Record attendance in Hamburg: 100 people participate in Bertelsmann Stiftung’s 5th Open Data Barcamp

After Bochum, Cologne, Frankfurt am Main, and Erfurt, it was time for an event in the north. The fifth edition of the Open Data Barcamp was held in Hamburg as a result. Things were already bustling even before the official start of the free event – which was organized by the Bertelsmann Stiftung – since nearly all participants took the opportunity to meet each other and exchange ideas at the get-together and speed-networking session held the evening before the barcamp itself.

“Over 110 registrations for such a niche topic is an impressive number,” said Mario Wiedemann, Senior Project Manager in the Bertelsmann Stiftung’s Data for Society project, welcoming participants to the event.  “This format is now well-established and has become a recognized institution. There will be a lot of input and plenty of opportunities for networking.”

After the welcome, the participants presented their sessions, since the barcamp’s participants are the ones who determine the program. Following the pitches, the sessions were located in the various rooms based on how much interest they had generated. The plan had been to hold 16 sessions, each lasting 45 minutes. In the end, there were 24 sessions in total, so the building’s lounge and courtyard were also used. The short time slots allowed participants to attend as many sessions as possible throughout the day.

The sessions covered topics such as:

•    Using AI to explore municipal data from the Wegweiser Kommune (Community Roadmap) portal

•    Requirements for publishing data in Hamburg

•    A new edition of the Open Data Ranking released by the Open Knowledge Foundation

•    From data to added value: a user-centered perspective on open data

All session minutes are available here.

A sketchnote artist was present the event and created graphic recordings of selected sessions, providing a visual summary of the meetings.

Gaining new insights and sharing experiences

Christian Horn from the Hamburg Senate Chancellery presented a session on shared and open data in Hamburg. “One thing we learned today is that when we publish press releases, we should also provide the data in a properly formatted way – not just as a PDF, as we’ve done in the past,” he said. He was also able to contribute his years of experience in the field of open data during the other sessions.

Christian Horn from the Hamburg Senate Chancellery presented a session on shared and open data in Hamburg. “One thing we learned today is that when we publish press releases, we should also provide the data in a properly formatted way – not just as a PDF, as we’ve done in the past,” he said. He was also able to contribute his years of experience in the field of open data during the other sessions.

Helena Peltonen-Gassmann from Transparency International attended the Open Data Barcamp for the third time. The event is so important, she said, “because such valuable exchanges take place here between civil society and public administrators.”

Networking was once again a central focus. Many participants came from government agencies and from organizations where they are often the sole point of contact for questions relating to open data. For them, the barcamp offered not only technical input but also valuable opportunities to interact with like-minded peers. During breaks, at lunch and at the evening get-together, new connections were made and ideas developed for future partnerships.