Panel: We are Making the Tech We Want

With the skills that the panellists have, it would be easier to work for the mainstream tech industry and just go with the flow. But they’ve all chosen a different path: making software that makes sense. In this conversation, we’ll share the trajectories of some open, free/libre, and alternative technologies, and discuss how to tip the scales in our favour amidst a solutionist discourse in an ultra-specialised industry.

Panel: The Tech We Want is Sustainable for People and the Planet

Eco, green, or simply sustainable technologies have several implicit meanings: long life, affordable maintenance, skilled people, resource-friendly, economical to use, renewable, regenerative, etc. In this panel, thinkers, practitioners and promoters of different aspects of software sustainability will discuss if and how it is possible to achieve a development model for people and the planet. Is there a way out of the disaster versus greenwashing narratives?

Panel: The Tech We Want is Political

Since the Snowden revelations, citizen efforts have been focused in patching a broken system of surveillance, extractivism of people and the planet and rights erosion. This conversation will discuss the current state of the things and the viability of uniting technical and political efforts to move in a different direction.

The Tech We Want Summit: Full Programme Announcement

The Tech We Want Summit is just around the corner. Today we are announcing the full programme for day one, Thursday 17 October, featuring 28 speakers from all around the world across 5 panels and 2 keynotes.

AI Sauna quick reflection

Find out more about the event that brought together the GLAM community in Helsinki to discuss the impact of AI in the shared online culture.

The South at the world’s centre: OKFN dive into Uruguay’s data marathon

At the beginning of November, I visited Uruguay in the capacity of Open Knowledge Foundation’s Partnerships Lead to take part in #MaratónDeDatos, a pool of various events focused on the work with data, open data and open knowledge, and a meeting point for the global community engaged with the topic. I first arrived in Montevideo […]

Csv,conf is going to Mexico!

The most beloved community conference for datamakers from all around the world is back in May 2024! After a very successful seventh edition in Buenos Aires in April 2023, we have decided to linger a little longer in Latin America. We are very excited to announce that csv,conf,v8 will take place in Mexico!  The commallama […]

Ready… Set… Register!

Registration for csv,conf,v7 in Buenos Aires, Argentina is now Open. The anticipation is over! No more guessing and waiting! The community conference for data makers everywhere, returns in person! Csv,conf,v7 will be in the beautiful Buenos Aires, Argentina April 19-20. It will not be a conference without YOU present! This is one of the events […]

csv,conf,v7 is going to Buenos Aires!

Save the data/date! csv,conf,v7 will be held in Buenos Aires (Argentina) from April 17 to 21, 2023. csv,conf is a community event for datamakers from all around the world. At csv,conf, we get together to discuss open data, and how data can be used to solve problems across open source, journalism, science, government, and beyond! […]

Frictionless Planet – Save the Date

We believe that an ecosystem of organisations combining tools, techniques and strategies to transform datasets relevant to the climate crisis into applied knowledge and actionable campaigns can get us closer to the Paris agreement goals. Today, scientists, academics and activists are working against the clock to save us from the greatest catastrophe of our times. […]

Watch the Net Zero Challenge pitch contest

This week, five shortlisted teams took part in the final stage of the Net Zero Challenge – a global competition to identify, promote and support innovative, practical and scalable uses of open data that advance climate action. The five teams presented their three-minute project pitches to the Net Zero Challenge Panel of Experts, and a live audience. Each pitch was followed by […]

MyData Online 2020

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 […]

DataStories Symposium

At the DataStories Symposium 2020 we will explore how people engage with data to create stories. Data is represented in different ways to allow us to understand and make use of it: in numbers, in text, in visualisations, in interactive stories and other forms. Data stories are relevant to many areas of our life – […]

