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#MSc #FRSA #FInstLM
Charity Trustee: @codethecity
Director: @dataenabled
Trainer for #Wikimedia UK
Facilitator and coach.
#DataScience #Python #OpenData.
Making good stuff happen with data and tech.
#wikidata #civtech #charity #jazz #art #books #socialhistory

Avatar photo by Tiana Lea (CC-BY-SA)

Websitehttps://watty62.co.uk

๐Ÿ“† Coming Up in November at Code the City! ๐Ÿ“†

November is a busy month at The Soap Factory! Mark your calendars!

๐Ÿ“Š Aberdeen Data Meetup: Lightning Talks Edition
https://ti.to/code-the-city/adm-nov-2025

๐Ÿงน Volunteer Day at The Soap Factory
Saturday, 8th November | 10:00 AM - 4:00 PM No need to book

๐Ÿ Aberdeen Python User Group
12th Nov
https://ti.to/code-the-city/apug-nov-2025

๐Ÿ“š Aberdeen Wiki Meetup
24th Nov
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Meetup/Aberdeen/7

๐Ÿง Aberdeen Linux User Group
Sunday, 30th November | https://aberlug.org.uk/

Aberdeen Data Meetup 04 November 2025

Lightning Talks: Share Your Data Stories! This month, we're shining the spotlight on YOU - our community of data enthusiasts! We're hosting a series of lightning talks where attendees can share their own data projects, insights, and experiments. What's a Lightning Talk? A short, focused presentation (less than 10 minutes) that gives a quick overview of something you've been working on, a tool you love, or an interesting data challenge you've tackled. Why Present? โ€ข Get feedback on your work from fellow data enthusiasts โ€ข Practice your presentation skills in a supportive environment โ€ข Share knowledge with the Aberdeen data community โ€ข Make connections with others working in similar areas Topics could include: โ€ข Data visualisation projects โ€ข Interesting datasets you've discovered โ€ข Tools or techniques that have improved your workflow โ€ข Challenges you've overcome in data analysis โ€ข Open data initiatives you're involved with Never given a lightning talk before? No problem! This is a friendly, supportive environment perfect for first-time presenters. Want to Present? Email us at [email protected] with a brief description (up to 75 words) of your lightning talk topic by the 31st of Oct. Can't present this time? Come along anyway to be inspired by what others in our community are working on! -------------------------------------------------------------------- This event is organised by a charity - Code The City. CTC suggests a small donation to help with charity admin costs, but if this is a barrier please just change the ticket price to what you can afford. If that is still a barrier, just ask for a free ticket. We are now established in our new premises, which is still a work in progress. That means that our disability access is not what we want it to be. If you are uncomfortable with, or unable to use stairs, please book an online ticket for the Zoom session. We are working to improve this but it will take a few months. If you select a physical ticket and it happens that we cannot meet physically you will have to attend the Zoom session. Those attending the physical space meetup should attend at 6pm for pizza and drinks. The talk will be from 6.30pm. Doors will be locked from 6.30pm. **If tickets are sold out please do not attend as you will be refused entry without a ticket. ** Our booking system is provided by Tito. Their platform is integrated with payment processing by Stripe Please note that if the booking system asks for a credit card, it means credit OR DEBIT card. Young Coder Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash

Tito

๐Ÿ“Š Aberdeen Data Meetup - Join Us on the 7th October! ๐Ÿ“Š

Attention data enthusiasts! Join our event with guest speaker Ian Watt.

๐Ÿ“… Tuesday, 7th October 2025
๐Ÿ•– 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM
๐Ÿ“ The Soap Factory, 111 Gallowgate, Aberdeen (online too)

Expect to discover Wikidata, its licensing, and use SPARQL. Explore Scottish Writers' timelines, map football stadiums, and learn how Python aids data projects.

๐Ÿ‘‰ Book your spot now: https://ti.to/code-the-city/adm-oct-2025
Sign up for updates: https://bit.ly/ctc-news

๐Ÿ“… Date: Tuesday 7th October 2025
๐Ÿ•– Time: 6:00 PM - 8:30 PM
๐Ÿ“ Location: The Soap Factory, 111 Gallowgate, Aberdeen, AB25 1BU (& virtual attendance via Zoom)

๐Ÿ”—Haven't booked yet? We have a few spots left: https://ti.to/code-the-city/adm-oct-2025

