In 2020, nearly 4.2 billion people lived in cities. This number is expected to double by 2050. Cities face new and emerging challenges every day. Strained by climate change, crumbling infrastructure, and growing inequity, there is an urgent need for institutions to find new ways to make decisions, solve public problems, and improve how they operate. 

In recent years, data has been increasingly made accessible and used to inform policies and interventions targeted at these societal issues. Yet, many of these data initiatives—for instance open data, data collaboratives, and other models—never scale beyond pilots. They often remain fragmented. Collectively, we need to move into a third wave of open data. It is more important than ever to be strategic and purposeful, to find new ways to connect the demand for data with its supply to meet institutional objectives in a systematic, sustainable and socially responsible way.

This course will help data stewards (and aspiring data stewards) ride the third wave and develop a data access and re-use strategy to inform public interest decisions and solve societal problems in a city context. From May to July 2023, leaders in data stewardship from sixteen different countries, from Brazil to Bhutan, will learn ways to use data to promote public good in their work with cities. 

The Data Stewards Academy’s Executive Education Course is part of The GovLab’s Open Data Policy Lab, a program supporting responsible data re-use with support from Microsoft’s Open Data Campaign. The executive education course trains data leaders in the public, nonprofit, research and private sectors interested in developing data reuse strategies to solve public problems. Over the course of eight weeks, participants will learn about the ways they can re-use data in a city context to pursue goals in the public’s interest. 

We’re excited to welcome our new cohort of twenty data leaders: 

• Ana Carolina Benelli, Director, Linked Data, Brazil
• Antigoni Karaiskou, Senior Sustainability & Physics Engineer, Buro Happold, United Kingdom
• Cleiton Silva, Federal Auditor of Finance and Control, Brazilian Office of the Comptroller General (CGU), Brazil 
• Daffodil Santillan, Data Associate, Action for Economic Reforms, Philippines
• Ernest Kwan, Head of the Data and Analytics Branch, City of Winnipeg Water and Waste Department, Canada
• Jonas Bärtschi, Scientific Researcher, Bern University of Applied Sciences, Switzerland 
• Karim Hussein Dasuki, Innovation Cluster Manager, I-Cluster, Colombia
• Madison Mackley, PhD Student, University of Toronto, Canada 
• Majaha Diamini, Urban Data Manager, South African Cities Network, South Africa
• Mandar Sunil Athavale, Co-Founder, Basera Center for Innovation and Governance, India
• Marijana Novak, Data Lead, Circle Economy, Netherlands
• Marisa Miodosky, Gender Equality Strategy Leader, Buenos Aires City Statistics Bureau, Argentina 
• Nyeleti Mahlaule, Chief Specialist - Knowledge Management, City of Ekurhuleni Metro, South Africa
• Oluomachukwu Omeje, Program Manager, Nigeria Health Watch, Nigeria 
• Pierre Renault, Data Project Leader - Data Department, Rennes Métropole, France
• Ricardo Mirón, Technical Lead, United Nations Development Programme - Digital Public Goods Alliance, Mexico 
• Sajid Mahmud, Head of Legal and Privacy Officer, Sensiv Laboratories, Bangladesh 
• Sithar Norbu, Deputy Chief ICT Officer and Researcher, Center for Bhutan and Gross National Happiness Studies, Bhutan 
• Tanya Gunjan, Consultant, Indian School of Development Management, Germany 
• Vianca Jasmin Anglo, Data Specialist, Liveable Cities Philippines, Philippines 

To learn more about the course (or to follow along) see the self-directed resource available publicly on the Open Data Policy Lab website. 

If you are interested in learning more about these opportunities, be sure to sign up for the Data Stewards Network Newsletter where you can learn more about the Academy’s future course offerings and receive alerts when applications for additional cohorts open in the future.  

PHOTO: Opéra de Rennes by Sebastian Brito used via an Unsplash License

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