Opendata.ch Annual Report 2020
according to the Social Reporting Standard (SRS)
Vision and Approach of Opendata.ch 2
The Social Problem and the Solution 3
Partnerships and Support Received 7
Data Access and Accessibility 8
The Social Problem and the Solution 8
Partnerships and Support Received 15
Civil Engagement in Digitalisation 15
The Social Problem and the Solution 15
Partnerships and Support Received 20
The Social Problem and the Solution 21
Partnerships and Support Received 24
In this annual report, we present the impact strategy and recent activities of Opendata.ch - Swiss Chapter of Open Knowledge. This document serves our members and community as an overview of our goals and operations, and helps to track our impact during the year 2020.
We envision a fair, free, and open future in which everyone has the same opportunities to shape our digital knowledge society. In order to reach that vision, we are committed to improving the conditions for equal participation in digital transformation by:
Our activities cover the whole circle of digital participation, including four key stages, according to which our annual report is structured:
Data Literacy | We aim to strengthen the understanding of data, and promote skills to work with data among the general public. |
Data Access & Accessibility | We aim to improve access and accessibility to data that does not require protection, whenever possible with an ‘open by default’ standard. |
Civil Engagement in Digitalisation | We aim to strengthen an inclusive and broad discourse around digitalisation and enable the co-shaping of our (digital) future and society based on an open, collaborative and diverse mindset. |
Public Interest Tech | We aim to support interdisciplinary project teams that are working towards a fair, free, and open society to bring their digital solution to the next level. |
Scope | This report describes how the activities of Opendata.ch contribute to improving the equitable conditions for participation in the digital knowledge society. |
Reporting period | This reporting relates to the year 2020 (January - December). |
SRS | This annual report is structured in accordance with the Social Reporting Standard (SRS 2014). This is the first year this organization reports in accordance with the SRS. We have implemented minor changes to the structure and titles of the reporting in order to improve understanding. Next year we hope to improve in particular the impact measurement framework and the learnings section within our areas of activity. |
Contact | If you have any questions, feedback or want to support a project - please reach out to us via info@opendata.ch. |
Many people are not aware of the value, opportunities and threats of collecting and analyzing data. This results in a lack of involvement in the public discourse on data governance and rules as well as in a lack of co-creation of today’s data-driven transformation of our societies.
Possible causes for the insufficient awareness and involvement:
We aim to strengthen the understanding of data and the skills to work with data in the broader public. This year we put a focus on increasing interest in society in the topic of data by making it more tangible and accessible. We have worked on the following projects:
Approach | Description / Target Group |
Awareness campaign | We aim to increase interest in the topic of data by developing and conducting campaigns targeting people who are not inherently interested in the topic of data. |
Events | We organise events explaining the most important elements of data for people who are not necessarily interested in the topic. |
Learning materials | We prepare and publish learning materials on relevant topics for people interested in data to be able to easily access useful introductory content. |
Workshops | We host data preparation workshops before Hackdays for people who wish to gain deeper experience in data wrangling and publication. |
Solution | Output (work performed) | Outcome and Impact (results achieved) |
Awareness campaign | We have developed and conducted an awareness campaign called “Data Café” in order to promote a reflection and discussion of the role of data in modern society. At the Data Café we offer free coffee in exchange for personal data - to all people: on street corners, in cafes, museums or at other public locations. This campaign was run at 11 locations in the german-speaking part of Switzerland. A video teaser documented the campaign visually. | 4’554 people perceived our data café campaign, and more than 750 people interacted with us. ~35% of these people decided to pay for a coffee with their personal data. The 287 people who paid with their data received a survey, which was completed by 27%. The survey indicated that participants reflected upon the value of their data, expressed a belief that we as a society should think more about the role of data, and judged themselves to be motivated to take better control of their data. The data café was reported on in 8 media reports. |
Events | In order to reach a wider audience, we developed a new event concept called “data helpdesk” where people can ask data questions to different data experts. Due to the pandemic we were not able to implement any helpdesks offline or integrated into bigger events, as planned. The first data helpdesk was part of an online festival called “Open Hub Day”. We started organising an event called “Why Climate Data Matters” to connect with people interested in the topic of climate, and illustrate the opportunities and challenges of data practices with them. The event will take place in 2021. | We have interacted with ~15 people at the first data helpdesk at the Open Hub Day and answered a broad array of questions. A Q&A blogpost will be published at a later stage, once several helpdesks have been implemented. |
