‘Open Data Workshop’ took place on Thursday, December 12, 2024, at the new conference center of the Region of Central Macedonia. The event, organized by the Digital Governance Sub-region, focused on the values of open data in modern societies, aiming to promote transparency, innovation, and sustainable development.
Τhe event featured panels and discussions on using public and open data to create digital tools that address contemporary challenges for the benefit of citizens. Charalampos Bratsas, President of OKFN Greece and Assistant Professor at the International Hellenic University (IHU), coordinated the panels, highlighting the importance of human oversight in data management and the need for enhanced transparency and interoperability in the digital transformation of both the public and private sectors. Additionally, the workshop opened with greetings from representatives of the public sector, such as Nikos Tzollas, Deputy Regional Governor for Digital Governance. Afterwards, the invited speakers, among which Kostas Gioulekas, Deputy Minister of the Interior (sector of Macedonia and Thrace), Kostas Vassilopoulos, Deputy Mayor for Digital Policy and E-Governance, Athanasios Thanopoulos, President of ELSTAT, Theophilos Mylonas, President of SETPE, etc., discussed on issues related to the values of open data in contemporary societies through different discussion panels, including “Leveraging Open Data to Create Tools for the Benefit of Citizens”, “Open Data: Infrastructure – Challenges” and “Availability of Open Data”.
OKFN Greece also hosted a dedicated panel, titled “Workshop: Open Data Repositories”, where Lazaros Ioannidis, researcher at OKFN Greece and PhD candidate at IHU, presented the digital platform developed within the UPCAST Project to host an open data marketplace. Additionally, the launch of the ‘Open Up Thessaloniki Climate 2025’ competition was announced, inviting participants to register or contribute data to develop the competition’s open data platform.
Overall, the ‘Open Data Workshop’ was an important step towards raising awareness about open data and the challenges that arise from its implementation in society and the public sector. The contribution of OKFN Greece to the success of this event was crucial, setting the tone for future developments in the field of digital governance and the use of open data to address contemporary challenges.
