[14.6] Opendata.ch/2016 (Un)conference

At the roots of SODA is the Swiss open data movement, which regroups every year at an annual conference. This year it is in Lausanne, a town which means a lot to me personally, my destination and place of study when first arriving in Switzerland 15 years ago. There are going to be a lot of amazing people taking part, and I look forward to ensuring a strong School of Data presence. See how Opendata.ch is supporting data literacy.

In parallel to the main conference track, a participant-driven unconference will catalyse encounters and discussion in smaller groups. Ideas are being collected now. Please post your suggestions here to help us write a proposal for a School of Data workshop - or feel free to go ahead and make your own at http://bit.ly/opendatach2016unconf

Two weeks to go until the conference. Here is an unconference proposal:


Lots of people at Opendata.ch/2016 will be involved in sharing knowledge about open data publishing and applications. It seems like a great opportunity to get together to discuss what works most effectively, in what formats (workshops, offline and online courses, open literature, tools) and where we might share or help contribute to each other’s materials.

As community organiser for make.opendata.ch and engaged with opendata.swiss, I’m interested in how can we can teach people new to open data the big wins, what do they really use, what makes a difference, and how we should confront fears of a steep learning curve.

We are also interested in what people think of our project for a School of Data in Switzerland, and how you think this initiative should encourage people to contribute to the open data movement, come to hackathons, and apply open data in their work and everyday life.

The conference is tomorrow and we are ready! Visit http://opendata.ch/2016/unconf for a list of proposals for the open program. It’s not too late to add your own! A schedule in the foyer will list the topics and their times in the morning.

Visit our blog for highlights of the conference…

…and unconference: