This post was written by Aleardo Schöni, who is an exchange student from Switzerland.
Needed skills for utilizing open data in business
In December 2017 I had a meeting with Joni Kukkamäki, research manager at Häme University of Applied Sciences (HAMK), to talk about the possibility to establish my bachelors thesis for the smart services research unit. OpenHäme-project (Finnish: AvoinHäme) was presented to me and it perfectly suited my interests. In the beginning of January 2018, I started studying open data intesively.
To get an overview of the subject I started with a global introduction of open data. During this step I learned about the different categories of open data but also about national as well as international institutions acting in this sector. Afterwards, I presented the data management process, which in my opinion plays a very important role in the open data world because using open data means turning raw data into information and knowledge.
Data management process plays a very important role in the open data world.
Next chapter
In the next chapter, I studied different essential technologies and tools. Most of those were completely new to me and I learned new ways to work with open data. To deepen this knowledge, I tested two commercial and two open source tools. I had a lot of new experiences which I could list as results of my thesis.
To summarize the previously gathered knowledge, I created a matrix. This matrix combined the different open data categories, formats, sources, tools and results along the data management process. In the end, I was able to present a conclusion and give a recommendation for the project team and in open data interested businesses.
I started to understand how open data can be used and the business value that can be generated.
For me
For me personally, open data wasn’t a new term. During my studies in Switzerland and Finland open data came up in multiple lectures. But only after working and studying more intensively on this topic, I started to understand how open data can be used and the business value that can be generated. I finally saw how open data can be accessed, who is publishing it and learned new technologies and tools.
The bachelor’s thesis “Needed Skills for Utilizing Open Data in Business” – Using Open Data as a Support of Business was established for the smart services research unit at Häme University of Applied Sciences (HAMK). The goal of the paper was to introduce the topic of open data and to present needed skills for utilizing open data in business.
You can find aleardo´s thesis here