#Aberdeen #Wikidata #DataForGood #CodeTheCity #TechCommunity

Aberdeen Data Meetup 07 October 2025

"Make your data project sparkle with Wikidata!" - Ian Watt Wikidata is the worldโ€™s largest open knowledge graph, bringing together facts about people, places, culture, and science in a way that anyone can query and reuse. Maintained by a global community and freely available under the public domain dedication (CC0), it has become an essential backbone for open data projects, research, and digital innovation. In this interactive session youโ€™ll discover what Wikidata is, why its unique licensing model makes it so powerful, and how to unlock its potential using SPARQL - the query language for linked data. After a short introduction, weโ€™ll roll up our sleeves for a code-along where youโ€™ll write your own queries to explore topics such as creating a timeline of Scottish Writers to plotting Scottish football stadiums on a map. Whether youโ€™re a data enthusiast, developer, researcher, or simply curious, this hands-on workshop will give you the tools and inspiration to connect your own projects to the vast universe of Wikidata. And if you are a Python coder we will look at how to use that to programmatically retrieve data from WD - and more that you can explore. Speaker Bio Ian Watt is a co-founder and Trustee of the charity Code The City (SC053447), and a long-standing advocate for open knowledge and open data. In 2010, while at Aberdeen City Council, he led the authority to become the first public body in Scotland to publish open data. He went on to co-author the Scottish Governmentโ€™s Open Data Strategy (2015) and later established the annual Scottish Open Data Unconference in 2020. Ianโ€™s contributions have been widely recognised. He won two national awards in 2013: SOCITM Member of the Year, and the Digital Leaders 50 UK Local Government Award, and has since been shortlisted for honours from Wikimedia UK (2019, 2020) and the Open UK Awards (2021). In 2023, he was made a Burgess of Guild of the City and Royal Burgh of Aberdeen, and in 2025 he received the Order of the Scottish Samurai. Alongside his governance roles, including five years as a non-executive director of Democracy Club, Ian is an active trainer for Wikimedia UK and runs multiple Aberdeen-based meetups, including a monthly Wiki Meetup. He has written extensively about open data, including a paper for the David Hume Institute, and gained an MSc in Data Science following his retirement from the public sector. He is also a Fellow of the RSA and of the Institute of Leadership. -------------------------------------------------------------------- This event is organised by a charity - Code The City. CTC suggests a small donation to help with charity admin costs, but if this is a barrier please just change the ticket price to what you can afford. If that is still a barrier, just ask for a free ticket. We are now established in our new premises, which is still a work in progress. That means that our disability access is not what we want it to be. If you are uncomfortable with, or unable to use stairs, please book an online ticket for the Zoom session. We are working to improve this but it will take a few months. If you select a physical ticket and it happens that we cannot meet physically you will have to attend the Zoom session. Those attending the physical space meetup should attend at 6pm for pizza and drinks. The talk will be from 6.30pm. Doors will be locked from 6.30pm. **If tickets are sold out please do not attend as you will be refused entry without a ticket. ** Our booking system is provided by Tito. Their platform is integrated with payment processing by Stripe Please note that if the booking system asks for a credit card, it means credit OR DEBIT card.

Tito

@ctc This is on tonight in #Aberdeen. Still tickets available. There will be #pizza! And #beer!

#wikidata #sparql #opendata #linkedopendata

๐Ÿ“ฃ Join us for the Aberdeen Wikimedia Meetup on Monday!

Are you interested in #Wikipedia, #Wikidata and the wider Wikimedia ecosystem?

๐Ÿ—“๏ธ 22nd September 2025
๐Ÿ•• 18:30 - 20:30
๐Ÿ“ 111 Gallowgate, Aberdeen AB25 1BU

You can book a space using this link: https://ti.to/code-the-city/awm-sep-2025

Proudly hosted by Code the City at our Soap Factory hub, where we bring together communities passionate about tech, data, and digital skills for social good.

#WikimediaAberdeen #OpenKnowledge

๐ŸŒ EVER WONDERED HOW 3D GRAPHICS WORK IN YOUR BROWSER?

Join us Weds 10th of Sept at the Soap Factory, or on Zoom, where we will be joined by special guest ลukasz Langa - CPython Developer in Residence and creator of Black - for a fascinating journey into WebGL and 3D graphics using Python!

This #APUG session will show you how to create interactive 3D scenes in your web browser using PyScript - no JavaScript required!

Tix: https://ti.to/code-the-city/apug-sep-2025

#Python #APUG #WebGL #TechLearning #Aberdeen

๐Ÿ“… MARK YOUR CALENDARS: Code the City's Autumn Events Are Here!

๐Ÿ”น 2nd Sep: Aberdeen Data Meetup - "Let's Play with New AI Tools" with Joe Ronie
https://ti.to/code-the-city/adm-sep-2025

๐Ÿ”น 10th Sep: Aberdeen Python User Group - "3D Graphics with WebGL & PyScript" with ลukasz Langa
https://ti.to/code-the-city/apug-sep-2025

๐Ÿ”น 18th Sep: Fundraising Quiz Night at the Ashvale (with fish & chips!)
https://ti.to/code-the-city/quiz2025

Our events welcome everyone - from complete beginners to tech experts.

@gregorymarler @drnoble yes it worked out well. Thanks Gregory.

Sorry I could stay to the very end - Scotrail, and all that!

@cdavies @gregorymarler @openstreetmap

Thank you. Glad you enjoyed it!

#Wikidata is great!

See the links under Get Involved here:

https://m.wikidata.org/wiki/Wikidata:Main_Page

Lots of useful guides etc.

Any questions let me know!

Wikidata

On Monday evening we are hosting the next Aberdeen Wiki Meetup where we welcome new and experienced editors of #Wikipedia, #Wikidata and #WikiCommons.

Whether you are a seasoned editor or don't know where to start, join us for a relaxed social session, in the newly refurbished Soap Factory on the Gallowgate. More details here: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Meetup/Aberdeen/4

#Aberdeen #Meetup