A citywide data festival
Canberra Data Week brings together public sector, industry, academia and community to explore how data can improve decisions, services and lives.
About the Festival
Canberra is Australia's data capital, home to the ABS, federal policy institutions and world-class research universities. Data Week is a free, open, citywide festival that puts that expertise to work for the whole community.
A central anchor at Microsoft's Canberra office, plus satellite events hosted by partner organisations across offices, museums, galleries, lakeside and online.
All events are free to attend. Whether you're a data scientist, a public servant, a student or just curious, there is a Canberra Data Week event for you.
Any organisation can apply to host an event. We invite teams and individuals to design and run their own session as an official part of the week's program.
Our Pillar
Everything at Canberra Data Week connects back to one goal: using data to deliver better outcomes for people.
Improving how government and community services reach the people who need them most.
Supporting responsive, effective policy through rigorous and timely data.
Open data, open government and accountability to the communities data affects.
Putting data in the service of real people, and giving communities a voice in how it is used.
The Program
A diverse program of free events across a full week. Browse the types of events you can attend, or apply to run your own as a partner host.
Hear Canberra's data leaders reveal how government and industry are transforming citizen services, then put your questions to the panel. Save your seat for the event that launches the week.
Confirmed
Swap the boardroom for the lakeside and explore big data ideas on the move, in the Sita Sergeant tradition of walking and talking. Lace up and join the conversation.
Open to Partner Hosts
Connect with the women shaping Canberra's data profession through networking, peer stories and a forward-looking panel. Claim your place at the table.
Apply to Host
See how government agencies are using data to improve policy, services and outcomes for Australians. Come along for the insights, or step up to showcase your own work.
Open to Partner Hosts
Build practical, job-ready skills in data tools, visualisation and analysis, whatever your starting level. Roll up your sleeves and dive in.
Apply to Host
Discover how visitor insights and destination data are shaping the future of tourism and place-making in the ACT. Get the inside view, or host the session yourself.
Apply to Host
Meet employers, map out your career pathway and hear real stories from Canberra's data community. Kick-start your data career here.
Apply to Host
Grab lunch and soak up short, punchy talks on data stories that changed a decision, shifted a policy or touched real lives. Pull up a chair.
Apply to Host
Team up for a full day of building real solutions to public-sector challenges using open government and community datasets. Bring your ideas and start hacking.
Open to Partner Hosts
Join an open forum on data ethics, privacy and community impact at Canberra's cultural institutions. Every voice counts, so come and have your say.
Apply to Host
Learn to understand, question and use data in your everyday life and work, with no experience needed. Start your data journey today.
Apply to Host
See AI-powered data tools in action across government, research and industry, with time to ask questions and explore hands-on. Come and see what's possible.
Apply to Host
Program is indicative. Final schedule is published following the partner application round.
Get Involved
There are many ways to contribute to Canberra Data Week, from hosting a full event to sharing data, expertise, space or your audience. Find the role that fits your organisation.
Put your organisation centre stage. Design and run your own public event, from a panel to a hackathon, as an official Canberra Data Week partner. Apply to host today.
Primary OpportunityOpen your doors and host the festival. Offer your auditorium, boardroom, gallery or outdoor space for a CDW event and put your venue on the map. Register your space now.
High ImpactPower the whole week and lead the conversation. Back the central program with financial or in-kind support and help community events happen. Become a sponsor.
Strategic PartnerPut your data to work for the public good. Share open or anonymised datasets for our hackathons, workshops and storytelling sessions. Contribute a dataset.
Open to AllShare what you know with Canberra's data community. Take the mic as a speaker, panellist or facilitator at an event you don't have to organise. Put your name forward.
Open to AllHelp us reach every corner of Canberra. Amplify the festival through your newsletter, social channels, podcast or publication. Partner with us on comms.
Open to AllBring research and students into the spotlight. Share insights, host a session on campus or co-design the hackathon and storytelling program. Get your institution involved.
Universities & ResearchMake sure no one is left out of the data conversation. Help us reach residents, multicultural communities and not-for-profits. Bring your community to the table.
Open to AllShape the next generation of data talent. Join the student careers session as a mentor, employer panellist or hiring speaker. Sign up to mentor.
Open to AllSet the challenge that teams will race to solve. Propose a real-world problem for the open data hackathon and watch Canberra's brightest tackle it. Submit a challenge.
Government & IndustryTake the festival national. Run a webinar, virtual workshop or hybrid panel and reach participants across Australia and beyond. Host an online event.
Open to AllGet your brand in front of the festival crowd. Cater the Data Storytelling Lunch, networking sessions or other events as an in-kind or sponsored partner. Get in touch to cater.
In-Kind OpportunityHost an Event
Hosting a Canberra Data Week event is open to any organisation, team or individual with something valuable to share. Here is the pathway from idea to event.
Review the event types, format options, audience guidance and the Data for Public Good pillar to see where your idea fits in the program.
Submit a brief expression of interest online, covering who you are, your event concept and your preferred format and venue type.
Join one of our free online briefings to learn more about hosting, ask questions and refine your event concept before applying.
Complete the formal application with your event concept, target audience, format, accessibility plan and preferred venue, whether Microsoft Canberra, the National Museum, a cultural arts venue or a public outdoor space.
Approved events are listed on the public program. You receive branding assets, planning support and promotion through Canberra Data Week channels.
Deliver your event during Canberra Data Week. You own the content and experience; we provide the platform, promotion and coordination.
Venues
Canberra Data Week events take place across the city, from our anchor hub at Microsoft to iconic cultural institutions, public spaces and beyond.
The central hub of Canberra Data Week. Home to the opening event, flagship panels, the Public Sector Showcase and the hackathon. Also available for approved partner-hosted events.
Contact us to enquire about availability
A landmark venue on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin, ideal for community forums, evening talks and public events with a national character.
Subject to availability
Canberra's galleries, theatres and cultural institutions offer unique settings for data storytelling, community discussion and creative data events.
Partner directly or apply via CDW
Outdoor events including the Data Chat Walk along the lake foreshore: open, accessible and rooted in Canberra's natural identity.
Permits may be required
Supported by
Applications are open. Join a growing community of Canberra organisations using data to make a difference, and put your expertise on the public stage.