinating world of generative deep learning, exploring how machines can create art, music and text. Throughout, Foster guides us through the most innovative architectures such as VAEs, GANs and broadcasting models, explaining how these technologies can transform photographs, generate music and even write text. The book starts with the basics of deep learning and progresses to cutting-edge applications, including image creation with Stable Diffusion, text generation with GPT and music composition with MuSEGAN. It is a work that combines technical rigour with artistic creativity.
• Who is it aimed at? This technical manual is intended for machine learning engineers, data scientists and developers who want to enter the field of generative deep learning. It is ideal for those who already have a background in programming and machine learning, and wish to explore how machines can create original content. It will also be valuable for creative professionals interested in understanding how AI can amplify their artistic capabilities. The book strikes the perfect balance between mathematical theory and practical implementation, making complex concepts accessible through concrete examples and working code.

Information is beautiful, by David McCandless.

• What is it about? Esta guía visual en inglés nos ayuda a entender cómo funciona el mundo a través de impactantes infografías y visualizaciones de datos. This new edition has been completely revised, with more than 20 updates and 20 new visualisations. It presents information in a way that is easy to skim, but also invites further exploration.
• Who is it aimed at? This book is aimed at anyone interested in seeing and understanding information in a different way. It is perfect for those looking for an innovative and visually appealing way to understand the world around us. It is also ideal for those who enjoy exploring data, facts and their interrelationships in an entertaining and accessible way.

Collecting Field Data with QGIS and Mergin Maps, de Kurt Menke y Alexandra Bucha Rasova.

• What is it about? This book teaches you how to master the Mergin Maps platform for collecting, sharing and managing field data using QGIS. The book covers everything from the basics, such as setting up projects in QGIS and conducting field surveys, to advanced workflows for customising projects and managing collaborations. In addition, details on how to create maps, set up survey layers and work with smart forms for data collection are included.
• Who is it aimed at? Although it is a somewhat more technical option than the previous proposals, the book is aimed at new users of Mergin Maps and QGIS. It is also useful for those who are already familiar with these tools and are looking for more advanced workflows.

A terrible greenery by Benjamin Labatut.

• What is it about? This book is a fascinating blend of science and literature, narrating scientific discoveries and their implications, both positive and negative. Through powerful stories, such as the creation of Prussian blue and its connection to chemical warfare, the mathematical explorations of Grothendieck and the struggle between scientists like Schrödinger and Heisenberg, the author, Benjamin Labatut, leads us to explore the limits of science, the follies of knowledge and the unintended consequences of scientific breakthroughs. The work turns science into literature, presenting scientists as complex and human characters.
• Who is it aimed at? The book is aimed at a general audience interested in science, the history of discoveries and the human stories behind them, with a focus on those seeking a literary and in-depth approach to scientific topics. It is ideal for those who enjoy works that explore the complexity of knowledge and its effects on the world.

Designing Better Maps: A Guide for GIS Users, de Cynthia A. Brewer.

• What is it about? It is a guide in English written by the expert cartographer that teaches how to create successful maps using any GIS or illustration tool. Through its 400 full-colour illustrations, the book covers the best cartographic design practices applied to both reference and statistical maps. Topics include map planning, using base maps, managing scale and time, explaining maps, publishing and sharing, using typography and labels, understanding and using colour, and customising symbols.
• Who is it aimed at? This book is intended for all geographic information systems (GIS) users, from beginners to advanced cartographers, who wish to improve their map design skills.

Although in the post we link many purchase links. If you are interested in any of these options, we encourage you to ask your local bookshop to support small businesses during the festive season. Do you know of any other interesting titles? Write it in comments or send it to dinamizacion@datos.gob.es. We read you!

From October 28 to November 24, registration will be open for submitting proposals to the challenge organized by the Diputación de Bizkaia. The goal of the competition is to identify initiatives that combine the reuse of available data from the Open Data Bizkaia portal with the use of artificial intelligence. The complete guidelines are available at this link, but in this post, we will cover everything you need to know about this contest, which offers cash prizes for the five best projects.

