School of Data

Open Knowledge Foundation and Peer-2-Peer University have started up the online School of Data to train a new generation of 'data wranglers'. And Tactical Tech is joining in too. Why? On our Drawing by Numbers project we've written substantially about how helpful and understanding of data and visualisation can be to campaigners, advocates and investigative journalists. However, the rubber has to hit the road at some point: this sort of work needs technical skill. Across the board in social and environmental justice, human rights and transparency there's huge interest in working with data, but there's just too few people who can do this, and no existing training initiative. For example, the last general training course on data for human rights is over a decade old! Last week we had a kick-off sprint in Berlin with the School of Data team to start writing new, free handbook on working with data, and designing learning challenges that anyone can take to improve their skills. Read more here.