"The theme of the 2015 conference "Bridging the Data Divide: Data in the International Context". Going hand in hand with the well-known digital divide is a growing inequity in access to data. Increasing budget concerns have placed strains on governments, universities, and other institutions in the provision of data services. From the cancellation of the Statistical Abstract of the United States, to the controversy over the Canadian Census long form, to political barriers in the data collection process in some countries, access to data and the data divide presents organizational, economic and educational challenges to the community of data professionals worldwide.
As data professionals it is our role to demonstrate how access to data improves organizational standing and relevance, how shared infrastructure reduces the costs for agencies to setup data sharing platforms and how developing data literacy programs fits with the mission of our universities. This year, the international focus of IASSIST shines on how we can improve access to data for people across the globe."
From SND Olof Olsson will participate in the conference.