MyData Online 2020 (Dec 10-12) will gather 1000 personal data professionals and people interested in the data economy. They bring together business, legal, tech and societal perspectives to create sustainable, fair and prosperous digital society. The online conference will provide quality programme, networking opportunities and social connections. The conference is organised by the MyData Global – an award-winning international nonprofit based in Finland. MyData Global’s mission is to empower individuals to self-determination regarding their personal data
The origins of MyData can be traced back to Open Knowledge Festival held in Finland in 2012. There, a small group of people gathered in a breakout session to discuss what ought to be done with the kind of data that cannot be made publicly available and entirely open, namely personal data.
Over the years, more and more people who had similar ideas about personal data converged and found each other around the globe. Finally, in 2016, a conference entitled MyData brought together thinkers and doers who shared a vision of a human-centric paradigm for personal data and the community became aware of itself.
The MyData movement, which has since gathered momentum and grown into an international community of hundreds of people and organisations, shares many of its most fundamental values with the Open movement from which it has spun off. Openness and transparency in collection, processing, and use of personal data; ethical and socially beneficial use of data; cross-sectoral collaboration; and democratic values are all legacies of the open roots of MyData and hard-wired into the movement itself.
The MyData movement was sustained originally through annual conferences held in Helsinki and attended by data professionals in their hundreds. These were made possible by the support of the Finnish chapter of Open Knowledge, who acted as their main organiser. As the years passed and the movement matured, in the autumn of 2018, the movement formalised into its own organisation, MyData Global. Headquartered in Finland, the organisation’s international staff of six, led by General Manager Teemu Ropponen, now facilitate the growing community with local hubs in over 20 locations on six continents, and the continued efforts of the movement to bring about positive change in the way personal data is used globally.
Call for volunteers
Are you the person we’re looking for? Or do you know someone who could be? The community behind the conference is a diverse and dynamic international group of people who work for human-centric personal data and fair data economy – the future of the internet. We’ll offer you: A chance to take a sneak peek inside and learn about a variety of skills and substances you benefit in the future: organising a global conference, setting up social events in the online reality, learn about topics like the future of the internet from legal, societal, business and tech perspectives. connect with like-minded people and expand you network. And what’s best, this year you don’t have to travel to Finland! We are open for people of all ages and backgrounds – and timezones! You’ll offer us: either your social, philanthropic, kind character (needed in chats, giving advice and instructions for the participants) or your reactive attention (needed in recording the sessions, taking notes, and doing other play-pause-mute-edit-things). No superpowers needed. You can freely choose how much you want to participate! https://lnkd.in/dg7X9tR
Join MyData 2020 conference with a special discount code!
Now we are one month and one day away from MyData Online 2020 Conference (it will start on 10 December) and I hope that the members of the Open Knowledge Foundations will join us! If you would like to promote the conference, we can offer you the discount code WelcomeMyDataFriends which gives 15% off on all categories of the tickets on online2020.mydata.org/tickets.
Viivi Lähteenoja is the Deputy General Manager of MyData Global and the Programme lead for the MyData 2019 conference. She is a classics graduate from Cambridge University with a Master’s degree in theoretical philosophy from the University of Helsinki, and is interested in MyData, philosophy, digital humanities, and the idea and practice of openness in different domains of society.
