Founding of the Opendata.ch association on 19 January 2012 in Bern

(>French translation below)
The new year is still young, and our efforts on the subject of open data are bearing fruit. It is no exaggeration to say that 2012 will be a decisive year for the introduction of open data in Switzerland. The founding of the Opendata.ch association is an important step towards working harder towards this goal.

Since the beginning of July 2010 – as an initiative of /ch/open (Swiss Open Systems User Group) and as a special interest group (in formation) of the Swiss Informatics Society (SI) – there has been a loose grouping committed to promoting open data in Switzerland. This working group organised the OGD conference “opendata.ch 2011” on 24 June 2011 at the Swiss Federal Archives and the OGD hackdays “make.opendata.ch” on 30 September and 1 October 2011 in Zurich and Lausanne, runs the opendata.ch website, supports the members of the Parliamentary Group for Digital Sustainability with OGD-related parliamentary motions, and maintains a mailing list with more than 100 participants on which various specialist questions relating to OGD are discussed.

Invitation to the founding meeting

In the interest of continuity and better visibility to the outside, as well as transparent roles, tasks, responsibilities and finances on the inside, the participants of the working group have decided to found an association under the name “opendata.ch” and to invite you to the founding meeting as follows:

  • Date: Thursday, 19 January 2012
  • Time: 17:15 to approx. 19:00 (followed by an apéro)
  • Venue: Bern University of Applied Sciences, Hallerstrasse 10, Bern (see site map)

Agenda:

  1. Welcome
  2. Discussion and adoption of the statutes
  3. Setting of the membership fees for 2012 and 2013
  4. Election of the board
  5. The following participants of the opendata.ch working group are standing for the board:
    Andreas Amsler, Hannes Gassert, André Golliez, Christian Laux, Antoine Logean, Giorgio Pauletto, Barnaby Skinner, Matthias Stürmer
  6. Budget 2012
  7. Information on the activities and events planned for 2012
  8. Any other business

Open Government Data Study Switzerland

Prior to the founding meeting itself, from 17:15 to approx. 18:15, there will be a briefing on the Open Government Data Study Switzerland, which Bern University of Applied Sciences is conducting together with the company itopia ag (Zurich) and other project partners from November 2011 to June 2012, and which is funded by the Gebert Rüf Stiftung.

Register now by email for the opendata.ch founding meeting and for the briefing on the Open Government Data Study Switzerland: info@opendata.ch.

Birth of the Opendata.ch association on 19 January 2012 in Bern

translated by Antoine Logean | published on: 10 January 2012

Opening up data in Switzerland is making headway. 2012 will indeed be a decisive year for establishing the Open Government Data (OGD) movement in Switzerland. An important step will be taken at the beginning of this year with the creation of the opendata.ch association.

Initiated in June 2012 by /ch/open (Swiss Open Systems User Group ) and the Swiss Informatics Society (SI), the opendata.ch working group has set itself the goal of promoting the opening up of public data in Switzerland. To this end, in June 2011 it launched, at the Federal Archives in Bern, the first annual conference on Open Government Data in Switzerland and, three months later, the first campus (hackathon) make.opendata.ch. Another important part of its work consists of making its expertise available and offering direct help to the Parliamentary Group for Digital Sustainability in the various political initiatives (postulates and motions) launched at federal level aimed at greater openness of public data. Alongside this work, through the opendata.ch website and a mailing list, the opendata.ch working group aims to inform and unite the community about the various activities related to open data in Switzerland.

Creation of the Opendata.ch association

With the growing strength of the movement, the informal organisation of the working group is no longer sufficient. Consequently, for the sake of continuity, and in order to offer to the outside a clear entity in which roles, responsibilities, tasks and their financing are transparently defined, the working group has decided to found the association “opendata.ch”, whose birth will be made official:

on Thursday, 19 January 2012 from 17:15 to 19:00
at Bern University of Applied Sciences, Hallerstrasse 10,  Bern
(see site map)

The agenda will be as follows:

  • Welcome
  • Presentation and adoption of the statutes.
  • Membership fees for 2012 and 2013
  • Election of the board. The following members of the opendata.ch working group are standing as candidates:Andreas Amsler, Hannes Gassert, André Golliez, Christian Laux, Antoine Logean, Giorgio Pauletto, Barnaby Skinner, Matthias Stürmer
  • Budget 2012
  • Information on the activities and events planned for 2012
  • Any other business

Open Government Data Study Switzerland

Prior to the founding ceremony, from 17:15 to 18:15, there will be an information session on the Open Government Data Study Switzerland, a study carried out by Bern University of Applied Sciences in collaboration with the company itopia ag (Zurich) and various other partners. This research work, funded by the Gebert Rüf foundation, began in November 2011 and will end in June 2012.

Register now by email (info@opendata.ch) for the founding ceremony, and do not hesitate to ask us for more information on the Open Government Data Study Switzerland.