Open Data Day is an annual event that promotes awareness and use of open data.

The event takes place globally, usually in February or March. Typical activities include talks, seminars, demonstrations, hackathons, training or the announcement of open data releases or other milestones in open data. In some countries it occurs along with Code Across coding events. Open Data Day was first proposed by David Eaves in 2010. The idea followed discussions with Edward Ocampo-Gooding, Mary Beth Baker, Daniel Beauchamp, Pedro Markun, and Daniela Silva. Today, the event coordination is done through its google mailing list. The date for the event is chosen by the group members taking into consideration different cultural events. From 2015, Open Knowledge Foundation – in cooperation with other NGOs from the open data world – has offered mini-grants of USD 300 to support the facilitation of events around the globe.

Each year, the theme is deliberately broad to accommodate the most diverse practices and perspectives of working with open data for the public interest. In 2025, we want to address some of the most pressing issues of our time and go beyond climate justice. That’s why we’re developing the theme around the concept of polycrisis, and more specifically the intersections between poverty and multiple inequalities, violence and conflict, and climate and disaster response.

Links:
Open Data Day