Learning materials | Accompanying our data café campaign we set up a website called datacafe.ch, which provides tips on how to understand, protect and use data. We supported the publication of a magazine around the value of data by the Mercator Foundation Switzerland by providing consultation and contributing an article about the value of open data. | Over 2400 people visited our datacafe.ch website. We handed out ~450 magazines about the value of data. In addition, the magazine was disseminated by the Mercator Foundation Switzerland and is accessible online. |
Workshops | We organised one data preparation workshop ahead of the Energy Data Hackdays on the 2nd of March 2020. | The data preparation workshop ahead of the Energy Data Hackdays had around 5 participants. |
We reported about the data café campaign in several channels:
Data Café in the french-speaking region: | We will launch a new and improved version of the data café campaign in the french-speaking region of Switzerland. We plan to implement at least 10 data cafés during this second phase of the campaign. In addition we will host at least one data café in the german-speaking part of Switzerland. |
Events: | We will host the event “Why Climate Data Matters'' online on March 15. In addition we want to organise at least 2 data helpdesks in the french-speaking part and 1 data helpdesk in the german-speaking part of Switzerland. |
Workshops: | We want to organise at least 2 data preparation workshops ahead of Hackdays and hope to further improve the format. |
From the Opendata.ch the following people worked on these activities:
Open data is the foundation for transparency, participation and innovation in a digital knowledge society. Unfortunately, many datasets are still not publicly available or not easily accessible to work with.
Possible causes for the lack of data and the quality of data:
We aim to improve access and accessibility of data that does not require protection, whenever possible with an open by default standard. This year we put a focus on media relations and developing the foundation for a long-term partnership with the Federal Statistical Office. We have worked on the following projects:
Approach | Description / Target Group |
Advocacy | We engage in relevant policy-making processes to ensure that state and local politicians and administrations take our vision and values into consideration. |
Supporting the Swiss administration | We support and enable the Swiss administration and heritage institutions to publish open data in a user-centered and agile manner. |
Media relations | We are actively involved in public discourse to increase awareness and understanding for open data. |
Presentations and panels | We take part in events and other public formats to contribute our perspective of the value and optimal implementation of open data. |
Contributions to Boards | We take part in several Boards that have a strong impact on the development of digitalisation to ensure that our values get a hold there. |
Value showcasing | We demonstrate the value of open data through different public formats. |
Hackdays | Through Hackdays we encourage organisations (NGOs, corporations as well as academia) to publish open data and explore the potentials and reality of sharing their information. Hackdays also help to demonstrate the (un)availability of datasets in specific thematic areas, offer a space for people to experiment with the usage of open data, to exchange know-how and skills, to network, and to showcase the potential value of open data for innovation. |
Solution | Output (work performed) | Outcome and Impact (results achieved) |
Advocacy | We consulted at least two parliamentarians on how to improve health data availability and accessibility in regards to the pandemic. We began preparing our response to the Einsatz elektronischer Mittel zur Erfüllung von Behördenaufgaben (EMBAG) consultation. We collected nineteen and worked on seven data visions at our annual Opendata.ch/2020 forum. Based on these visions the participants co-developed over 50 action points, which we prioritised based on a voting. We handed in one statement in regards to a current political affair:
| We do not know yet how to evaluate the outcome and impact of these measures. |
Supporting the Swiss administration | We met and exchanged with the Federal Statistical Office on a regular basis in order to establish a framework agreement (“Rahmenvertrag”). | A four-year contract with the Federal Statistical Office has been signed. |
Media relations | We contributed to seven media reports to share our opinion on open data and data literacy.
| We estimate that we reached more than 100’000 people through these media reports. |
Presentations and panels | We contributed to six events that shaped the current discourse on open data and data privacy:
| We reached around 200 people who attended these events. |
Contributions to Boards | We were part of or contributed to the following six Boards shaping digital transformation in Switzerland:
| We do not know yet how to evaluate the outcome and impact of these measures. |
Value showcasing | We organised the Open Data Student Award 2020. We communicated regularly on our newsletter, Twitter, Facebook and since this year Linkedin about how open data has been used and created value. We collected open data stories during the Opendata.ch/2020 Forum. | We received six applications for the open data student award. One project was awarded by a 5 member jury. By March 19 we had
15 open data stories were reported. |
Hackdays | We organised six Hackdays, which were accompanied by the publication of an open data list in the respective thematic field.
