Open Data in a Day

Over the course of the day, you will learn:
What open data is, its benefits and opportunities
Case studies of successful open data projects
How to minimise risks by understanding licensing and certificates
How to discover and use open data
With a mixture of practical exercises, case studies and the latest learnings from the field of open data, our experts will remove the complexity of working within it. Increase your confidence in working with open data. Reserve your place today for our early bird rates.

The course is split into four sessions. The detailed outcomes of each of these sessions show the broad and essential range of subjects covered on the course.

Session 1: Discovering open data
By the end of the session you will be able to:

Define open data
Explain how cost and availability are key aspects of open
Evaluate how to customise the definition of open data for different communities and requirements
Explain the difference between big, personal and open data
Describe the benefits of working with open data
Draw on successful case studies of open data use and publishing
Explain how open data sits in the current economic climate
Evaluate the success of open data projects and communities

Session 2: Copyright, licensing and open data
By the end of the session you will be able to:

Describe how copyright and licensing relate to open data
Identify instances of open licences and effective application
Build and use open licences
Manage third-party data and sub-licensing

Session 3: Making data usable
By the end of the session you will be able to:

Use Open Data Certificates to assess the usability of open data
Apply the five stars of linked open data to analyse technical quality of data
Describe the importance of persistent identifiers for data

Session 4: Getting hands-on with open data
By the end of the session you will be able to:

Discover a number of open datasets
Evaluate the usability of an existing open dataset
Identify a number of errors that exist in data
Clean a dataset
Validate data to assess usability
Suggest a number of ways to improve the publication of open data
Who is this for?
Employees from private companies, third-sector organisations and government departments. Previous participants have included: decision makers, managers, civil servants, researchers, policy advisors, journalists, students, strategists, data owners and publishers.

Course prerequisites
No previous experience of data is required, however good computer literacy, especially in using spreadsheets and the web, is essential.

Course requirements
A wifi-enabled laptop is required, especially one that is able to install new software, but, as a minimum, it should be able to open a spreadsheet.

Course resources
Course resources are available on the dedicated course page.

About ODI courses
Co-founded by the inventor of the web, Tim Berners-Lee, the ODI offers courses that are friendly, supportive, fun, and take place in our lively headquarters in Shoreditch. No question is a silly question in our classrooms, and our expert teachers will arm you with all the practical skills you need for applying what you’ve learnt to the real world.

All slides and exercises are made available for anyone to access, use and share under an open licence.