Participants must use at least one dataset from the Diputación Foral de Bizkaia or from the municipalities in the territory, which can be found in the catalog, to address one of the five proposed use cases:

1. Promotional content about tourist attractions in Bizkaia: Written promotional content, such as generated images, flyers, etc., using datasets like:

   • Beaches of Bizkaia by municipality
   • Cultural agenda – BizkaiKOA
   • Cultural agenda of Bizkaia
   • Bizkaibus
   • Trails
   • Recreation areas
   • Hotels in Euskadi – Open Data Euskadi
   • Temperature predictions in Bizkaia – Weather API data

2. Boosting tourism through sentiment analysis: Text files with recommendations for improving tourist resources, such as Excel and PowerPoint reports, using datasets like:

   • Beaches of Bizkaia by municipality
   • Cultural agenda – BizkaiKOA
   • Cultural agenda of Bizkaia
   • Bizkaibus
   • Trails
   • Recreation areas
   • Hotels in Euskadi – Open Data Euskadi
   • Google reviews API – this resource is paid with a possible free tier

3. Personalized tourism guides: Chatbot or document with personalized recommendations using datasets like:

   • Tide table 2024
   • Beaches of Bizkaia by municipality
   • Cultural agenda – BizkaiKOA
   • Cultural agenda of Bizkaia
   • Bizkaibus
   • Trails
   • Hotels in Euskadi – Open Data Euskadi
   • Temperature predictions in Bizkaia – Weather API data, resource with a free tier

4. Personalized cultural event recommendations: Chatbot or document with personalized recommendations using datasets like:

   • Cultural agenda – BizkaiKOA
   • Cultural agenda of Bizkaia

5. Waste management optimization: Excel, PowerPoint, and Word reports containing recommendations and strategies using datasets like:

   • Urban waste
   • Containers by municipality

How to participate?

Participants can register individually or in teams via this form available on the website. The registration period is from October 28 to November 24, 2024. Once registration closes, teams must submit their solutions on Sharepoint. A jury will pre-select five finalists, who will have the opportunity to present their project at the final event on December 12, where the prizes will be awarded. The organization recommends attending in person, but online attendance will also be allowed if necessary.

The competition is open to anyone over 16 years old with a valid ID or passport, who is not affiliated with the organizing entities. Additionally, multiple proposals can be submitted.

What are the prizes?

The jury members will select five winning projects based on the following evaluation criteria:

• Suitability of the proposed solution to the selected challenge.
• Creativity and innovation.
• Quality and coherence of the solution.
• Suitability of the Open Data Bizkaia datasets used.

The winning candidates will receive a cash prize, as well as the commitment to open the datasets associated with the project, to the extent possible.

• First prize: €2,000.
• Second prize: €1,000.
• Three prizes for the remaining finalists of €500 each.

One of the objectives of this challenge, as explained by the Diputación Foral de Bizkaia, is to understand whether the current dataset offerings meet demand. Therefore, if any participant requires a dataset from Bizkaia or its municipalities that is not available, they can propose that the institution make it publicly available, as long as the information falls within the competencies of the Diputación Foral de Bizkaia or the municipalities.

This is a unique event that will not only allow you to showcase your skills in artificial intelligence and open data but also contribute to the development and improvement of Bizkaia. Don’t miss the chance to be part of this exciting challenge. Sign up and start creating innovative solutions!

Data literacy has become a crucial issue in the digital age. This concept refers to the ability of people to understand how data is used, how it is accessed, created, analysed, used or reused, and communicated.

We live in a world where data and algorithms influence everyday decisions and the opportunities people have to live well. Its effect can be felt in areas ranging from advertising and employment provision to criminal justice and social welfare. It is therefore essential to understand how data is generated and used.

Data literacy can involve many areas, but we will focus on its relationship with digital rights on the one hand and Artificial Intelligence (AI) on the other. This article proposes to explore the importance of data literacy for citizenship, addressing its implications for the protection of individual and collective rights and the promotion of a more informed and critical society in a technological context where artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly important.

The context of digital rights

More and more studies studies increasingly indicate that effective participation in today's data-driven, algorithm-driven society requires data literacy indicating that effective participation in today's data-driven, algorithm-driven society requires data literacy. Civil rights are increasingly translating into digital rights as our society becomes more dependent on digital technologies and environments digital rights as our society becomes more dependent on digital technologies and environments. This transformation manifests itself in various ways:

• On the one hand, rights recognised in constitutions and human rights declarations are being explicitly adapted to the digital context. For example, freedom of expression now includes freedom of expression online, and the right to privacy extends to the protection of personal data in digital environments. Moreover, some traditional civil rights are being reinterpreted in the digital context. One example of this is the right to equality and non-discrimination, which now includes protection against algorithmic discrimination and against bias in artificial intelligence systems. Another example is the right to education, which now also extends to the right to digital education. The importance of digital skills in society is recognised in several legal frameworks and documents, both at national and international level, such as the Organic Law 3/2018 on Personal Data Protection and Guarantee of Digital Rights (LOPDGDD) in Spain. Finally, the right of access to the internet is increasingly seen as a fundamental right, similar to access to other basic services.
• On the other hand, rights are emerging that address challenges unique to the digital world, such as the right to be forgotten (in force in the European Union and some other countries that have adopted similar legislation¹), which allows individuals to request the removal of personal information available online, under certain conditions. Another example is the right to digital disconnection (in force in several countries, mainly in Europe²), which ensures that workers can disconnect from work devices and communications outside working hours. Similarly, there is a right to net neutrality to ensure equal access to online content without discrimination by service providers, a right that is also established in several countries and regions, although its implementation and scope may vary. The EU has regulations that protect net neutrality, including Regulation 2015/2120, which establishes rules to safeguard open internet access. The Spanish Data Protection Act provides for the obligation of Internet providers to provide a transparent offer of services without discrimination on technical or economic grounds. Furthermore, the right of access to the internet - related to net neutrality - is recognised as a human right by the United Nations (UN).

