DAMA - Spotlight on a Data Community
How a common interest connects people all over the world.
With rising awareness of topics around data publication and re-use, numerous communities formed over the last couple of years. Brought together on a local, national and sometimes even on a global scale, connected by their common interest in data. DAMA, which stands for "Data Management Association International", is one of the mature communities, founded already in 1980. From this point onwards, the community organised annual events for the data management profession (i.e. "Data Modeling Zone") and is campaigning for a better and more deliberate handling of data (i.e. through its "Body of Knowledge"). During its almost 40 years of existence, DAMA established various "chapters" around the globe, each with a different geographical scope.
For Europe, various chapters exist, namely (e.g.) for the DACH region, Belgium and Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Finland. While the regional focus differs slightly between these chapters, their ultimate goals remain the same:
Advocate for greater knowledge with respect to the development and execution of architectures, policies, practices and procedures of proper data management.