Open Data Week 2026
As a librarian and a human bean, I am a big believer that:
- Data and information should not be siloed
- Data and information should be easily available
- Data and information should also be freely available
Let me clear that I am not referring to personal data (SSN, medical history, etc), which should be private and controlled by you. I’m referring to things like the Epstein files (yep, I went there), research, public data collection; all of it. If it impacts society as a whole, we should have access to it without issue.
(This is why I donate to Wikipedia every month.)
What is open data?
Open data is data that is easily available, editable, and shareable to anyone at any time. Open data is governed by an open license.
What is an open license?
An open license is a license that allows copyrighted work to be reused, remixed, and redistributed. Copyrighted work is typically beholden to IP, trademark, and patent so an open license takes that content and allows free use of it.
Open license is also known as open source license which is used within the open source software community.
Creative Commons allows creators to design a copyright and use of their content using a variety of licenses, many which are open. This is one example of creating an open license.
What is open government data (OGD)?
While the uses and types of open data are vast, the heart of open data is data that is open government data or OGD.
OGD is data that is created by governments such as maps, math and science formulas, chemical compounds, and more. The concept is that since this data, even down to the most minute use, affects a citizen’s every day life, it should be easily, and freely, accessible to use.
Why is open data important?
Advocates for open data say that such data as OGD that is being held by commercial and private use goes against the common good. This data, such as the list mentioned above, benefits society as a whole and should be easily accessible, reusable, and redistributed to further society’s needs.
What are examples of open data?
Examples include health stats, transit schedules, weather forecasts, research data, and more.
Where can I get access to open data?
The list of sites that provide open data is vast so here are a few examples:
How can I participate in Open Data Week?
You can check Open Knowledge Foundation’s list of events or do a search for “open data week events 2026 -ai” on Google.