This transformation of rights reflects the growing importance of digital technologies in all aspects of our lives.

The context of artificial intelligence

The relationship between AI development and data is fundamental and symbiotic, as data serves as the basis for AI development in a number of ways:

1. Data is used to train AI algorithms, enabling them to learn, detect patterns, make predictions and improve their performance over time.
2. The quality and quantity of data directly affect the accuracy and reliability of AI systems. In general, more diverse and complete datasets lead to better performing AI models.
3. The availability of data in various domains can enable the development of AI systems for different use cases.

Data literacy has therefore become increasingly crucial in the AI era, as it forms the basis for effectively harnessing and understanding AI technologies.

In addition, the rise of big data and algorithms has transformed the mechanisms of participation, presenting both challenges and opportunities. Algorithms, while they may be designed to be fair, often reflect the biases of their creators or the data they are trained on. This can lead to decisions that negatively affect vulnerable groups.

In this regard, legislative and academic efforts are being made to prevent this from happening. For example, the EuropeanArtificial Intelligence Act (AI Act) includes safeguards to avoid harmful biases in algorithmic decision-making. For example, it classifies AI systems according to their level of potential risk and imposes stricter requirements on high-risk systems. In addition, it requires the use of high quality data to train the algorithms, minimising bias, and provides for detailed documentation of the development and operation of the systems, allowing for audits and evaluations with human oversight. It also strengthens the rights of persons affected by AI decisions, including the right to challenge decisions made and their explainability, allowing affected persons to understand how a decision was reached.

The importance of digital literacy in both contexts

Data literacy helps citizens make informed decisions and understand the full implications of their digital rights, which are also considered, in many respects, as mentioned above, to be universal civil rights. In this context, data literacy serves as a critical filter for full civic participation that enables citizens to influence political and social decisions full civic participation that enables citizens to influence political and social decisions. That is,those who have access to data and the skills and tools to navigate the data infrastructure effectively can intervene and influencepolitical and social processes in a meaningful way , something which promotes the Open Government Partnership.

On the other hand, data literacy enables citizens to question and understand these processes, fostering a culture of accountability and transparency in the use of AI.  There arealso barriers to participation in data-driven environments. One of these barriers is the digital divide (i.e. deprivation of access to infrastructure, connectivity and training, among others) and, indeed, lack of data literacy. The latter is therefore a crucial concept for overcoming the challenges posed by datification datification of human relations and the platformisation of content and services.

Recommendations for implementing a preparedness partnership

Part of the solution to addressing the challenges posed by the development of digital technology is to include data literacy in educational curricula from an early age.

This should cover:

• Data basics: understanding what data is, how it is collected and used.
• Critical analysis: acquisition of the skills to evaluate the quality and source of data and to identify biases in the information presented. It seeks to recognise the potential biases that data may contain and that may occur in the processing of such data, and to build capacity to act in favour of open data and its use for the common good.
• Rights and regulations: information on data protection rights and how European laws affect the use of AI. This area would cover all current and future regulation affecting the use of data and its implication for technology such as AI.
• Practical applications: the possibility of creating, using and reusing open data available on portals provided by governments and public administrations, thus generating projects and opportunities that allow people to work with real data, promoting active, contextualised and continuous learning.

By educating about the use and interpretation of data, it fosters a more critical society that is able to demand accountability in the use of AI. New data protection laws in Europe provide a framework that, together with education, can help mitigate the risks associated with algorithmic abuse and promote ethical use of technology. In a data-driven society, where data plays a central role, there is a need to foster data literacy in citizens from an early age.

