Brandt School's Open Government Project Group Visits Berlin to Study Open Data Best Practices

On January 9, 2026, the Brandt School's Open Government  Project Group traveled to Berlin for expert consultations designed to strengthen their  project group on open government data policy. Led by Dr. Hasnain Bokhari, Head of Digital Policy and AI at the Brandt School, the students are developing recommendations for Digitalagentur GmbH Thüringen and met with representatives from Open Data Informationsstelle (ODIS) Berlin and Open Knowledge Foundation Deutschland. 

The meetings offered complementary perspectives on Germany's open data landscape. At ODIS Berlin, Max Eckert demonstrated practical solutions, introducing students to the organization's role as Berlin's 'open data help desk' and showcasing initiatives like GeoExplorer, an AI-powered tool for searching geospatial data, and Gieß den Kiez, a civic application coordinating community-based urban tree watering. At Open Knowledge Foundation Deutschland, Dénes Jäger provided the broader context, outlining structural challenges facing open data implementation across German states, including limited resources, insufficient political prioritization, and gaps in data literacy within public administration, while highlighting successful collaboration models such as Linked Open Data projects enhancing state budget transparency. The insights gained from these meetings will inform the project group's comprehensive analysis and recommendations for advancing open data practices in Thuringia. 

This project represents the fourth policy initiative Dr. Bokhari has led at the Brandt School in partnership with Digitalagentur GmbH. Previous project groups have examined Thuringia's broader digitalization strategy, digital competencies for state administration, and digital transformation in vocational education, demonstrating the Brandt School's sustained engagement with the state's digital policy priorities.