What are the upcoming events on Open Data?

The interest in open data is growing and proof of this is the large number of events around this subject that will be held in our country during the coming months. Here we summarize the most important ones.

A must-attend event is the Open Gov Week, which will take place from May 7th to 11th. This international event is promoted by the Open Government Partnership, a multilateral initiative of 76 countries, including Spain, to "promote transparency, empower citizens, fight corruption, and harness new technologies to strengthen governance". The activities include courses, seminars, public debates, presentations, open days, contests and hackathons, among other activities (you can see all the activities here).

Public information opening, to promote its reuse and generate valuable services for citizens, is one of the topics that will be addressed. The opening session, entitled The Open State: Main Challenges and Opportunities for Public Authorities and Civil Society, include a panel discussion where representatives of public authorities, experts and civil society will share their vision on the value of open data and the need to protect information. This session will take place on Monday, May 7th from 9:00 a.m.

In addition, during the Open Gov Week, different activities have been organized to promote some of the Spanish open data portals. This is the case of Madrid City Council Open Data Portal. During 2 sessions - on Thursday, May 10th at 3:30 p.m. and Friday 11th at 12:00 p.m. – the people in charge of the service will explain how they manage public information access. This activity is aimed at teachers of secondary school and university.

The Transparency and Data Protection Council of Andalusia will also promote its Open Data Portal, in a session that include, among other things, simple examples of public information reuse. The event can be followed by streaming or in-person on Friday 11th at 10:30 a.m.

But not only public administrations promote events around open data, but also we increasingly see private events that address this topic, among other issues. On June 6th and 7th, the OpenExpo Europe 2018 will be held in Madrid, where experts will share the latest trends in Open Source, Free Software and Open World Economy (where open data has a prominent role). It is a professional event where companies linked to technological innovation from different fields, such as Business Intelligence, Cloud Computing, cybersecurity or IoT, will showcase their innovations and technological solutions.

Finally, it is also important to highlight the activities aimed at promoting the use of open data among the youngest citizens. On the 3rd of May, the final presentation of a pilot project of the City Council of Barcelona is held. Through a contest, 3rd and 4th ESO students have learned to use analysis tools and to elaborate proposals based on data from Open Data BCN. Another example is the Open Summer of Code, an international program to be held in July in Spain and Belgium with the aim of "providing students with the training, support and network necessary to transform open innovation projects into powerful real-world services".

These are just some of the appointments that will take place in the coming months, but every day there are more and more activities designed to give citizens an understanding of open data world, spreading its value and promoting its reuse.