Doing cool things with Open (Governmental) Data
The Summer School is introductory into Open (Governmental) Data and interdisciplinary.
Oriented on the competencies of the Ridsdale-Matrix the process of a scientific research project will be addressed. Topics of the Summer School include the topic areas data collection with data research and data quality, data evaluation, especially data analysis, data presentation and visualization, as well as data
application, especially data sharing.
In the realization of this broad spectrum three “lines of content” are established:
- introduction into Open Government Data from different perspectives
(provider, user) and vivid work on examples (input and hands-on) - impulses will support discussions, reflections and look beyond their specific
fields (input) - Data project – the participants will work (mostly in teams) on an own data project, which will lead through a data lifecycle, from the access of data to presentation and visualization. The results will be implemented and shown on a communal platform.
An introductory session as well as a guide through the project work of the week will be given, using the data from the World Happiness Report exemplary. On this base, subtopics will be established, and research questions formed using the original datasets.
In further workshops more specific competencies will be taught, transferring the
learned skills of the participants to the work of their own data project.
One aim of the Summer School is to increase awareness of Open Governmental Data and to bring to mind the importance of data in general, how they can be used and what kind of impact they can have in different areas, even unwanted impacts.
Furthermore, for the academic background the aim lies in conveying how to use data for one’s research work.
During the Summer School the work will be done on real data and projects. The Summer School offers a variety of didactic formats like input lectures, hands-on workshops und project work.
Master or PhD students, with own data projects or with an interest in data projects.
Teacher: project partners and experts for OGD as well as methods and tools
To have a look at the results of this year’s summer school visit the projects website:
Programme DaLiCo Summer School 2020
Session Information
Keynote: “Literacy, open data and the crisis of information”
Prof. Olof Sundin / Lund University, Sweden
Information in contemporary society is characterized by extreme volatility carrying with it uncertainty regarding the control over public knowledge. Not the least has the covid-19 pandemic put the spotlight on a number of crucial challenges in relation to information. These challenges include fragmentation, individualization, emotionalization, as well as mis- and disinformation. They have all implications for not just the individual but for the organization of society and ultimately democracy. The talk will address what roles information literacy can have in the crisis of information and the growing importance of open data, but also make visible some of the pitfalls of promoting literacy as a solution.
Prof. Olof Sundin is a professor in Information Studies at Lund University, Sweden and leading the research group “Information practices: Communication, Culture and Society” at the Departments of Arts and Cultural Sciences. His research concerns changed literacies and information practices, mainly in the light of the digitisation of society, the configuration of knowledge in contemporary knowledge society and the construction of trustworthiness of public knowledge and the roles of established institutions in this process.
Open Data – Data Project
Tom Friedel, Feena Fensky / Code for Hamburg, Germany
During this session we will take a close look at Open Data, from its history to its whereabouts in our everyday life. The participants will learn about the “World Happiness Report” and its data sources. They will explore alternative data sources and figure out whether they correspond or not. The participants work on their own data projects to answer research questions related to the World Happiness Report.
Tom Friedel (IT specialist) and Feena Fensky (Data Anthropologist) are both engaged at “Code for Hamburg”, which is part of the project “Code for Germany, a network of open government experts. As volunteer urban developers they work for a sustainable digital change in politics and administration.
Open Data – Infrastructures
Open data in the Netherlands
Erwin van Mierlo / CBS Statistics Netherlands
The Statistics Netherlands (CBS) is a Dutch governmental institution that gathers statistical information about the Netherlands. They collect and disseminate information supporting public debate, policy development and decision-making. This talk takes a deep dive into the role of the CBS in the Netherlands and policy. Which (open) data is available, where to find them and how are they used? It also takes an international perspective as it addresses European laws and high value data sets.
Erwin van Mierlo is a political adviser for CBS Statistics Netherlands where he develops and elaborates the possibilities of open data and data consortia.