| In total we documented over 300 open datasets that play a relevant role in different fields of interest. |
We reported about collected open data stories: https://opendata.ch/2020/08/open-data-stories-2019-20/
We reported about the collected data visions and the developed action points: https://opendata.ch/2020/09/opendata-ch-2020-forum-from-data-visions-to-action-points/
In 2021 we plan on implementing the following projects:
Advocacy |
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Supporting the Swiss administration | Organise at least one roundtable to bring together open data publishers and users from specific fields of interest. |
Media relations | Contribute insights about open data to at least five media reports. |
Presentations and panels | Contribute to at least five events to talk about relevant aspects related to open data. |
Contributions to Boards | Be part of at least five Boards that have a significant impact on the development of digitalisation. |
Value showcasing |
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Publications and support |
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Hackdays |
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In 2020 we had no particular partnership for this area of activity.
From the Opendata.ch the following people worked on these activities:
Many people who are interested in today’s data-driven transformation of our societies don't actively get involved in co-shaping it. Not enough people get engaged in the public discourse around digitalisation or in shaping innovation processes. Furthermore, individuals and organizations tend to work alone or in their own silos.
Possible causes for the lack of involvement:
We aim to strengthen an inclusive, broad and diverse discourse around digitalisation and enable the co-shaping of our (digital) future and society based on an open, collaborative and interdisciplinary mindset. Therefore we motivate, empower and connect diverse individuals and organisations to get actively involved and empower their collective strength. This year we put a focus on increasing our communication efforts, hosting a participative online forum and organising various online Hackdays. We worked on the following projects:
Approach | Description / Target Group |
Communication | Via diverse communication channels such as Twitter, Newsletter and Linkedin we keep our community informed about news on open data and our activities. |
Annual Forum | The annual Opendata.ch Forum strengthens the Switzerland-wide exchange on open data between representatives from politics, administration, society, business, research and education, media and other areas. |
Hackdays | At our Hackdays people of all walks of life come together and use their skills with the aim of initiating and actively shaping innovation processes for the common good. In bottom-up, open and collaborative processes, digital solutions are developed - often on the basis of open data. |
Working Groups | We initiate and support working groups that are committed to open data and cooperative innovation processes. |
Solution | Output (work performed) | Outcome and Impact (results achieved) |
Communication | Opendata.ch has sent out six newsletters on open data and Opendata.ch projects, maintained an overview of open data events in Switzerland, and engaged on three social media channels (Twitter, Linkedin and Facebook). | On March 19, 2021 we have 483 Opendata.ch newsletter subscribers, 249 of those are interested in Hackdays. We have 43 subscribers for our Data Café newsletter and 152 subscribers for our Prototype Fund newsletter. We documented 18 events on our save-the-dates list. By March 19 we had
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Community | We run Slack spaces for members and event participants, and help to maintain a community-run english-language online discussion Forum. | At the end of 2020 we had 297 Opendata.ch members, 26 of those were institutional members. In addition we had 23 friends of OpenGLAM, 7 of those were institutional members. |
Annual Forum | The annual Opendata.ch Forum took place on June 23, 2020. Since the forum had to take place online for the first time, it differed from previous Opendata.ch forums, but led to exciting insights and inspirations thanks to its innovative format. Thematically, we put the accent on "New Data Narratives" this year. Using innovative collaboration methods, we worked out together how society should collect, protect and use data for the common good. From the visions we developed, we crafted concrete actions. In addition to the collaborative elements, we enjoyed various presentations on fundamental and topical issues. The detailed program can be found here: https://opendata.ch/2020. | Our annual forum 2020 attracted 70 participants. We have received 19 data visions and worked on 7 of them during the forum. In our forum survey participants confirmed that the forum was highly interactive, they enjoyed the discussions in the breakout rooms and that an interesting mix of people came together. We collected 15 open data stories. |
Hackdays | We have organised six Hackdays:
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Working Groups | Opendata.ch initiates and supports several working groups that are thematically committed to open data:
| In 2020 we have not collected data on the number of members nor conducted surveys to evaluate the effect of these workings groups. |
The Opendata.ch/2020 Forum was documented in two blog posts:
Every Hackdays ended with a final reporting in the form of a blogpost:
We want to improve our community activities, the quality of our Hackdays and test a new event format for existing Hackdays projects.
