On 1–7 March, the non-profit organisation Open Knowledge Foundation invites everyone to celebrate International Open Data Day, an event in its fifteenth year. International Open Data Day aims to raise awareness of open data’s importance and potential to drive positive change. Celebrated on the first Saturday of March in earlier years, Open Data Day is now celebrated throughout the entire first week of March to accommodate the many different events scattered around the world.
According to the definition provided by the International Open Data Charter adopted in 2015, open data refers to “digital data that is made available with the technical and legal characteristics necessary for it to be freely used, reused, and redistributed by anyone, anytime, anywhere”. In today’s world, where data has commercial and strategic value, open data is a vital public resource that fosters transparency, accountability, and collaboration between the public sector, business and the wider society.
Each edition of the celebration centres around a specific theme. The theme for this year is “Open Data to Tackle the Polycrisis”. Organisers of Open Data Day events and the public are encouraged to explore how open data can be leveraged to address complex global challenges of our time, such as poverty, inequality, violence, military conflicts, climate change, and disaster response.
Where to find open data?
Open data from the Lithuanian public and private sectors can be found in the Lithuanian Open Data Portal. Open data of the European Union is available through the data.europa.eu portal.
Are you a researcher and would like to make your research data open research data?
You can open your research data through the National Open Access Research Data Archive (MIDAS).
Have a question about Open Science or research data management?
VU Library’s Open Science Consultation Portal is here to answer your questions.
Dr Gintė Medzvieckaitė
2025-03-03