This text reports on the impact of a training course offered by a multiplier trainer from the School of Data network.
In June 2025, the American Corner center, located within the University of Abomey-Calavi, successfully hosted the Open Data Editor (ODE) workshop, organized in two complementary sessions on June 21st and 28th. The event brought together about 20 participants from various backgrounds: students, developers, Wikimedia and OpenStreetMap contributors, as well as civil society representatives.
Clear and ambitious objectives
The workshop aimed to:
- Raise awareness of Open Data issues, both in Benin and internationally;
- Train participants in the use of Open Data Editor (ODE);
- Explore and promote local sources of open data;
- Practice cleaning, visualizing, and publishing datasets;
- Encourage registration for the official ODE MOOC for continuous learning.
Process: between theory and practice
Mornings: interactive presentations
Each morning was structured around theoretical presentations, demonstrations, and MOOC registration sessions. These times allowed participants to lay the conceptual foundations and discover the essential functionalities of ODE.
Afternoons: group practical application
In the afternoons, participants were divided into five working groups to explore and inventory various datasets, whether generic or specific to Benin.
Two complementary sessions
- June 21, 2025: General introduction to open data. Discussions focused on Open Data issues at the global and national levels. Participants discovered ODE as a practical tool to improve data quality and reuse, while being invited to continue their training via the official MOOC.
- June 28, 2025: In-depth study and practical application. The morning allowed for the exploration of local data sources as well as visualization and mapping tools. The afternoon was dedicated to practical workshops: searching, inventorying data sources, cleaning, correcting errors, merging datasets, and exploring advanced ODE functionalities. The session concluded with an interactive quiz and a discussion on local Open Data perspectives.
Results and lessons learned
The anonymous feedback questionnaire submitted to participants highlighted a high satisfaction rate:
- Quality of sessions: 60% of participants rated them “good,” 10% “excellent.”
- Organization: 80% considered the organization “good” or “excellent.”
- Content: 50% described the content as “good” and 10% as “excellent.”
The majority of participants felt they had significantly strengthened their understanding of Open Data and its uses. Several appreciated the collaborative aspect of the ODE tool and proposed:
- Multiplying practical workshops;
- Extending the training to other municipalities;
- Establishing and strengthening the structuring of a local community around Open Data.
These feedbacks confirm the effectiveness of the format combining theory, practice, and online follow-up via the MOOC. They also highlight new avenues for future editions.
Perspectives
This workshop marked another important step in building an Open Data dynamic in Benin. Among the recommendations formulated:
- Replicate the experience in other cities and university settings;
- Create an Open Data club to foster sharing, collaboration, and co-creation;
- Support concrete projects for data opening and valorization through coaching and networking.
Ultimately, the ODE workshop showed that Open Data is not just a matter of transparency or technology. It is above all a civic opportunity for innovation and collaboration. With accessible tools like ODE, everyone can become an actor in the improvement and valorization of local data.
About the Open Data Editor
The Open Data Editor (ODE) is Open Knowledge’s new open source desktop application for nonprofits, data journalists, activists, and public servants, aiming at helping them detect errors in their datasets. It’s a free, open-source tool designed for people working with tabular data (Excel, Google Sheets, CSV) who don’t know how to code or don’t have the programming skills to automatise the data exploration process.
Simple, lightweight, privacy-friendly, and built for real-world challenges like offline work and low-resource settings, ODE is part of Open Knowledge’s initiative The Tech We Want — our ambitious effort to reimagine how technology is built and used.
And there’s more! ODE comes with a free online course that can help you improve the quality of your datasets, therefore making your life/work easier.
↪ Take the course: Learn how to use ODE
All of Open Knowledge’s work with the Open Data Editor is made possible thanks to a charitable grant from the Patrick J. McGovern Foundation. Learn more about its funding programmes here.
