Transparent and accessible data is vital for everything from holding elected officials accountable to moving scientific advancements forward.

When governments, non-profits, and universities make their data directly available to the public, these resources can then be used by citizens, researchers and journalists in new and innovative ways.

DKAN is a community-driven, free and open source Drupal-based open data platform with a full suite of cataloging, publishing, and visualization features. With usage spanning 30 countries, 35 cities, and 5 federal agencies, it is a powerful tool to open up data to the people.

Sites built on DKAN include HealthData.gov, the USDA's National Agricultural Library, and the State of California's open data portal.

Features and functionality within DKAN include robust APIs, built-in compliance with federal and international open data standards, customizable metadata schema mapping, custom workflows, data harvesting, data storytelling, and more.

Participants will learn how to use the DKAN open data platform to publish and visualize data. and walk away with the ability to create a DKAN site of their own. Users will also gain an understanding on how to contribute to the Project DKAN community effort.