2020

Charge your laptops or tablets, pack your water bottle, notebooks, pens, and get a good night’s rest! Then, join us for NYC’s most informative civic tech + open data event of the year — NYC School of Data 2020 on Saturday, 7 March!

This year, we will celebrate the 10th anniversary of international open data day, the 8th anniversary of the City’s transformative open data law, and conclude NYC Open Data Week with over 50 sessions! Registration is now open, grab your ticket.

Register via Eventbrite

Interested in volunteering, sponsorship and media opportunities, or want to make a government order? Keep scrolling!

NYC School of Data is BetaNYC’s annual community-driven conference. With programming support from NYC Mayor’s Office of Data Analytics, we bring together city officials, activists, and community members to talk about open data, civic technology, and service design. This year, we are closing out NYC Open Data Week with a bang.

From over 90 community suggested sessions, we are organizing 18 thought provoking panels, 35 workshops, 7 office hours with NYC agencies, and 10 demo/usability sessions to cover a wide variety of topics – digital and data literacy, privacy, smart cities, open government, service design, and open data. Join us and celebrate the birthday of New York City’s Open Data Law.

Come learn and contribute to the next decade of technology, data, and policy — by us, for us!

Morning Keynotes:

  • Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer
  • Commissioner Jessica Tisch, NYC Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications
  • NYC’s Chief Analytics Officer Kelly Jin
  • Mutale Nkonde, Founding President of AI for the People, and Fellow at Berkman Klein Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University

Highlighted Panels and Talks Include:

  • A panel with the Manhattan Borough President & US Census on the 2020 census, myth busting, & innovation
  • From the Mayor’s Office of Data Analytics, a panel discussion on the future of NYC’s open data program and portals.
  • We’ll hear from NYC’s Algorithm Management and Policy Officer and learn how NYC will bring about algorithmic accountability in government.
  • The Urban Design Forum & Picture the Homeless will discuss the inequities of public space and how design should be used to build inclusive public spaces.
  • A breakdown on how the Department of Education teaches civics, open data, and has created a new academic competition around digital civics.
  • Coding it Forward and BetaNYC will showcase successes and challenges building civic innovation fellowships in the federal government and in NYC.
  • Civic Hall will host an interactive history of civic tech.
  • Join the Department of Health, Queens Public Library, the Manhattan Borough President’s Office, and community organizations on a conversation around indoor air quality sampling.
  • Selected artist talks from the Data through Design exhibit.
  • Half a dozen town halls & office hours will City officials & agencies.
  • More sessions on our conference schedule

Highlighted Workshops include:

  • Collecting and Mapping NYC Contracted Social Service Sites, a usability workshop with NYC Opportunity.
  • Department of Health and Mental Hygiene will walk you through redesigning a government website with the community in mind.
  • Teaching Civics and Data — a breakdown on how the Department of Education is teaching youth digital civics and open data.
  • Inside the Black Box: The Data Behind Geosupport, a workshop with NYC Planning.
  • A two hour workshop on ArcGIS presented by the experts at ESRI.
  • Advancing Digital Transparency in the Public Realm – Report Back and Workshop with Sidewalk Labs.
  • Open Data for All by All, a workshop on CKAN and NYC’s community data portal.
  • How NYC government employees are taught open data, a hands-on class.
  • Introduction to Qri, a workshop on a data management tool
  • How to build databases “with not for” — an overview of CBDB, an airtable / databases for community boards.
  • Introduction to demographic information and analysis.
  • Spreading civic tech and open gov beyond the big city, a workshop with Sunlight Foundation and Code for America.
  • What is NYCDB and how to use it from the Housing Data Coalition.
  • Discovering and looking at unintended consequences in open data.
  • A hands on conversation around building an open data law for New York State.
  • More sessions on our conference schedule.
Buy Tickets via Eventbrite

What: NYC School of Data 2020
When: Saturday 7 March 2020, 9am – 6pm
Where: CUNY School of Law, 2 Court Square, Long Island City, NY 11101
Tickets: Register on Eventbrite

  • $55 General Admission Tickets
  • $100 Solidarity Tickets
  • $55 Government Tickets (request a ticket or a purchase order invoice)
  • $35 – Student / Scholarship / Hardship Ticket (limited availability; rolling admission; apply by Thursday, 5 March by 5:00 PM)
  • Volunteer opportunities below
  • Free Childcare Ticket (Registration ends on Mar 2)

 What is included?

All tickets include a light breakfast, lunch, snacks, coffee and refreshments. Thanks to event sponsors, we provide free, professional on-site childcare. If you need childcare services, you must register your child(ren) in addition to obtaining your own ticket.

Work or Volunteer for Government?

Do you work in or volunteer for government? Want to purchase $55 tickets via a credit card or purchase order (PO)?

Government ticket opportunities closes on Wednesday, 4 March at 12:59 PM. Please submit your information using this form. < https://betanyc.forms.fm/nycsodata2020-rfgi >

Student or looking for a scholarship?

There are a selected number of student / scholarship / hardship tickets available. Tickets are $35 and we will prioritize traditionally underserved communities. You must apply by Thursday, 5 March by 5:00 PM and register on eventbrite by Friday, 6 March by 11 PM. < https://betanyc.forms.fm/nycsodata20-hardship >

Are you Press and want to cover the event?

If you press and you want to cover a session/event, email us your press credentials to < schoolofdata+press@beta.nyc >. We will follow up.

Sponsor the conference!

Many thanks to Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, New York City Council, ESRI, and Qri for being our kick off event sponsors. Many thanks to Mayor’s Office of Data Analytics and CUNY Law School, and community partners who have already committed to support our conference’s operations. If you are interested in supporting the event in any way, we have many opportunities. Please email < kate@beta.nyc >.

Interested in meeting other participants or attendees?

See you Saturday, March 7th!