Open Data Day 2020!
Publication Date/Time
2020-03-11T08:00:00+00:00
Country
Global
Celebrating the 10th Open Data Day around the world
OPEN DATA DAY 2020
This year, the 10th anniversary of the Open Data Day was celebrated by
the international open data community on 7 March 2020.

Open Data Day [https://opendataday.org/] is an international annual
event where data enthusiasts gather to connect and build new solutions
to complex social issues by using open data. The event aims to show
the benefits of open data (such as an increase in efficiency,
transparency, innovation, and economic growth) and to encourage the
adoption of open data policies in various government bodies,
businesses, and civil societies. Open Data Day takes place globally
and includes talks, seminars, hackathons, demonstrations, and
trainings on different tracks selected for that year. In addition,
there are announcements of open data releases or other milestones in
open data. Moreover, all outputs from Open Data Day 2020 are open for
everyone to re-use.

As with previous years, a mini-grant
[https://blog.okfn.org/2020/01/16/announcing-the-launch-of-the-open-data-day-2020-mini-grant-scheme/]
was available for organisers of events related to the following four
tracks that open data can help solve:

 	* ENVIRONMENTAL DATA: helping the world become more environmentally
sustainable
 	* TRACKING PUBLIC MONEY FLOWS: enhancing transparency
 	* OPEN MAPPING: developing better communities with the power of maps
 	* DATA FOR EQUAL DEVELOPMENT: highlighting pressing issues on local,
national or global level

This year’s Open Data Day celebrated open data and provided plenty
discussion opportunities on how to continue creating and promoting
open data to address complex societal issues around the world. Open
Data Day 2020 had over 300 registered events across the world, of
which over 50 events took place in Europe. A few of them are discussed
below.

EUROPEAN DATA PORTAL WEBINAR
The European Data Portal celebrated this year’s Open Data Day with
the publication of the report “The Economic Impact of Open Data:
Opportunities for value creation in Europe
[/sites/default/files/the-economic-impact-of-open-data.pdf]”. This
report was a follow up on the 2015 report “Creating Value through
Open Data
[/sites/default/files/edp_creating_value_through_open_data_0.pdf]”. 

On Friday 6 March, a day before Open Data Day 2020, a webinar took
place in which the authors of the report – Esther Huyer and Laura
van Knippenberg – provided an overview of their findings and
discussed these with the audience. Several examples regarding the
potential value of open data in Europe were provided as well as the
estimations and forecasts of the open data market size and employment
for 2019-2025. One of the key lessons learned is that there is a
massive potential for open data, but in order to achieve this
potential we must explore and improve multiple approaches –
including combining open data with other types of data – of data
re-use that are ethical, sustainable, and fit-for-purpose. 

The recording of the main part of the webinar
[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L0f24pmHZ1w&t=3s], as well as the FAQ
section [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMZF82gR7sE], are available
online. If you have any questions about the report or would like to
share your thoughts and opinion, reach out to us via mail
[/en/feedback/form?type=4] or Twitter
[http://twitter.com/EU_DataPortal]. 

OPEN BELGIUM 2020
Another example was Open Belgium 2020, an annual event providing a
platform for open data enthusiasts and re-users to talk about their
efforts on open data. The main event took place on Friday 6 March in
Hasselt, Belgium. It is a community driven conference with talks,
discussions, panels, and workshops. The conference started off with a
keynote by Adriana Groh [https://de.linkedin.com/in/adrianagroh] on
how to start a “public interest tech revolution”. Also, there was
a panel discussion with representatives from the government, research,
civil society, and business on the developments in open data and open
knowledge in Belgium over the past year. 

In celebration of the global Open Data Day, volunteer innovators,
scientists, developers, policy specialists, and designers from all
over Belgium were also invited on Saturday 7 March to take part in the
Civic Lab Summit [https://2020.openbelgium.be/civic-lab-summit]. The
focus was on the development of existing projects through workshops,
the exchange of ideas on different topics in the field of Open
Knowledge, and even the start of new projects. A few topics related to
redefining digital trust among citizens, measuring air quality, voting
trends, and skills and training on research data management.

EU DATATHON WEBINAR
On Friday 6 March, the European Open Data Portal
[https://data.europa.eu/euodp/en/home] organised a webinar for the EU
Datathon 2020 [https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eudatathon], where speakers
discussed the available open data on their portal to contribute to the
event’s four thematic challenges.

 	* Challenge 1: ‘A European Green Deal
[https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal_en]’
 	* Challenge 2: ‘An economy that works for people
[https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/economy-works-people_en]’
 	* Challenge 3: ‘A new push for European democracy
[https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/new-push-european-democracy_en]’
 	* Challenge 4: ‘A Europe fit for the digital age
[https://ec.europa.eu/info/priorities/europe-fit-digital-age_en]’

The EU Datathon is an annual open data competition organised by the
Publications Office of the European Union
[https://publications.europa.eu/en/web/about-us/who-we-are] and will
take place later this year on 13 AND 15 OCTOBER 2020 in BRUSSELS,
BELGIUM during the 18th European Week of Regions and Cities
[https://europa.eu/regions-and-cities/] event. The EU Datathon 2020
aims to stimulate the use and re-use of open data and to support
competitors in showcasing their data skills and innovative ideas.
Participants are invited to develop apps and interactive
visualisations that offer new services or public information insights
to citizens, public authorities and businesses. 

Interested in competing in the EU Datathon 2020? You need to propose
the development of an application that links and uses open datasets
related to one of four above mentioned challenges. At least one of
these open datasets should be made available by EU institutions,
agencies or bodies. Submit your proposal
[https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/EU-Datathon-2020-project-descriptions]
with a short description by 3 MAY 2020.

Learn more about the EU Datathon 2020
[https://publications.europa.eu/en/web/eudatathon] and other open-data
events [/en/news-events/events] and follow the European Data Portal
[/en/homepage] on Twitter [http://twitter.com/EU_DataPortal], Facebook
[http://www.facebook.com/EuropeanDataPortal] or LinkedIn
[https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8428984] to stay up to date!  
