Maybe your city is already publishing data but you haven’t seen many members of your community use it. Maybe you’re just starting to publish data and want to build your program with community needs at the center. Or maybe you already have a thriving community of open data users and want to learn new ideas or share your successes.

No matter where your city is in its work, you are invited to a community workshop and interactive conversation about how to help more residents understand and use your city’s open data.

On Wednesday, April 18, 2018 from 1:00-3:00 pm EDT, city open data staff are invited to join us for an online discussion, idea swap, and presentation on best practices to support community data use. Participants will hear from the Sunlight Open Cities team about lessons we’ve learned as we’ve piloted our Tactical Data Engagement work, as well as from city staff who have successfully facilitated community use of data.

We want to hear from you about how to make this event most useful. Register to join us and we’ll send you a short survey about why you’re interested in this work and what you hope to get out of the conversation. We’ll also give you a few questions ahead of time to help you reflect on your community’s needs. This event is free but registration is required.

Open data has enormous potential for impact, but it’s only as valuable as the community who is using it and as the diversity of causes it is being used to empower. Join us on April 18th to talk about these ideas, ask questions, and share your own successes about how to empower members of your community to use open data for themselves.