Community: | We aim to develop a community strategy and improve our offerings for our community members. |
Quality of Hackdays: | We aim to improve the fundament of our Hackdays, including our digital infrastructure. Furthermore we want to improve the data availability and quality at our Hackdays. |
Demo Day: | We want to test a new event format called “Hackdays Demo Day” to showcase projects that came to live during Hackdays. With this event we hope to encourage projects to continue their work and demonstrate the value of open data and collaborative innovation formats like Hackdays. |
Impact Measurement: | We want to improve the impact evaluation of our Forum, the working groups and the Hackdays. |
From the Opendata.ch the following people worked on these activities:
Many teams work on tech solutions for the common good based on open data and open-source. However, they often don’t succeed in serving their target groups as intended. A more general issue is that the tech sector lacks diversity and interdisciplinary collaboration.
Possible causes for the lack of usage, impact and diversity:
We aim to support interdisciplinary project teams that are working towards a fair, free, and open future with equal opportunities for participation for everyone. We aim to create an environment where projects can lift their open source solutions to the next level. Open data is often the foundation of the applications, tools and services developed. This year we put a focus on establishing the Prototype Fund. We worked on the following types of initiatives and projects:
Approach | Description / Target Group |
Prototype Fund Switzerland | The Prototype Fund supports people in realising digital solutions to strengthen democratic participation in Switzerland. We offer coaching, consulting, networking opportunities and a grant of up to CHF 100’000 to interdisciplinary teams to realise their open-source tech idea, from the concept to the first demo. |
Hackdays Incubation | We support interdisciplinary teams that participated at one of our Hackdays to further develop their digital solution. In the spirit of the open source approach, these tools are not only built by civil society, but are also made freely available to the public. |
Solution | Output (work performed) | Outcome and Impact (results achieved) |
Prototype Fund | We established the Prototype Fund, including its website, jury, application process and support program. We organised two events during the application period and took part in two external events to present the Prototype Fund and the supported project teams. We wrote one blog post about our learnings and supported the projects to write one blog post each to report on their learnings. | We received 63 applications, which showcases the great motivation to strengthen democratic participation in Switzerland. Since September 2020 we have been supporting 5 project teams who are on track to develop their prototype until the Demo Day on March 3. With a final survey conducted in March 2021, we will be able to analyze the change in the team members’ empowerment to shape our future and society. |
Hackdays Incubation | No Hackdays incubation programs were conducted. | - |
We reported about three learnings at the Prototype Fund, two months into the program.
The five project teams reported about their key learnings, three months into the program:
The final project descriptions and documentations can be found here.
We plan on continuing the Prototype Fund in 2021, again with a focus on increasing democratic participation through digital means. We aim to improve our communication activities and become a stronger voice to push public interest tech based on open-source, open data and interdisciplinarity in Switzerland.
From the Opendata.ch team, the following people worked on these activities:
Organisation name | Opendata.ch |
Organisation location | Basel |
Organisation Founding | 2012 |
Organisation Origin | Swiss chapter of the Open Knowledge Foundation |
Legal Form | Registered non-profit association (gemeinnützig) |
Contact Details | Address: Opendata.ch, 4000 Basel Email: info@opendata.ch Website: www.opendata.ch |
Articles of Asso- ciation | |
Registration in Chamber of Commerce | Opendata.ch, HR02-1005031020, 25.11.2020 |
Employee headcount 31.12.2020 (in brackets: Calculated as full-time equivalent) | 5 (2.25) |
Governance | We have two committees: The Board as the leadership body, and the General Assembly as the highest committee. |
Board Election | On November 27, 2018, the General Assembly elected the Board members, President and Vice President for two-year terms. Renewal elections or term extensions are scheduled for the 2021 General Assembly Meeting. |
Board Renumeration | The Board does not receive a financial remuneration for its Board activities. |
Board Responsibilities | The allocation of tasks is regulated by procedural rules. |
Board Meeting cycle | The Board meets at least four times a year and publishes its protocols pubiclily on https://opendata.ch/organisation/Board-meetings/. |
Andreas Kellerhals, Präsident
Andreas Kellerhals ist Historiker und arbeitete zuerst an der Universität Bern, dann 27 Jahre im schweizerischen Bundesarchiv, wo er in seinen 13 Jahren als Direktor die digitale Transformation wesentlich vorantrieb. Das Bundesarchiv war auch Austragungsort der ersten Open Data Conference in der Schweiz, 2011, und es war federführend beim Aufbau des Portals opendata.admin.ch, heute opendata.swiss. 2018 hat er als Beauftragter für Open Government Data im Eidgenössischen Departement des Innern die neue OGD-Strategie des Bundes für die Jahre 2019–2023 erarbeitet.