¹The right to be forgotten was first established in May 2014 following a ruling by the Court of Justice of the European Union. Subsequently, in 2018, it was reinforced with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)which explicitly includes it in its Article 17 as a "right of erasure". In July 2015, Russia passed a law allowing citizens to request the removal of links on Russian search engines if the information"violates Russian law or if it is false or outdated". Turkey has established its own version of the right to be forgotten, following a similar model to that of the EU. Serbia has also implemented a version of the right to be forgotten in its legislation. In Spain, the Ley Orgánica de Protección de Datos Personales (LOPD) regulates the right to be forgotten, especially with regard to debt collection files. In the United Statesthe right to be forgotten is considered incompatible with the Constitution, mainly because of the strong protection of freedom of expression. However, there are some related regulations, such as the Fair Credit Reporting Act of 1970, which allows in certain situations the deletion of old or outdated information in credit reports.

Content prepared by Miren Gutiérrez, PhD and researcher at the University of Deusto, expert in data activism, data justice, data literacy and gender disinformation. The contents and views reflected in this publication are the sole responsibility of the author.

The summer comes to an end and gives way to an autumn full of relevant events for the open data sector. This time of year, you can learn about technological innovation and discuss the transformative power of data in society. Take note of these free opportunities. We bring you a compilation in chronological order according to the date of celebration of trainings, conferences, events and much more. We present a first block of sessions that are confined to our country and, subsequently, we mention others of international scope, including those organised by the European Data Portal.

Webinar on data analytics augmented with artificial intelligence

IEBS business school is organising a free webinar on the use of AI for data mining, charting and predictive modelling.

• When? 4 September at 18h.
• Where? Virtual.
• More information: Sign up here to the session.

Conference 'Towards an increase in the digitalisation of Spanish cities and regions'

The Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces (FEMP) is part of an initiative launched by the European Commission to support EU communities in their journey towards digital transformation, by providing resources, best practices and training for the development of digitisation strategies. This session, which will be held in person and can be followed online,will address the process of digital and sustainable transition of cities, highlighting the role of open data platforms and data spaces. 

• When? 18 September at 16h.
• Where? In person at the Palacio de Congresos (IFEMA) Madrid and it will also be available online.
• More information: Here you can read all the information about the event and access the registration link.

Conference "Data Governance for Local Entities"

The FEMP's Network of Local Entities for Transparency and Citizen Participation will hold a face-to-face seminar on how to approach open data and data governance from a practical perspective. The conference will address how to set up projects to open up and publish information at a local level.

• When? October 3rd from 10h to 17h.
• Where? In the Pilar Sinués Hall of the Paraninfo Building of the University of Zaragoza.
• More information: You can register for free here and consult the programme here.

III Congress and XIV R Users' Conference

This conference aims to provide a meeting point for R users and enthusiasts, fostering collaboration in a multidisciplinary environment and disseminating knowledge of the R language and its applications.

• When? From 6 to 8 November.
• Where? In Seville.
• More information: On the event website you can find all the information about the speakers, agenda and registration details.

III geoEuskadi Congress and JIIDE

This year, the 15th edition of the Iberian Conference on Spatial Data Infrastructures (JIIDE) is being held in conjunction with the 3rd geoEsukadi Congress. This event will showcase examples of reuse of high-value datasets, whether through OGC APIs or existing download services and interoperable formats, among other topics related to geospatial data.

• When? From 13 to 15 November
• Where? At the Europa Conference Centre in Vitoria-Gasteiz.
• More information: Participation is free of charge, and registration is required for each session, round table or workshop. It will also be possible to follow the conference in virtual mode. Consult here all the details.

If you live outside Spain, these are some events that may be of interest to you:

Science Open Days 2024

Four days will be dedicated to open research data, artificial intelligence, open educational resources and citizen science..

• When? From 2 to 5 September.
• Where? In Lausanne (Switzerland).
• More information: Check the programme per day and register here.

"Data for Innovation" conference

This event organised by the European Commission and DG Connect will address the opportunities and challenges related to Data Law and European Data Spaces. It will be a space for debate on the future of the data economy in Europe. In addition, it will be possible to follow the event online at this link.

• When? 11 September from 10h to 16h.
• Where? At the Karel van Miert Auditorium in Brussels.
• More information: Check the programme and register here. Follow him online at here.

European open data portal online events

In September, data.europa.eu will present two webinars: one on geospatial trends in the age of digital twins and the other on global perspectives on open data excellence.

• When?
  
  • Emerging geospatial trends 2024: opportunities for data.europa.eu in the age of digital twins: 13 September at 10 a.m.
  • Beyond Europe: global perspectives on open data excellence: 20 September at 10 a.m.
• Where? Virtual.
• More information: Both webinars require prior registration. All information on these seminars, as well as on future events, can be found on the european open data portal.

These are some of the events that are scheduled for this autumn. In any case, don't forget to follow us on social media so you don't miss any news about innovation and open data. We are on Twitter y LinkedIn. You can also write to us at dinamizacion@datos.gob.es if you would like us to add another event to the list or if you need extra information.