Data Atlas for Civil Society: A milestone on the way to an open data ecosystem

The conceptual work is complete and we now have a name for our pioneering project: Datenatlas Zivilgesellschaft (Data Atlas for Civil Society). 

The data atlas is designed to make open data from civil society organizations discoverable and sortable by topic. In the current development phase, we are initially addressing basic challenges: Which metadata standard is the best fit for what we want to do? How can we categorize the diverse organizations involved and their datasets in a meaningful way? To find the answers, we are carefully examining existing classification systems and their applicability.

The data atlas is not only meant to make open data discoverable, but also to serve as a starting point for other important building blocks (e.g. increasing data literacy and knowledge transfer) on the way to creating a functioning open data ecosystem in civil society.

This year for the first time, we offered training designed to support our efforts to develop the data atlas. In 2024, together with the Data Tank, we organized an intensive course for prospective data stewards at civil society organizations. The goal of the course was to provide current and future data managers in civil society with the knowledge and skills required for making informed data-related decisions, improving the data ecosystem in civil society and, ultimately, promoting social change. We will be offering a second course for data stewards in the first half of 2025.

The data dialogues that the Bertelsmann Stiftung has already organized several times in cooperation with CorrelAid bring together people with different areas of expertise – data scientists, technical experts, public administrators and representatives of civil society and other non-profit organizations – to discuss the use, analysis and interpretation of data in light of specific datasets and data-related topics.

To make processing open data easier, we published a brochure at the end of 2023: Open data for all: The role of civil society in Germany.

Introductory workshops on the topic of open data could follow in 2025. In addition to public administrators, representatives from civil society organizations are invited to join our Open Data Network Meetings, which take place every two months. The same is true for our annual Open Data Barcamp. In addition, another event format is currently being developed.

These offerings are meant to generate new ideas and initiatives that can complement the data atlas by promoting data literacy and knowledge transfer.

The data atlas will go live in the first half of 2025. Anyone who would like to receive updates on the launch of the open data portal and other activities related to the data atlas can subscribe to our newsletter.

We would love to hear any ideas you might have about the data atlas or about open data in civil society. Please feel free to contact us – simply click on the contact person above.