Where to Find ODW at the 2026 Global Data Festival
By Open Data Watch
19 May 2026
Open Data Watch with Data2X (ODW-Data2X) is gearing up for the Global Data Festival and the Kenya Space Expo & Conference (Data Festival), happening 2-5 June 2026 in Nairobi, Kenya. We will gather under the thematic banner of Powering Resilience, Innovation, and Partnership through Data and Technology. The Data Festival is co-organized by the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development (GPSDD) and hosted by the Republic of Kenya alongside the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) and the Kenya Space Agency (KSA).
Overcoming Data Ecosystem Challenges Together
Strong data systems build public trust, enable greater civic participation, and ensure data are used to drive equitable and lasting change. The Data Festival, whose themes are resilience, innovation, and partnership, provides a timely convening space for key stakeholders to collaboratively address multifaceted data issues. As data systems evolve amid shrinking resources and widening capacity gaps—in tandem with growing demands for more inclusive data—important questions emerge regarding ethics, accountability, and participation.
At the Festival, ODW-Data2X will be joined by the Data2X Media Fellows—journalists from across East Africa who focus on data-driven stories that contextualize the human experience, advancing more inclusive and impactful data use in media. The Media Fellows will contribute reflections and reporting while engaging with other journalists, experts, and practitioners to help amplify emerging conversations. Read more about them below.
ODW-Data2X Sessions at the Data Festival
During our three festival sessions, we will explore data questions from three angles, alongside our partners: (1) How to use technologies like AI responsibly in citizen data initiatives; (2) What actions are needed to strengthen data systems under growing global pressure; (3) Why peer networks are essential building blocks of infrastructure for sustainable progress.
Learn more about our sessions below and join us in Nairobi if you are there!
(1) Innovations in Citizen Data: AI Tools, Ethics, and Impact
DAY 2 | 3 June 2026 | 11:00-12:30 (EAT)
Learn about AI guidance and ethical frameworks for citizen data through hands-on training. This session is hosted by the Collaborative on Citizen Data, which is co-chaired by the UN Statistics Division and ODW. It will combine short presentations with group exercises, applying lessons to real-world scenarios. The overall goal of this training is to equip researchers, statisticians, and advocates with the skills to use citizen data and emerging technologies to advance equity, safeguard communities, and ensure that their initiatives translate into impactful outcomes that support participation, transparency, and accountability.
(2) Data Systems at a Crossroads: Debating the Data Crisis
DAY 3 | 4 June 2026 | 8:00-9:30 (EAT)
Join this interactive session—co-hosted with PARIS21 and Development Gateway: An IREX Venture—to discuss the elements of catalytic action in response to multifaceted strains on statistical systems. Participants will move quickly from framing the problems to identifying effective responses to complex challenges—shrinking funds, declining institutional trust, persistent capacity gaps, and other constraints. The participants will consider factors such as rapid technological change and the demand for more inclusive data to collectively pinpoint practical actions for key stakeholders across sectors. This event will build on our UN Statistical Commission event and a recently published paper “Data Systems at a Crossroads: Official Statistics for a New Era.”
(3) The Missing Infrastructure: Why Data Systems Need Peer Networks
DAY 3 | 4 June 4 2026 | 14:00-15:00 (EAT)
Come to hear a short story from the Gender Data Network (GDN) about how a community of practitioners transformed isolation into collaboration to drive meaningful change in gender data systems across Africa, Asia & the Pacific, and Latin America & the Caribbean. Many data professionals face similar challenges and yet often work alone. To help address this, the GDN was co-founded by ODW and Data2X in 2019. Since then, it has grown into a collaborative space bringing together national statistical offices with regional and global partners (including PARIS21, ECA, ESCAP, and ECLAC) with ODW-Data2X currently serving as the secretariat. In this 7-minute lightning talk, we will share lessons from the GDN about how collaboration and peer learning help overcome challenges, with insights that reach beyond gender data.
Data2X Media Fellows and the Power of Storytelling
Data2X Media Fellows will attend the Data Festival in Nairobi this year. They bring a journalistic lens to conversations about data, bridging technical insights and lived realities. The Media Fellowship supports journalists in accessing, interpreting, and communicating gender data, helping to ensure that data inform public understanding and decision-making.
At the Festival, the Media Fellows will contribute reflections and reporting tied to key sessions and themes, while engaging in media activities and connecting with journalists, experts, and practitioners. Through these contributions, they will help amplify critical conversations emerging from the Data Festival and elevate the role of gender data in advancing more inclusive and equitable outcomes. Their participation highlights the importance of storytelling in translating data into insights that resonate with broader audiences.
Inspiring Change through Convening and Collaboration
This year’s Data Festival is bound to spark conversations and initiatives by bringing people and ideas together. It is a significant moment for the global data community to convene and tackle the challenges ahead through collaboration.
One of the most inspiring changes ODW-Data2X has seen over the last decade is what happens when data communities stop working in silos. From national statistical offices to civil society organizations, progress accelerates when knowledge and practices are shared across sectors and countries, helping strengthen evidence, address challenges, and inform decision-making.
These experiences reinforce that stronger and more resilient data systems are not built by institutions alone; they are built through collaboration, shared ownership, and the inclusion of more voices in shaping how data are produced and used.
We hope to see you there!