Hannes Gassert, Vizepräsident
Hannes Gassert ist Web-Unternehmer, Autor und Community Organisator an der Schnittstelle zwischen Technologie, Medien und Kultur. Er studierte Informatik und Medienwissenschaften und vertritt als Mitgründer und Verwaltungsrat von Liip (“Agile Web Development”) und des Onlinegame-Startups Skim, als Vorstandsmitglied /ch/open und LIFT wie auch mittels Event-Serien wie etwa Webtuesday oder Netzzunft den Standpunkt “Technologie ist Kultur”. Davon ausgehend arbeitet er an einer Reihe interdisziplinärer Innovationsprojekte. Open Government Data, Open Source und offene Standards sind für Gassert entsprechend primär auch Treiber nachhaltiger Innovation in Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft.
André Golliez
André Golliez studierte 1981-86 an der ETHZ Informatik. Er arbeitete anschliessend als IT-Manager in der Maschinenindustrie und im Finanzsektor. 1999 gründete er zusammen mit Partnern die Firma itopia ag und spezialisierte sich auf die strategische IT Beratung für öffentliche Verwaltungen. Seit Juli 2015 ist er mit der Firma Golliez Open Data Consulting unterwegs. Von 2004–2009 war André Golliez Präsident der Schweizer Informatik Gesellschaft und leitete in dieser Funktion das Jahr der Informatik 2008 (informatica08). 2010 rief er zusammen mit Freunden die Open Data Initiative Schweiz ins Leben.
Oleg Lavrovsky
Als Kanadier mit russischen Wurzeln kam Oleg 2002 in die Schweiz. Heute lebt er mit seiner Familie in Bern und arbeitet als selbständiger Softwareentickler bei Datalets.ch, aktuell als Mitgründer der civic-tech Pionierprojekt Cividi. Durch sein Engagement mit vielen Start-ups und Firmen sowie den beiden ETHs ist er Experte in Internet-Beratung, Programmierung und Datenverwaltung. Er ist ein begeisterter Organisator und Coach von öffentlichen Workshops und Hackdays. Sein Anliegen ist es, lokale Communities zu stärken und in einer zunehmend von Daten abhängigen Welt nachhaltige Brücken zu bauen. Er ist zuständig für digitale Infrastrukturen und Data Literacy-Projekte.
Andreas Amsler
Andreas Amsler ist e-Politik-Startup-Mitgründer, Open Data-Förderer und -Anwender der ersten Stunde. Beruflich leitet er seit März 2018 die OGD-Fachstelle des Kantons Zürich mit dem Programm OpenZH. Davor hat er als Product Owner mit seinen Kolleginnen von Liip die Publikations-Infrastruktur für Open Data in der Schweiz aufgebaut. Als Vorstandsmitglied seit der Vereinsgründung engagiert er sich insbesondere in den Bereichen Community und Kommunikation und hilft mit, Wissen und Know-how zu Open Data in Politik, Wirtschaft und Öffentlichkeit zu steigern.
Matthias Stürmer
Dr. Matthias Stürmer ist Oberassistent an der Universität Bern, leitet die Forschungsstelle Digitale Nachhaltigkeit am Institut für Wirtschaftsinformatik und lehrt im Bereich Open Data, Datenmanagement und Visualisierung. Stürmer ist Vorstandsmitglied des Vereins /ch/open, Geschäftsleiter der Parlamentarischen Gruppe Digitale Nachhaltigkeit und Berner Stadtrat.
