MediaFutures supports artists, startups and SMEs tackling challenges in the media industry through responsible and innovative uses of data. As part of the programme, successful applicants will receive training from the MediaFutures consortium partners on a variety of topics, including the data sharing, legal and ethical aspects of data-driven innovation.
The Open Data Institute (ODI), one of the consortium partners, delivers training to support people, teams and businesses across the world to develop new skills to use data responsibly. The training focuses on helping them to get value from data, whilst avoiding harmful impacts.
ODI data trainer and creative technologist Lucy Knight shares more:
The need for data literacy
The ODI mission is to create a world where data works for everyone. That means we need everyone to have the skills to think carefully about how data is collected, used, analysed and shared.
It’s easy to go full steam ahead with cutting edge data science tools, but if you haven’t interrogated your data, how do you know your results are valid? This is why the ODI chooses to focus on data literacy, rather than data skills training.
We define data literacy as “the ability to think differently about data in different contexts and examine the impact of different approaches when collecting, using and sharing data and information.”
Data literacy and MediaFutures
Data literacy is central to what the MediaFutures programme is trying to do. We want to work with artists to critically and materially explore data and technology, and to question its impact on individuals and society. For startups and SMEs, we’re looking for solutions that encourage meaningful engagement with the ways information and data is communicated in the media.
The end result is customers and citizens who are more informed and empowered to think critically about and engage with the information and data they see in the media everyday, and how it impacts their lives.
Training support for artists and startups/SMEs
At the ODI, we offer a wide range of courses, and can offer something for everyone, from expert data scientists, to someone who is completely new to handling data. Some of our most popular courses cover “open data in a day”, data ethics and anonymising data to minimise risk. We’re also keen to draw on our experience working for private clients such as the BBC, and from the ODI’s art programme, Data As Culture.
We’ll adapt what we offer to meet the needs of the artists, startups and SMEs who make it through to the MediaFuture residency and accelerator support programmes. The core offering will remain the same: we’ll work with them to help them understand how to use data responsibly.
Applications for the first call of MediaFutures close at noon (CET), 28 January. To find out more about how to apply, visit: https://mediafutures.eu/opencall/