Lessons learned from organising the first ever virtual csv,conf

This blogpost was collaboratively written by the csv,conf organising team which includes Lilly Winfree and Jo Barratt from the Open Knowledge Foundation. csv,conf is supported by the Sloan Foundation as part of our Frictionless Data for Reproducible Research grant. The original post can be found here: https://csvconf.com/2020/going-online A brief history csv,conf is a community conference […]

csv,conf returns for version 5 in May

Save the date for csv,conf,v5! The fifth version of csv,conf will be held at the University of California, Washington Center in Washington DC, USA, on May 13 and 14, 2020.    If you are passionate about data and its application to society, this is the conference for you. Submissions for session proposals for 25-minute talk […]

A recap of the 2019 eLife Innovation Sprint

Over 36 hours, Jo Barratt and Lilly Winfree from Open Knowledge Foundation’s Frictionless Data team joined 60 people from around the world to develop innovative solutions to open science obstacles at the 2019 eLife Innovation Sprint. This quick, collaborative event in Cambridge, UK, on September 4th and 5th brought together designers, scientists, coders, project managers, […]

Women in data can help tackle gender inequality

Encouraging more women and girls to learn data skills can help tackle gender inequality and build a more diverse society, a conference will hear today. Speaking at the annual ‘Doing Data Right’ conference in Edinburgh, Open Knowledge Foundation chief executive Catherine Stihler will call on governments to do more to engage young women in data […]

Open Knowledge Foundation community meet up at csv,conf,v4

When: May 7th, 5-7pm Location: Eliot Center, Portland, OR Cost: Free; pizza & beverages available Join Open Knowledge Foundation (OKF) for a community event the night before csv,conf,v4! This meet and greet happy hour will feature lightning talks on open projects, designated networking time, and pizza. We invite OKF community members to submit ideas for […]

Protecting libraries and the vital role they play in local communities

This article was originally published in The Scotsman. With councils across the UK facing major financial pressures, libraries are too often seen as an easy target for cuts. In 2017, it is estimated that more than 120 libraries closed their doors in England, Wales and Scotland. That figure is likely to have increased last year. […]

Warming up to csv,conf.v4

On May 8 and 9 2019, the fourth version of csv,conf is set to take place at Eliot Center in Portland, Oregon, United States. csv,conf is a community conference bringing together diverse groups to discuss data topics, and features stories about data sharing and data analysis from science, journalism, government, and open source. Over two days, […]

Paris Peace Forum Hackathon: A new chance to talk about open data

A few weeks ago we had the chance to attend the first edition of the Paris Peace Forum. The goal of this new initiative is to exchange and discuss concrete global governance solutions. More than 10,000 people attended, 65 Heads of State and Government were present, and 10 international organizations leaders convened for those three days […]

IODC 2018: The hard questions for the future of open data

The latest edition of  the International Open Data Conference (IODC) is just around the bend. We’ll be discussing open data during the entire week in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Through a series of pre-events, including symposiums, discussion panels and workshops as well as the main conference, we will discuss with open data practitioners, advocates, and researchers […]

Closing feedback loops for more & better open data in Switzerland

Last week, the annual open data conference in Switzerland took place in St. Gallen. In this post, Oleg Lavrovsky, activist for Open Knowledge and board member of the Swiss Chapter, shares a look back at the event showcasing the latest developments in the country, with results of the first Open Data Student Awards. For more […]

CKANconUS and Code for America Summit: some thoughts about the important questions

It’s been a few weeks after CKANConUS and the seventh Code for America Summit took place in Oakland. As always, it was a great place to meet old friends and new faces of technologists, policy experts, government innovators in the U.S. In this blogpost I share some of the experience of attending these two conferences […]

Season’s greetings from Open Knowledge International

Happy Holidays and Season’s Greetings to all of the Open Knowledge family and friends!! With the departure of the CEO at the end of October we have been busy aligning our roles to pick up the additional responsibility. As we start to reflect, it’s clear that 2017 has been a year of challenges and great […]

OKFestival 2018 becomes Open Knowledge Summit May 2018 in Thessaloniki

It is with regret that due to recent circumstances within Open Knowledge International, we have come to the conclusion that it is necessary to cancel the planned Open Knowledge Festival 2018. This announcement has been a very difficult decision for the team at OKI, however with such a short time frame ahead and a lack […]

AbreLatam / Condatos: after the first 5 years

This is a somewhat belated entry about the Abrelatam and Condatos, the regional open data conference of Latin America. It comes more than a month after the conference took place in San José, Costa Rica, but the questions raised there are still relevant and super important for advancing open data in Latin America and working […]

OKFestival 2018  – It’s time for a competition!

