Opendata.ch/2019 Forum

Opendata.ch/2019 is Switzerland’s leading conference on open data. For the ninth time, on 4 July in Bern we offered a space for a Switzerland-wide exchange on open data, with 200 representatives from research, business, public administration, politics, journalism, IT and other fields.

You can find the final programme and the documentation of the many unconference tracks at: opendata.ch/2019/sessions

And here are a few visual impressions:

What is an “unconference”?

Why do we need a new format?

This year we are launching the conference in a new format, because we want to:

better understand the needs and challenges of our community,
make more in-depth discussions easier,
enable concrete results and
create long-term connections (e.g. through ongoing working groups).

What is an “unconference” like?

The “unconference” format, which we call “Forum”, differs fundamentally from conventional conferences: instead of following one-way communication and talks from the stage to the audience, participants can bring in their own questions and challenges, experiences and skills, and discuss the topics that concern them most with those present. They take away new ideas and insights. They make and deepen contacts with like-minded people and experts.

What exactly can I expect?

All participants write down a topic they would like to discuss. This can be a question, a challenge, a theme or an activity.
In the plenary, we select the 15–20 most popular topics and divide them across a total of 4 time slots.
Participants decide spontaneously which topics they want to join.
Each topic has a moderator who supports the participants in discussing and working on the topic. In addition, all topics are documented by note-takers.

How do I prepare?

Before the Forum, think about which topic you would like to discuss and what materials and resources exist on it. To draw more people’s attention to this topic, we recommend sharing it on your channels and discussing it with people you know. This increases the chance that your topic will be chosen and tackled at the Forum.

What does the programme look like?

How can you support the Forum?

Tell your networks about the event.
Would you like to sign up as a volunteer? Contact us at info@opendata.ch – we look forward to your support.
Become a partner of the Forum and support us financially: Get in touch with us at info@opendata.ch for more information.