Upcoming open data events: What activities should you not miss this fall?

eventos otoño
September 01 2018

September arrives, the holidays are over - with permission from those who have chosen this month to enjoy their well-deserved rest - and with it all sectors are returning to day to day routine. Although during these summer months many organizations have not stopped promoting activities around open data, such as the Government of the Canary Islands, it is now, with the autumn, when the level of activity increases.

Large format conferences

September, October and November are the months chosen by many organizations to hold general theme events that bring together a large number of audiences. In addition to the International Open Data Conference, which this year is being held in Buenos Aires, Argentina, on September 27 and 28 (it be followed through streaming), our country will also host various international events:

  • The 5th edition of the Ibero-American Congress of Public Innovation Novagob2018 will be held from 24 to 26 October in Toledo. In order to promote innovation and collaboration to create public value, issues such as electronic administration, open government, new technologies or open data will be addressed. The event is organized by NovaGob, Junta de Castilla-La Mancha, City of Toledo, University of Castilla la Mancha, Spanish Federation of Municipalities and Provinces and its Network of Local Entities for Transparency and Citizen Participation.
  • In addition, two international congresses will take place in Barcelona during the autumn. The first will be IoT Solutions World Congress (October 16-18), an event dedicated to "join IoT (Internet of Things) providers with the industry to help industry to increase productivity through this disruptive technology". On the other hand, on 13 and 15 November, the Smart City Expo World Congress is held in Barcelona, aimed at "promoting social innovation, establishing partnerships and identifying business opportunities. The event is focused on creating a better future for cities and their citizens around the world". In both events there will be spaces dedicated to the management and analysis of the data generated by the different technological solutions that make up an IoT ecosystem or an intelligent city.

Thematic events

In addition to these general events, smaller conferences focused on specific themes return in the fall. Some examples are:

  • The Open data for journalism conference, organized by the Barcelona Open Data Initiative, will gather on September 24 those professionals interested in telling stories based on data. During the event, Karme Peiró, Catalan journalist, specialized in Internet and information and communication technologies, will share his experience in this field.
  • Also in September, the organizers of the different databeers restart their activity. Their events join the passion for beer and data. The first appointment, on September 3 in Madrid.

Contests and Hackathons

These dates are also a good opportunity to launch new contests that help promote the reuse of open data and solve specific problems of society, such as:

  • Visualizar18, organized by Medialab Prado, will celebrate its eighth edition from September 21 to October 5 in Madrid. On this occasion, the event will be focused on personal data.
  • After the success of the first edition, the city council of Barcelona organizes again the Barcelona Dades Obertes Challenge, a contest aimed at "promoting the knowledge and use of open data in the educational centers of the city of Barcelona". Centers that wish to participate must register before October 1st.
  • The Barcelona Provincial Council organizes the Apps & Iot for citizens awards with the aim of "promoting the creation of services and applications related to innovative Internet of Things projects that use the SENTILO actuator and sensor platform of the Provincial Council. The projects should cover any of the action areas of the Diputación or their municipalities". Proposals can be submitted until October 12.
  • The Green city hackathon will take place from October 25 to 27 in Barcelona. The contest seeks solutions that could help reduce the use of cars in Barcelona and increase bicycle use. The competition will involve five teams made up of computer scientists, data scientists, social scientists and experts in surveys and big data, who will have to work with population and demographic data from Open Data BCN.

In addition to these events and activities, many other organizations will make the most of these months to suggest activities that help bring open data culture closer to the citizens. In datos.gob.es, we will continue telling you the novelties.