Update 30 November 2017: Despite earlier announcements, Open Knowledge International have decided not to run OKFestival 2018. There have been some recent major changes in the organisation that have adversely affected our ability to produce a Festival which would match the expectations of our networks and partners. We are, obviously, disappointed by this decision but […]

Open Knowledge Festival comes to Thessaloniki in 2018

Update 30 November 2017: Despite earlier announcements, Open Knowledge International have decided not to run OKFestival 2018. There have been some recent major changes in the organisation that have adversely affected our ability to produce a Festival which would match the expectations of our networks and partners. We are, obviously, disappointed by this decision but […]

csv,conf,v3

The third manifestation of everyone’s favorite community conference about data—csv,conf,v3—happened earlier this May in Portland, Oregon. The conference brought together data makers/doers/hackers from various backgrounds to share knowledge and stories about data in a relaxed, convivial, alpaca-friendly (see below) environment. Several Open Knowledge International staff working across our Frictionless Data, OpenSpending, and Open Data for […]

Global conference to explore parliaments, OGP, and trust in representative institutions. Registration deadline today!

This spring, 30 Open Government Partnership (OGP) member countries will develop National Action Plans. With international momentum growing and new rules on parliamentary participation in place, this cycle presents an opportunity to advance the legislative openness agenda by developing meaningful commitments and deepening the participation of parliaments in OGP. By sharing information, connecting legislative openness […]

CSV,Conf is back in 2017! Submit talk proposals on the art of data collaboration.

CSV,Conf,v3 is happening! This time the community-run conference will be in Portland, Oregon, USA on 2nd and 3rd of May 2017. It will feature stories about data sharing and data analysis from science, journalism, government, and open source. We want to bring together data makers/doers/hackers from backgrounds like science, journalism, open government and the wider software […]

The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of #OGP16 Summit

This blog originally appeared on Medium and is reposted with permission. This post is a reflection of a long and intense week in Paris for the Open Government Partnership summit. I feel after this week like I have seen so much, but missed out on a lot of things (including a couple of meals!). All […]

Join Open Data from Around the World session at the Paris OGP summit

Open Government Data from around the world session is back at the OGP summit, this time with a twist! Come and join as active participants and share open data updates from your country on Thursday, December 8th on 12 pm! What is Open Government Data from around the world session? In this one hour session, […]

Hurdles and joys of introducing Data Journalism in post-Soviet universities

At the Data Journalism Bootcamp organized by the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), a large part of the participants came from the Commonwealth of Independent States: Belarus, Ukraine, Moldova, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. Interestingly, the students were deans and professors of journalism departments who had to dive into a new field. The idea of the bootcamp […]

Who Will Shape the Future of the Data Society?

This piece was originally posted on the blog of the International Open Data Conference 2016, which takes place in Madrid, 6-7th October 2016. The contemporary world is held together by a vast and overlapping fabric of information systems. These information systems do not only tell us things about the world around us. They also play […]

What does personal data have to do with open data? Initial thoughts from #MyData2016

This piece is part of a series of posts from MyData 2016 – an international conference that focuses on human centric personal information management. The conference is co-hosted by the Open Knowledge Finland chapter of the Open Knowledge International Network. What does personal data have to do with open data? We usually preach NOT to open […]

OpenTrials launch date + Hack Day

Exciting news! OpenTrials, a project in which Open Knowledge is developing an open, online database of information about the world’s clinical research trials, will officially launch its beta on Monday 10th October 2016 at the World Health Summit in Berlin. After months of work behind-the-scenes meeting, planning, and developing, we’re all really excited about demoing OpenTrials […]