Listening to the Ecosystem: Join Our CKAN Community Listening Sessions

For nearly 20 years, a vibrant global community of developers, data stewards, public servants, and civic technologists has made CKAN what it is: the leading open-source data management system. This collective effort has made CKAN a backbone for open data initiatives — helping governments, civil society groups, and public institutions around the world publish and share data in ways that drive transparency, participation, and innovation.

CKAN has always been built by the people who use it. That’s our strength. But as the ecosystem grows, so does the need to pause, listen, and understand what our community truly needs. To step back and ask:

• What’s working?
• What’s missing?
• And how can we make this community stronger, more welcoming, and easier to contribute to?

Listening to the Ecosystem: An Invitation from the POSE Team

As part of the initiative to strengthen the CKAN ecosystem — a project funded by the U.S. National Science Foundation to support the long-term health of open source ecosystems (Pathways to Enable Open Source Ecosystems, POSE) — the team at the University of Pittsburgh is launching two Community Listening Sessions.

These aren’t webinars. There’s no keynote. They are open conversations — designed to surface ideas, identify challenges, and imagine what’s possible together. Grounded in real experience, focused on practical ideas, and open to everyone. The idea is to bring together people across the CKAN ecosystem to share ideas, identify challenges, and imagine new ways to collaborate.

Whether you've been contributing to CKAN for years or are just getting started, your voice is welcome and needed.

What the Team Hopes to Hear

The POSE team is especially interested in:

• What’s helping — or holding back — contribution today
• Ideas for events, products, or support that would grow the community
• What would make CKAN feel more inclusive, welcoming, and easier to get involved in
• How we can work better together across time zones, roles, and organizations

If you’ve ever thought, “I wish CKAN did this…” or “Why don’t we try that?” — this is the space to bring it.

What to Expect in the Session

The listening sessions are designed to give everyone a chance to share ideas that could strengthen the CKAN ecosystem — and to hear from others in the community as well.

Here’s what to expect during the 90-minute session:

• Learn about the initiative and how it fits into the bigger picture of CKAN’s future
• Explore possible community activities — from events to tools, onboarding, or support
• Share your own ideas in small breakout groups
• Collaborate with others to shape those ideas into something actionable
  

To help guide the discussion, you’ll use a simple planning canvas — a tool designed to help turn ideas into practical next steps.

If you’d like to keep working on your idea after the session, the POSE project team (based at the University of Pittsburgh) will be there to offer support and help move things forward.

You don’t need to prepare anything — just bring your perspective and curiosity. You’ll likely meet someone new in the CKAN community.

When & Where

Three sessions are available — choose the time that works best for you:

• 🗓️ Tuesday, June 10 at 12:00 UTC (90 minutes) → Register here
• 🗓️ Thursday, June 12 at 22:00 UTC (90 minutes) → Register here
• 🗓️ Tuesday, June 24th at 17:00 UTC (90 minutes) → Register here

Details:

• Duration: 90 minutes
• Platform: Zoom
• Language: English
• Format: Includes breakout rooms for small group discussions

Final Note

This initiative comes from the POSE project team at the University of Pittsburgh, led by Robert Gradeck. We're grateful for their effort and commitment to strengthening CKAN not just as a platform, but as a community.

If you care about CKAN, open data, or open collaboration — join the session. Listen. Share. Help shape what’s next.

We’re not just building software. We’re building a community that builds software — open, durable, and driven by shared purpose.