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Summer is coming and, as usual, it is time for holidays. A date marked on our agenda to rest, sightseeing or be with our loved ones. But it is also a good opportunity to improve our knowledge in specific fields, through the different summer courses that universities and schools put at our disposal.

Among the many summer courses topic, it should be noted that more and more centres are including training programs related to open data, analytics and Big Data. This fact is not surprising, because, as we have said on previous occasions, there is a great demand for professionals focused on these fields. Although these subjects are gradually included in the regulated offer, there are many students who make the most of the summer to complement their training and gain competitive advantages to improve their position in the labour market.

Open data courses

This year, we highlight the offer of open data courses focused on their value to promote open government. This is the case of the Transparency through data course, which will take place between June 26th and 28^th, organized by the Universitat Politècnica de València for the third year in a row. This course will address citizen participation in political life through open data, and its reuse to create valuable applications related to social justice or citizen privacy, among other issues.

On the same dates, the course Technopolitics, digital democracy and new social movements, of the International University of Andalusia, is held in Seville. Students will analyse for two days (June 26th and 27th) the influence of technology on democracy through concepts such as technopolitics, digital democracy, open data or open government.

Big data and data analysis

The offer of Big Data courses is increasingly focused on use cases related to this technology. As an example, the course Big Data: technological foundations and practical applications, of the University of Alicante. This course seeks to introduce the concept of Big Data through its applications in the real world, making known various storage and processing techniques used for working with massive data, in a practical way. This course will take place from July 16th to 20th.

In addition, it can be seen that there are more and more specific courses that address particular Big Data applications in specific fields. This is the case of the Big Data and Social Sciences Course, held by the University of Oviedo from September 10th to 12th. This course focuses on the opportunities and challenges of using large-scale datasets in the social sciences. During the course, a case study on open data will be worked on, with the objective that the students understand the whole process of an investigation.

For its part, the University of Extremadura has launched the course Big Data and Machine Learning together with open data sources to specialize the agricultural and livestock sector from September 25th to 27th. This course will discuss the technology behind aspects such as the monitoring of the growth of crops or animals, the traceability of the products, the identification of the products quality, the prediction of pests or the optimization of fertilizers use, among others.

Data analysis tools courses

Finally, we also want to highlight the courses offer focused on data analysis and visualization tools.

One more year, the Complutense University of Madrid offers its Geolocated Big Data course: tools for the capture, analysis and visualization from 9th to 27th July, where students will download and process geolocated data from sources such as social networks, GPS or even drones.

This university also offers, for the fifth year in a row, its BIG & OPEN DATA course. Analysis and Programming with R and Python from 9th to 27th July. This course is based on a basic level and is aimed at students from different branches, from geography and economics to engineering and computing. In recent years, R has become the leading software tool for statistical analysis, so more and more schools offer courses related to this subject. The Pompeu Fabra University also joins this list with the Modern Satation Computing in R course, from June 25th to July 27th.

In addition, the University of Cantabria offers a Big Data with Python workshop, from July 30th to August 3th, where different practical cases of data management and analysis will be addressed. This course is aimed at students in the final years of the physics, mathematics, telecommunications and industrial degrees and requires prior programming knowledge.

These are just some examples of courses, but the offer is very broad. It is therefore a good time for those interested in enriching their professional profile to analyze which areas of competence they want to improve and find the course that best meets their needs.

The DCAT-AP application profile aims to describe, using metadata, the catalogs and datasets of European open data portals. For this, DCAT-AP is based on Data Catalogs Vocabulary (DCAT), published by W3C. In particular, the DCAT-AP is a specification that describes a series of restrictions (such as properties range) on the DCAT model.

In a context of continue economic, technological and social changes, this application profile is constantly evolving and improving to meet users demands. The organism in charge of managing the maintenance and evolution of DCAT-AP is JoinUp, a collaborative platform created by the European Commission and financed by the European Union through the ISA and ISA² Programs. Through this tool, different versions of DCAT-AP and guidelines for their standard implementations have been published.

To help those organizations that have doubts about how to apply this profile, here there are the main DCAT-AP documents and resources available in JoinUp:

In addition to these resources, there are force task that have developed reports applied to specific fields, such as research field. For their part, W3C itself has also published reports and tools to help users, such as this guide called dataset Exchange Use Cases and requirements, in this case focused on DCAT.

To be informed about all changes that take place and the documents that are published, users can subscribe to the GitHub project created to share experiences, challenges and suggestions of new features.

Datos.gob.es is also part of Joinup''s collaborators network, so we actively participate in the dissemination of the contents and resources created to facilitate the implementation of DCAT-AP. If you want to know more about DCAT-AP application profile, we recommend the report: DCAT-AP and its extensions: Context and evolution.

