Welcome to NYC School of Data — a community conference that demystifies the practices and policies around open data, technology, and service design. Hosted by BetaNYC at CUNY School of Law, this year’s conference concludes NYC’s Open Data Week 2026 and is the TENTH edition of both SoData and Open Data Week!
2026 is bigger than ever with 40+ sessions organized by NYC’s civic technology, data, and design community!
Day 1: the classic NYC School of Data conference, with programming across 12 rooms during 4 session blocks.
Day 2: NEW in 2026 – UnSchool of Data! The unconference agenda is created together on the day, with attendee pitches at the top of the day. Select sessions have been pre-seeded by BetaNYC to kick things off.
Our venue is accessible and content is all-ages friendly! If you have accessibility questions or needs, please email us at < [email protected] >.
Log in to add sessions to your schedule and sync them to your phone or calendar.
Block associations are hyperlocal nodes of residents who come together to solve problems that face their block. But, most Community Boards fail to maintain updated lists of block associations or how to join them. This session demonstrates how geocoding NYC's Permitted Event Information dataset (with 95% accuracy using Python) helped create an interactive mapping tool that makes it easier for Central Brooklyn residents to locate active block associations, discover upcoming block parties, and connect with community resources.
Working in partnership with the Crown Heights CARE Collective and Bed-Stuy Works Alliance, this project by community organizer Delaney Connor emerged directly from organizers' expressed need for online accessible block association information. The session will include a live demo of the interactive map and a walkthrough of the geocoding process using NYC Street Centerline data, and a discussion about how this tool is being used for real organizing work in Central Brooklyn.
Bring your phone or laptop to explore the map during the session. This presentation is for community organizers, block association leaders, civic tech practitioners, NYC residents interested in block-level participation, or anyone curious about how open data can support hyper-local organizing!