Open Governmental Data Portal Hamburg
Dr. Lothar Hotz / HITeC e.V., University of Hamburg, Germany
The session will describe Open Data provided by government organisation using the example portal “Transparenzportal Hamburg”. Differences between metadata and data as well as technical access facilities will be presented. The usage of the data will be illustrated through concret datasets taken from the mobility sector.
Dr. Lothar Hotz is a computer scientist, working at HITeC, the Research and Technology Transfer Center of the Department of Informatics at the University of Hamburg. Due to its independent status, HITeC offers flexible and professional partnership opportunities. HITeC solutions are based on the latest research results and provide advantages by innovative technologies.
Open Data – Data Analysis + Critical thinking
Andrea Conchado Peiro, J. Alberto Conchado / Universitat Politècnica de València, Spain
The contents of the course could include an introductory session about the utility of open data, followed by several technical sessions about searching and selecting data for a particular research question, data visualization, data sets management, data cleaning (identification of outliers, missing data patterns), data edition (filtering, merging data sets, splitting data sets, recoding and computing variables), and basic data analysis (frequencies, graphs, cross-tables and correlations). We also add a final session about critical thinking applied to the meaning and interpretations of our results.
Andrea Conchado Peiro (statistician) and J. Alberto Conchado (mathematician) work at the Universitat Politècnica de València and are part of the DaLiCo team.
Data Visualization
Michael Hörz / Data Journalist
Data journalists use data to find and tell stories. This workshop gives an overview on how to handle data in a journalistic context, which tools are common in newsrooms and what to pay attention when visualizing your results. In an exercise we will go through the essential steps on the way to a data-driven story and will give impulses for the visualization of data projects.
Michael Hörz is a data journalist and has worked in the data team of Süddeutsche Zeitung among others. He is also a trainer for data journalism, teaching theory and practical knowledge to other journalists as well as in teaching assignments for universities. A third important expertise of his is the focus on open data.
Data Ethics
Dr. Marlies van Steenbergen, Cathelijn Timmers / Hoogeschool Utrecht, Netherlands
In this session we discuss and practice how to address ethical challenges when developing data-driven services. How do you respect personal and public values such as security, autonomy, well-being or distributive justice in data-driven designs? Technologically everything is possible. But the debate about tracking-and-tracing apps in some countries illustrates that there are limits to what people are comfortable with. Besides, your own values and norms as a designer also influence the choices you make or would like to make. After a short introduction into the relevance of ethical awareness when dealing with data, we practice how to effectively use a number of ethical tools and techniques and how this leads to more value-sensitive design choices.
Dr. Marlies van Steenbergen has been a professor at the Research group Digital Ethics since 2017. Her line of research focuses on value-sensitive design of data-driven innovative services, which seeks for ways to increase the digital ethical competence of professionals.
Cathelijn Timmers Cathelijn has been working as a researcher within the Research Group for Digital Ethics since 2019. Her research into meaningful digital innovation focuses on the role and use of practical philosophy and ethics for organizations, teams and people.
Data management skills and methods in an open science environment
Dr. Edit Görögh, Adam Szaldobagyi / University Library at University of Debrecen, Hungary
The primary goal of the session is to put data literacy and data management into the context of open science. The theoretical review of open data management questions is planned to be supplemented with practical approaches on tools and methods. The main issues being covered are (1) research data management and a concept of data management plan in an open science research environment, (2) operation of the FAIR principles and tools and the introduction of relevant case studies, and (3) reviewing DM skills to use governmental data as research data.
Dr. Edit Görögh is working for the National and University Library at University of Debrecen in Hungary. She has been involved in knowledge management and open access related programs for more than 10 years. She first participated in open scholarly communication activities at the University Library of Debrecen in Hungary, where she worked as a project manager and represented the National Open Access Desk in Hungary within the OpenAIRE project.
Adam Szaldobagyi works as a data steward for the National and University Library at University of Debrecen in Hungary.