The theme of this landmark event is ‘From Big Data to Open Data: Mobilising the Data Revolution’. As such, International Data Week will bring together data scientists, researchers, industry leaders, entrepreneurs, policy makers, and data stewards to explore how best to exploit the data revolution to improve our knowledge and benefit society through data-driven research and innovation.
Organised by CODATA, the Committee on Data of the International Council of Science (ICSU), the ICSU World Data System, and the Research Data Alliance (RDA), IDW will take place at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel.
IDW comprises three complementary events:
1. SciDataCon 2016: Advancing the Frontiers of Data in Research, 11-13 September.
SciDataCon is the international conference for scrutiny and discussion of the frontier issues of data in research. It is organised bi-annually by CODATA (the Committee on Data of ICSU, the International Council for Science) and the ICSU World Data System. SciDataCon 2016 features scientific papers from a wide range of perspectives. The scope is explicitly broad and inclusive, addressing all aspects of the role of data in research.
2. An International Data Forum, 14 September.
This event will be the centerpiece of IDW, bringing together international researchers, industrialists, policy makers, and educators to discuss the major opportunities and challenges of the data revolution, from ‘Big Data’ to ‘Open Data.’ Attendees will have the opportunity to hear from world-renowned keynote speakers and to collaborate regarding the national and international dimensions of the data revolution, its implications for research and policy, and the linkages between research, industry, and education that are required for the global community to fully exploit new opportunities.
3. The 8th Research Data Alliance Plenary Meeting, 15-16 September.
The 8th RDA Plenary Meeting offers attendees a unique opportunity to network and collaborate with colleagues and peers in various disciplines, and to make concrete progress in technical and social areas on topics related to research data sharing and exchange. Besides keynote talks by leading members of the community, important features of the RDA Plenary include the highlighting of organizations who have adopted RDA’s outputs, meetings of Working Groups and Interest Groups, and ‘Birds of a Feather’ discussions, which explore new potential working or interest group topics. The meeting will also host a marketplace for small and medium enterprises involved with Big Data. The RDA Europe Early Career Scientist & Researcher Support Programme is also confirmed for this Meeting, which will offer up to 20 early career domain researchers and data practitioners the opportunity to attend the meetings, interact with working and interest groups, and showcase their studies.

©2016 by Walter de Gruyter Berlin/Boston