Charge your laptops or tablets, pack your water bottle, grab your quality mask, sharpen your pencils, and get a good night’s rest! Join us for NYC’s best public interest tech + open data event of the year — NYC School of Data 2025!
This year, we celebrate the 13th anniversary of the City’s transformative open data law, and we end NYC Open Data Week with 37 sessions!
*** Please note that all tickets are now sold out***
NYC School of Data is a community conference that brings together the City’s technology, data, and design communities. It is organized by BetaNYC, with programming support from the NYC Office of Technology and Innovation.
From over 199 community-suggested sessions, we are organizing 37 thought-provoking panels, workshops, and sessions to cover various topics: digital and data literacy, privacy, smart cities, open government, service design, civic engagement, and open data.
Come learn and contribute to the next decade of technology, data, and policy — by us, for us!
Check-in
Begins at 9 am! There will be two check-in lines.
- Left of the security desk — Early Bird, General Admission, and Government Tickets.
- Right of the security desk — Families with childcare tickets, Speakers, VIPs, Solidarity Ticket Holders, Press, and Volunteers.
Schedule of Sessions:
- 9:00 am – Doors open with a light breakfast
- 10:00 am – Opening Session with Senator Kristen Gonzalez
- 11:00 am – Session 1
- 12:15 pm – Session 2; our gift shop will open.
- 1:15 pm – Networking Lunch
- 2:30 pm – Session 3
- 3:45 pm – Session 4
- 5:00 pm – Refreshments!
- 5:45 pm – Off-site, NY APA Metro Technology Committee Happy Hour (please register)
For a detailed list of sessions, visit < schoolofdata.nyc/schedule >.
What to bring:
We recommend that you bring:
- Note-taking equipment. Laptop/tablet and power supply, if you are attending a workshop or office hour.
- Refillable water bottle
- Hand sanitizer and pocket tissues. We will have KN95 masks on site. If you would like to wear your own, please do.
- Government-issued ID, if you are sticking around for the closing session and want to drink adult beverages.
- Tote bag to carry home swag.
Our session organizers have worked hard to manage your expectations. Refer to their session notes for more information. Sessions will have technical and non-technical aspects. As a result, some may recommend laptops. If you bring your laptop, don’t forget your power adapter!
For your information, we will not have a coat check, but we will have shared coat racks around the facility.
Speakers and facilitators, please move your presentations to Google Slides or put them on a USB drive. Presentations should be delivered from the machine in the room. Please read your speaker’s email. You might be in a room with a projector with a 4:3 or 16:9 screen. Note that we will have some Post-it notes, Sharpies, whiteboard markers, and blue tape for organizers.
Gift Shop
To support our public programs, Alfred Twu has graciously given us permission to use their “No King” illustrations. Starting at 12:15, our registration table will turn into a mini-gift shop where your extra donations to BetaNYC will be thanked with gifts—stickers, prints, and t-shirts.
Please visit https://beta.nyc/support-us-no-king/ to donate. This is our first time doing this, so please give us feedback. Also, if you are a MWBE or union print shop in the five boroughs and want to work with us for future “gift shop” collaborations, email Noel at Noel@beta.nyc.
Code of Conduct:
At BetaNYC, we believe that everyone has a place at our events. By attending the NYC School of Data event, you are committing yourself to BetaNYC’s Code of Conduct and Anti-Harassment Policy.
- Provide a safe, respectful, and welcoming environment where all are free to fully express their ideas and identities, free from discrimination or harassment.
- Presume the value of others and cherish everyone’s ideas, skills, and contributions.
- Ensure that relationships and conversations remain respectful, participatory, and productive.
- Before entering our doors, you should read our code of conduct. Violating these rules is grounds for ejection, and we’re not kidding. < www.schoolofdata.nyc/conduct >
Name Tag Lanyards and Photo Consent:
We will have two different lanyards for photo consent. If you consent to your image being captured, select a black lanyard. If you are hesitant about consent, select a red lanyard.
Lastly, do NOT take photos of children.
American Sign Language Translation:
Thanks to New York’s ConnectAll program, we’re able to provide real-time American Sign Language translation for our mainstage and livestream. In the mainstage room, please be mindful of where translators are sitting and where we’re reserving space for our Deaf community members.
Most rooms will be recorded:
Thanks to Reinvent Albany and ISOC.LIVE, the Auditorium will be live-streamed, and we will be recording most rooms. If a room is recorded, signs will be posted at the door and inside the room.
If you do not want to be recorded, there are designated areas that will be off-camera. Please check in with the room monitor to know where those seats are located.