Europe’s open data portal has added three new training modules to its online training guide, which offers e-learning in several languages regarding fundamental aspects of open data, as well as providing supporting material.

The three new training units are in addition to the 13 online teaching units or training modules designed by the European Data Portal that were already available. They are as follows:

• Advocating for open data (lesson 14)

This addresses the fact that data openness requires a change in the culture of organisations and companies and how data openness can be valuable in driving business innovation, developing a clearer image, and improving services and products. This module explores the benefits and advantages of open data, what problems the user is solving, and shows how to identify different groups and communities

• Managing change in open data (lesson 15)

This module explores the management of change in open data and the key elements for developing an effective long-term transition process in an organisation. The cultural changes necessary to succeed with open data are thought to comprise a significant process of adaptation. The user of this unit will learn to identify what change management is, why it is so important in open data initiatives, and what the key elements of change management are.

• Making an impact with open data (lesson 16)

The goal of any open data project or initiative is to have some kind of impact, whether that be political transparency and accountability, social benefit, or economic growth. This module explores the importance of making an impact with open data, how to do it, and how to measure it. In addition, examples are given of open data being used to improve our daily lives and how the barriers to achieving this impact can be overcome.

The 16 teaching units that are now available on the open data portal are short in duration. Each one is estimated to last between one and three hours. 

Each session addresses a different aspect of open data. The sessions are suitable for users of all levels, from beginners to experts. In addition, supporting teaching materials are freely available under the CC-BY-SA (Creative Commons Share-Alike Attribution) license.

The European data portal’s e-learning programme offers a simple and clear introduction to open data and to all the facets of this new discipline and is structured in modules that provide up to two hours of additional reading for those who want to delve deeper into a specific area. In addition to the concepts and definitions related to the world of open data, the European data portal’s online training guide also presents success stories of open data across Europe, the main trends in open data, how data is published, how it is accessed, and how it is reused.

Datos abiertos, open data, linked open data, big data, data scientist, data… Lo relacionado con los datos, y especialmente con los datos abiertos en el sector público, está adquiriendo una gran relevancia en los últimos tiempos. La oferta formativa sobre el ámbito de los datos abiertos está creciendo de manera progresiva y, junto a los másters, postgrados y ciclos formativos especializados, los cursos de verano son una opción interesante para iniciar o ahondar en la formación de materias específicas.

Exponemos algunos de los cursos de verano open data que se ofertan durante el verano de 2017. La Universidad Complutense de Madrid ha colgado ya el cartel de completo en la cuarta edición del curso Big and Open Data. Análisis y programación con R y Python que se imparte del 3 al 21, en horario de 9 a 14 horas. Enmarcado en la Escuela de Ciencias Experimentales, la Complutense ofrece también el curso Big Data en diferentes escenarios enfocado al manejo de bases de datos. La Universidad de Alicante imparte Big Data: fundamentos y aplicaciones prácticas, un curso práctico centrado en técnicas de almacenamiento y procesamiento utilizadas para el trabajo con datos masivos, en el que se abordan tecnologías punteras en entornos Big Data como Spark y herramientas para el análisis de datos (estructurados y textuales) como R. La fecha es del 17 al 21 de julio y ofrece becas.

Del 3 al 5 de julio, la UNED ofrece el curso Tecnologías semánticas y herramientas lingüísticas para humanidades digitales en el que se abordan los datos enlazados, metadatos, modelos de datos y Linked Open Data. Asimismo,Rainer Open School organiza un ciclo de formación en modalidad semipresencial en torno al data scientist (científico de datos) - Curso de verano semipresencial: Certificación EMC Data Scientist- en el que se acredita la certificación EMC-DS con validez internacional. El curso puede hacerse casi en su totalidad en la distancia. Esta misma semana, la sede de los cursos de verano de la Universidad de El Escorial (Madrid) acoge el curso Fórmulas de éxito del periodismo de datos. Diseño, programación, Internet y multimedia que se realiza del 26 al 28 de junio.

Asimismo, Iniciativa Barcelona Open Data ha organizado este verano una semana formativa en datos abiertos, concretamente los días 11, 12 y 13 de julio. Esta iniciativa se enmarca en la Escuela Ciudadana Open Data Lab y pretende aproximar esta materia a ciudadanos y pequeñas y medianas empresas.

De modo paralelo a la oferta de cursos de verano recordamos también la oferta de cursos en línea sobre datos abiertos en datos.gob.es. Desde este mismo portal puedes acceder libremente a unidades formativas sobre datos abiertos, herramientas, marco normativo, la reutilización, APIs y Linked Data, etcétera.