First Swiss Open Cultural Data Hackathon

Once a year, the Swiss OpenGLAM Working Group brings together data providers, software developers, digital humanists, artists, Wikimedians/Wikipedians, and other interested people in order to experiment how cultural data and content can be used for research purposes, for web and mobile apps, in the context of Wikipedia, for artistic re-mixes, or for other forms of re-use.

As the participants‘ survey of the first Open Cultural Data Hackathon in Switzerland has shown, the event has been highly effective in terms of networking, spurring and exchanging ideas, as well as promoting access to cultural data. Roughly half of the participants also appreciated how skills and know-how had been shared.

Upcoming Hackathons

• 13-15 November 2025, at SKKG campo in Winterthur: Project page with information on the event.

Previous Hackathons

• 6-7 September 2024, at ZHB in Luzern: Project page with information on the event.
  Final report (October 2024)
• 29-30 September 2023, at MEG in Geneva.: Project Page with information on the event.
  Final report (updated version, September 2024)
• 4-5 November 2022, at SUPSI in Mendrisio: Project Page with information on the event.
  Final Report (September 2021); Appendix A: Overview table of project goals
• 16-17 April 2021, virtually hosted by the ETH Library in Zurich:
  Project page with information on the event.
  Final Report (September 2021); Appendix A: Overview table of project goals
  Results of the participants‘ survey (7 November 2021)
• 5-6 June 2020, virtually hosted by the University of Applied Sciences of Graubünden (FHGR):
  Project page with an overview of hackathon projects and a media review
  Final Report (29 June 2020); Appendix A: Overview table of project goals
  Results of the participants‘ survey (9 November 2020)
• 6-8 September 2019, at Les Arsenaux in Sion (in cooperation with Museomix CH):
  Project page with an overview of hackathon projects and a media review
  Final Report (31 October 2019); Appendix A: Overview table of project goals
• 26-28 October 2018, at the Swiss National Museum in Zurich:
  Project page with an overview of hackathon projects and a media review
  Final Report (7 January 2019); Appendix A: Overview table of project goals
  Results of the participants‘ survey (11 June 2019)
• 15-16 September 2017, at the University of Lausanne:
  Project page with an overview of hackathon projecs and a media review
  Final Report (26 October 2017); Appendix A: Overview table of project goals
  Results of the participants‘ survey (8 April 2018)
• 1-2 July 2016, at Basel University Library:
  Project page with an overview of hackathon projects and a media review
  Final Report (12 September 2016)
  Results of the participants‘ survey (17 January 2017)
• 27-28 February 2015, at the Swiss National Library in Bern:
  Project page with an overview of hackathon projects and a media review
  Results of the participants‘ survey (12 January 2016)

Portraits of Hackathon Participants

• Jonas Schneider
• Beat Estermann
• Thomas Weibel

Open Data Sets / Open Collections

Open data sets and open collections from the heritage sector serve as „raw material“ for various types of re-uses. The hackathon is an important occasion to encourage Swiss heritage institutions to open up their data/content for re-use and to gather it in a central location. For an overview of open cultural datasets and collections, have a look at the following pages:

• Swiss Cultural Data
• Open Collections (Switzerland) (no longer curated by the hackathon team)
• Cultural Data Worldwide

Information Material for Data Providers

• Anleitung für die Bereitstellung von Daten (März 2020)
• Instructions pour la mise à disposition de données (mars 2020)