Social Media & Event Back Channel:
Many of us will be skeeting via #nycSOdata hashtag on Bluesky or Threads, or Instagram. We will not be on X/Twitter. Also, you can join BetaNYC’s Slack! Then, you can log in via < betanyc.slack.com > and navigate to the #event-nycsodata channel.
Health and Accessibility:
Upon check-in, we ask that you wear a mask at all times (except when eating and drinking). We will have ample KF94/KF95 masks in various sizes. We know that masking prevents the spread of respiratory viruses — this is science, based on DATA!! (Also, our speakers and community members have asked for a mask policy.)
This year’s venue is CUNY Law School and is easily accessible by public transit, bike, and car.
The venue is ADA-compliant. Service animals are always accepted.
The conference will be delivered in English and will use technical terms. The mainstage will have realtime ASL translation. Sessions will vary and are designed for all levels — we will have introductory classes/discussions and very technical conversations. If you have any other questions, please email us at schoolofdata@beta.nyc
Childcare:
We are providing on-site childcare. If you have a childcare ticket, please see specific communication around their attendance. If they are going to eat conference food, please purchase them a ticket. Otherwise, please provide their food and snacks. If you were unable to register for onsite childcare, we ask that you email us at schoolofdata+children@beta.nyc so we can plan accordingly.
Thank you, event sponsors!
Thanks to our event sponsors, we are able to provide you with a low-cost, healthy, and inclusive event. Thank you, New York City’s Office of Technology and Innovation, Reinvent Albany, ESRI, NY ConnectAll, CUNY Law School, ISOC.LIVE, Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, and Rockefeller Brothers Fund.
We send our heartfelt thank yous to our Open Data Week partners: all of the session organizers and volunteers, the Open Data Team at New York City’s Office of Technology and Innovation, and Data Through Design!
NYC Office of Technology and Innovation’s Office of Data Analytics (ODA) works with City agencies and their data to help serve New Yorkers more equitably and efficiently. Our work takes three main forms: analyzing data to improve City agency operations, operating the NYC Open Data program, and advancing Citywide data analytics, infrastructure, integration, and sharing. https://www.nyc.gov/content/oti/pages/open-data
Reinvent Albany advocates for transparent and accountable New York State government and increased transparency in New York City. We work to strengthen the Freedom of Information Law and put government information online, especially spending, contracting and budget information and we are vocal advocates for open data laws and practices. We also advocate for more accountable and better-governed state authorities, including the MTA. We also work for transparent business subsidies and economic development spending rooted in facts and careful analysis. We seek to create a state government that is responsible, responsive and above board and thus we fight for public integrity measures and against laws and practices that increase the risk of corruption and favor the few and well connected over the public interest. https://reinventalbany.org/
Esri is the global market leader in geographic information systems (GIS) and since 1969 has supported organizations everywhere with the most powerful mapping and spatial analytics technology available, ArcGIS. Governments at all levels have trusted ArcGIS to make their communities smarter, safer, healthier, sustainable, livable and more prosperous. By using this powerful platform to reveal deeper insight into data, Esri customers are creating maps that run their organizations and the world. To learn more, visit: https://www.esri.com/
NY ConnectALL The mission of ConnectALL is to build New York State’s digital infrastructure and connect all New Yorkers through the internet. The ConnectALL Office oversees the statewide digital equity plan and administers over $1 billion in public investments across the state. https://broadband.ny.gov/
CUNY School of Law is the nation’s #1 public interest law school; its dual mission to practice law in the service of human needs and transform the teaching, learning, and practice of law to include those it has excluded, marginalized, and oppressed make it a singular institution. As the only publicly funded law school in New York City, CUNY Law increases access to excellent legal training through this mission.
ISOC.LIVE is the Internet Society’s live streaming branch. Since 1997, The Internet Society has supported an open Internet since 1997. https://isoc.live/
The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation makes grants primarily to support original research and education related to science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and economics. The Foundation believes that these fields—and the scholars and practitioners who work in them—are chief drivers of the nation’s health and prosperity. The Foundation also believes that a reasoned, systematic understanding of the forces of nature and society, when applied inventively and wisely, can lead to a better world for all. https://sloan.org/
The Rockefeller Brothers Fund (RBF) advances social change that contributes to a more just, sustainable, and peaceful world. As a private family foundation rooted in the Rockefeller tradition of philanthropy, we believe we have an obligation to take the long view, to experiment and take risks, to share our learning, and to leverage all our resources for the common good. Through our grantmaking, convening, mission-aligned investing, and leadership, the RBF supports the people and organizations building lasting solutions to the challenges facing today’s increasingly interdependent world. The RBF is committed to becoming an anti-racist and anti-sexist institution. This is central to our mission and achieving the impact we seek. https://www.rbf.org/