A new round of strategic funding to enhance data literacy and accessibility through the Open Data Editor

We are pleased to announce that the Open Knowledge Foundation (OKFN) has been selected as a grantee of the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation for the second year in a row to continue working on improving the Open Data Editor (ODE) application, making it more accessible and widely used by organisations around the world, and increasing data literacy in key communities. The Patrick J. McGovern Foundation, in a recent announcement, revealed a total grant allocation of $73.5 million to advance AI innovation with social purpose, $395,000 of which will be allocated to OKFN. To truly democratise AI and unlock innovation by the many, it is supporting efforts like ours, focusing on learning by doing, as well as increase the confidence of small organisations to apply AI to their work.

ODE is Open Knowledge’s new open source desktop application that makes working with data easier for people with little or no technical skills. It helps users validate and describe their data, improving the quality of the data they produce and consume. The release of stable version 1.2.0 was announced in early December, followed by a Release Webinar with early adopters early this week.

Download Open Data Editor 1.2.0

A different AI future, with communities shaping our tech

Collaboration has been at the heart of this project since its inception in January 2024. Counting on the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation’s critical support, we conducted extensive user research to understand what data practitioners with no technical skills needed most, and these insights helped us change course several times throughout the year. With feedback always in mind, our team designed an interface that is not only visually appealing but also clear, simple, and easy to navigate. Every feature of the Open Data Editor was chosen with the user experience in mind, making it easy to explore and identify errors in tables.

Now, our challenge is to move from an application to a skilled community of practice. This year, our goal was to create an open source application that is, above all, simple and useful, following our vision of The Tech We Want of open, long-lasting, resilient and affordable technologies that are good enough to solve people’s problems. Going ahead, we will improve the app technology and develop literacy and a governance structure among the communities using it.

Learning by doing through pilots with public interest organisations

We want to expand the app’s use while building data literacy in key communities. We are collaborating with organisations and collectives, helping them integrate data and learn good practices for their work. We started to test this approach with (add here two lines about StoryData and ACIJ).

There will be more of that in the upcoming year. With this generous support, we will:

🌱 Launch community pilots around the world, working together with ten key communities.

⚙️ Pilot how to develop affordable, sustainable and scalable technologies, sharing our knowledge with others.

🤖 Increase AI literacy with a practical approach, engaging in conversations about AI integration and potential interactions with open and offline LLMs.

🎈 Convey a wider network of allied communities: Rather than competing with similar initiatives and projects, we want to build a stronger alliance with like-minded organisations to pool our resources, share best practices and ultimately support each other. We will use ODE as a vehicle to build a network of allied communities who are committed to ensuring that data is open and FAIR, and that technology is community-driven and human-centred.

Engage & Learn More

If you are interested in improving your data literacy skills and getting involved in community feedback sessions and pilots with the Open Data Editor, please contact us at info@okfn.org and share your thoughts. Together, we’ll make ODE even better.

To learn more about the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation’s commitment to redefining AI innovation with social purpose, read the official announcement.

To learn more about the Open Data Editor and its journey towards a no-code data application for everyone, you can visit the selected content below.