Winnipeggers crunch the numbers to mark International Open Data Day

A participant in the 2025 Open Data Datathon reviews information on their screen on March 1, 2025. (Zachary Kitchen/CTV News Winnipeg)

Crunching numbers just got a lot more exciting.

From March 1 to 7, people around the world are celebrating Open Data Day – which recognizes the ability to access and utilize public information to solve local issues.

In Winnipeg, dozens of data enthusiasts took part in an open data ‘Datathon’ Saturday, combing through the city’s facts and figures.

“The open data portal has data on many topics and services that are provided by the city,” said Jennifer Bodnarchuk, a senior data scientist with the City of Winnipeg. “The fire paramedic service shares a lot of data sets. They have some data sets about vacant property fires, or the data that they share with Downtown Community Safety Partnership.”

Experienced coders had the chance to hone their skills and present their findings, with many analyzing the data for any alarming trends or stand-out statistics.

“The skills that the participants in the Datathon are using and learning are certainly something that they can take for future job applications,” noted Bodnarchuk.

For those who may have missed Saturday’s event, Bodnarchuk assured that people have a year to brush up on their skills to crack the codes on Open Data Day 2026.