In this introductory session, we open up the stage going over the principles and benefits of opening up data and introduce the Data Stewards Canvas developed by The GovLab. The canvas will be used as a framework for building data stewardship practices in civil society, and will be the main foundation for the program. A use-case where data re-use is applied to a specific thematic area will also be further developed.

Following a discussion of the history of the open data movement, and the release of the European Data Act and the European Data Governance Act, we discuss current approaches to data re-use in the European context. It starts with outlining and prioritizing questions that need to be answered first, where data will help towards that journey. It is also important to reflect on whether i) you need an AI solution to help with the issue at hand, and ii) the art of what is possible: what can that AI solution do and how would it bring value to the project? Deconstructing the data stewards canvas will follow in this session, focusing on formulating the data demand and questions that data helps answer.

This session will continue by deconstructing the data stewards canvas and focus on understanding and describing data supply. Identifying knowledge gaps will be another focus of this session. In addition, participants will be provided with the necessary tools to map out and assess data availability and quality in working groups. A use-case where data re-use is applied to a specific thematic area will be further developed.

After the data supply has been mapped out & identified, this session follows with matching demand with supply & deconstructing data collaboration approaches. Models and approaches for data collaboratives are identified, and tools to choose the fit-for purpose model are summarized. This includes assessing the level of conditionality for data access, determining the right balance between openness and control, and identifying mechanisms, such as APIs and data licensing, that can enable controlled data sharing.

The final session will focus on governance and sustainability, where we will explore governance frameworks, data sharing agreements, and technological infrastructure to institutionalize data re-use. It aims to set the ground for the participants to create a data re-use strategy for their organization, and analyze the methods to embed the data stewards principles and roles in their organizations.