A Data-Driven Snapshot of 10 Years of Datasketch Events

Since our founding in 2015, at Datasketch we have organized, co-created, or participated in dozens of events to talk about data, technology, and society. These spaces have been key to sharing knowledge, strengthening networks, and continuing to build an inclusive and participatory data culture.

What have these events been about? In which cities have they taken place? Which years were the most active? In this article, we share the findings of this memory exercise: a look at our 10 years of events—told through data.

1. How many events have we held per year?

The history of Datasketch events shows remarkable growth over time. In our first year, we didn’t participate in any events. Since 2016, activity gradually increased, reaching its first peak in 2018 with 19 events, 15 of them external.

However, it was in 2021 that we made a significant shift: we organized 54 internal events during the pandemic, taking advantage of virtual formats to expand our offerings. Since then, internal events have become a consistent line of work.

Meanwhile, 2023 was a key year for Datasketch’s presence in external spaces, with 19 participations across different regions.

2. What topics have we explored in our own events?

In the events we’ve organized ourselves, the most frequent themes are those that intersect with everyday life: data culture accounts for 47% of the total. This reflects our commitment to making data work an accessible and meaningful practice for everyone.

There is also a strong presence of both technical and social topics: data science (21%) and data-related rights (10%) hold significant space, along with open government (9%) and data journalism (13%). These figures show how we operate at the intersection of technology, politics, and citizenship.

3. What do we talk about when we’re invited elsewhere?

At external events where we’ve been invited to participate, the thematic landscape shifts a bit. Data journalism takes the lead with 25% of the events, followed by data rights (23%) and open government (21%).

This reflects the interest of other actors in learning how data can be tools for transparency, research, and rights advocacy. To a lesser extent, we’ve also joined spaces focused on data culture, data science, and entrepreneurship.

4. Where has data taken us?

Our participation in external events hasn’t been limited to Bogotá—though it’s where we’ve been invited the most (29 events).

In a wide variety of contexts—from international conferences to hackathons, workshops, and festivals—Medellín has been our next most frequent destination (6 times), followed by San José and Buenos Aires (3 times each), and cities like Montevideo, Madrid, and Cali (2 events each).

We’ve also taken our ideas to Washington, D.C., Mexico City, Gothenburg, Quito, São Paulo, and many other cities around the world.

At Datasketch, we see events as spaces for learning, sharing, and creating. This data allows us to look back and recognize the path we’ve taken, while also helping us imagine new ways to meet, converse, and take action.

And you—what’s the Datasketch event you remember the most?