Christian Trachsel
Christian Trachsel arbeitet seit 20 Jahren im Datenumfeld. Zuerst bei einer Versicherung und nun bei der SBB. Dort verantwortet er das Thema Open Data, unterstützt Innovationsprojekte mit Daten und schaut zur Daten-Governance der SBB. Daneben setzt er sich für die Pfadi Bewegung Schweiz ein.
Rahel Ryf
Rahel Ryf ist verantwortlich für die Open-Data-Plattform öV Schweiz und Geschäftsführerin und Co-Founder des Start-ups tipo ticketing GmbH. Sie hat Wirtschaftsinformatik (BSc, mit Vertiefung E-Government & E-Business) und Business Administration (MSc, mit Vertiefung Online Business & Marketing) an der Berner Fachhochschule und der Hochschule Luzern studiert. Herausfordernde und kreative Aufgaben, die viel Energie, Eigeninitiative, Dynamik und Freude erfordern, sind genau ihr Ding.
Beat Estermann
Beat Estermann ist stellvertretender Leiter des Instituts Public Sector Transformation der Berner Fachhochschule, wo er der Fachgruppe «Daten & Infrastruktur» vorsteht. Er leitet Forschungsprojekte und erbringt Consulting-Dienstleistungen für die öffentliche Verwaltung, Kultur- und Gedächtnisinstitutionen. Sein Forschungsinteresse gilt Themen rund um die digitale Transformation der Gesellschaft. Er ist Gründungsmitglied des Vereins Digitale Allmend und überzeugter Wikimedianer. Beim Verein Opendata.ch koordiniert er seit 2014 die OpenGLAM-Arbeitsgruppe, die sich für Open Data im Bereich der Gedächtnisinstitutionen einsetzt. Dem Vereinsvorstand gehört er seit 2018 an. Von 2015 bis 2018 leitete er zudem die eCH-Fachgruppe «Open Government Data», welche sich Standardisierungsfragen rund um Open Government Data widmet.
Mario Cacciatore
Mario Cacciatore ist Gründer und Geschäftsführer der BillCare AG, welche vom Rechnungsversand bis zur Steuererklärung freiberufliche Pflegende und Organisationen im Gesundheitswesen im administrativen Bereich unterstützt. Als ehemaliger Pflegefachmann mit einem BWL Abschluss kennt er die hohen administrativen Anforderungen und möchte diese mit der BillCare AG digitalisieren. Dabei setzt die BillCare AG auf innovative Open Source Produkte und setzt sich für einen reibungslosen Datenaustausch zwischen Leistungserbringer und Rechnungsempfänger ein.
We want to improve our community activities, the quality of our Hackdays and test a new event format for existing Hackdays projects.
Governance: | We aim to develop and document our governance structure more thoroughly. We aim to diversify our Board. |
Operations | We aim to improve our internal organisational structure in order to professionalise our work and share responsibilities within the team. We aim to switch to more sustainable digital infrastructures. |
Parent body | We are the Swiss chapter of the Open Knowledge Foundation. |
Membership in other organisations | We are part of the following organisations:
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We have a multi-year partnership with the OGD office at the Federal Statistical Office (FSO) with the joint ambition to strengthen the data usage of OGD in Switzerland.
Types of partner organisations | We only partner with organizations that:
Collective members are exempt from these conditions, as any organization can become a collective member of Opendata.ch. Organizations with whom we organize hackdays do not necessarily have to meet these conditions, as long as they meet the conditions of our hackdays. |
Collective Members Conditions | Any type of organization can become a collective member of Opendata.ch. |
Communication Partners Conditions | These decisions are made internally by the executive team and the management. In case of doubt, the Board of directors will be involved. |
Hackdays Partners Conditions | These decisions are made internally by the Opendata.ch Hackdays team and the management. In case of doubt, the Board of directors will be involved. |
Projects worth Supporting | These decisions are made internally by the Opendata.ch team and the management. In case of doubt, the Board of directors will be involved. |
Members of Opendata.ch
The following institutions are institutional members of Opendata.ch:
Friends of OpenGLAM
The following institutions are part of our Friends of OpenGLAM working group:
Schweizerisches Nationalbibliothek
Schweizerisches Nationalmuseum
Schweizerische Stiftung für die Geschichte der Post