This month, January 2015, the Vienna University of Economics and Business launched a new OpenData portal. It is part of the ongoing project “OpenData@WU”. Currently it contains 86 datasets which includes Courses (41) and Organizations (29). There is a REST API available and weekly updates announced. The data is licensed under Creative Commens Attribute.
With these steps being forward towards a more open und accountable university, I would wish for two more things:
- Opening the university with publishing research results as open access and allowing open collaboration has more potential than floor plans.
- Allow direct participation in administrative decisions. This can include feedback on facilities, services or equippement (perhaps a “student budgeting”) and even decisions on new additional courses.
As a conclusion, it’s indeed a big step into an open university. Still, the more interesting questions stays within different fields. The foundation is set. Now the next steps need to be looked at carefully.