Who is behind the DIZH Public Data Lab?
The DIZH Public Data Lab (PDL) is an initiative of four partners: the Cantonal Statistical Office of Zurich, Opendata.ch, the University of Zurich (UZH) and the Zurich University of the Arts (ZHdK). The Public Data Lab is a project funded by the Digitalization Initiative of the Zurich Higher Education Institutions (DIZH) from 2025-2029.
Why is there a need for the DIZH Public Data Lab?
Changes in society, the economy and the environment pose major challenges for the Canton of Zurich. According to its constitutional duty, the Canton has to maintain living standards and ensure sustainable ecological, economic and social development. Developing strategies to deal with these societal challenges requires decision makers to use evidence in formulating responses and monitoring effectiveness of policy interventions. However, the existing data and foundations do not cover all change processes. In addition, new challenges can be better identified through a mix of different types of data, including qualitative data.
This is where the DIZH Public Data Lab (PDL) comes into play: it collects and uses data to understand what drives, suppresses and influences social, economic and ecological processes, but also what reactions these processes provoke. However, data alone is not enough. Data must be interpreted and combined to form indicators. Indicators allow overall assessments of wellbeing, which in the end lead to knowledge and potentially action.
Through art and design, the PDL creates social awareness of the complexity of indicators and the social, political and ethical contexts behind them. In public formats such as exhibitions and dialogue-based interventions in social spaces, the significance of indicators and their underlying data (processes) are explored, critically and playfully (re)negotiated.
What is the DIZH Public Data Lab's innovation?
The DIZH Public Data Lab (PDL) brings together researchers with methodological expertise in geographical information science (GIS), qualitative methods, machine learning, art and design. Thematically, the PDL combines expertise in urban research, labour geography and environmental change. At the centre of the PDL is the development of indicators to summarise, simplify and communicate complex data. Thanks to transdisciplinary digital and artistic innovation, the PDL strengthens public trust and provides decision-makers with an evidence-based foundation.
How is the DIZH Public Data Lab organised?
The DIZH Public Data Lab (PDL) consists of representatives of the four institutions:
Cantonal Statistical Office of Zurich
- Andrea Schnell, Co-Director of the Cantonal Statistical Office
- Matthias Mazenauer, Co-Director of the Cantonal Statistical Office
- Marisol Keller, Research Associate, Political Participation
- Anna Sigrist, Co-Managing Director of Opendata.ch
- Verena Kontschieder, Co-Managing Director of Opendata.ch
- Ross Purves, Professor for Geocomputation at the Department of Geography
- Karin Schwiter, Professor for Labour Geography at the Department of Geography
- Jan Dirk Wegner, Associate Professor for Data Science for Sciences at the Department of Mathematical Modeling and Machine Learning
- Hanna Hilbrandt, Associate Professor for Social Geography and Urban Studies at the Department of Geography
- Reta Barfuss, PhD Candidate in Labour Geography at the Department of Geography
- Merlin Hebecker, PhD Candidate in Labour Geography at the Department of Geography
- Louis Moser, PhD Candidate in Geocomputation at the Department of Geography
- Katia Soland, Launch Coordinator of the Public Data Lab
- Marcel Bleuler, Director of the Institute for Contemporary Art Research
- Sarah Owens, Professor for Visual Communication
- Sophia Prinz, Professor for Design Theory and History
- Luzia Rink, Admin, Mitarbeiterin, Institut für Contemporary Art Research
- Felix Stalder, Professor for Digital Culture
- Julia Weber, Research Associate at the Institute for Comtemporary Art Research
Advisory Board
Unser Advisory Board besteht aus fünf Personen, die das PDL unterstützen:
- Nikki Böhler
- Petra Keller
- Nicola Forster
- Daniel Morgenthaler
- Ralph Straumann
Get to know the Advisory Board.
What is the meaning of the "Public Data Lab"?
On the one hand, 'public data' refers to data that concerns the public, society. On the other hand, the indicators that the PDL collects are published as open data.
The ‘lab’ stands for laboratory and emphasises the scientific and experimental approach.
Where is the DIZH Public Data Lab located?
The DIZH Public Data Lab (PDL) is physically hosted at the Cantonal Statistical Office of Zurich.
How can I keep up to date with the DIZH Public Data Lab?
Visit this website or follow us on LinkedIn, where we regularly write about activities and events.
Advisory Board
The Advisory Board consists of five people who bring external feedback to the PDL, advise the PDL on its activities and support the PDL in promoting its activities. Members of the Advisory Board are:
Nikki Böhler
... is co-founder of Intersections and FutureSense. As a social entrepreneur and from her experience with impact-oriented work, she recognises the importance of a solid data foundation and data processing. In her previous role as managing director of Opendata.ch, she not only dealt intensively with the worth and importance of data, but also advocated for data to be used for social wellbeing. In the DIZH Public Data Lab, Nikki sees high potential for laying the foundations for evidence-based and impact-oriented decision-making in politics, administration, and beyond.
Nicola Forster
... is a social entrepreneur, a foundation and board member, and a lawyer. He co-founded the staatslabor and the think-tank foraus. He has been engaged in civil society for many years, amongst others as president of the foundation Science et Cité and, until 2024, as president of the Swiss Society for the Common Good (SSCG). Nicola is currently setting up a new foundation to tackle social challenges together with actors from civil society, the economy, and government. Nicola believes that an innovative state is needed to make meaningful, data-based decisions for the common good, which is why he supports the DIZH Public Data Lab.
Petra Keller Guéguen
... is head of staff at the Federal Statistical Office. In this role, she also heads the Open Government Data Office, which ensures that public data is accessible, usable, and understandable – for the administration, research, economy, and society. Since her studies in sociology, Petra has been fascinated by how data can serve as a key to understanding social processes. Thanks to her experience at the interface between statistics and politics, she knows how important reliable and high-quality data is as a basis for decision-making. She supports the DIZH Public Data Lab because it aims to make open data understandable and usable for society – in a creative, interdisciplinary and socially relevant way.
Daniel Morgenthaler
... has been curator at the Helmhaus in Zurich for 14 years. He is a member of the Kunstkreditkommission Basel-Stadt. He closely collaborates with Zurich and Swiss artists, supporting them in the conception and production of their works. Again and again, he is surprised by how artists find their ways to address pressing social and political issues in their works. Daniel is looking forward to seeing how statistics, data handling and art will be interwoven within the DIZH Public Data Lab and what tangible results will emerge from this.
Ralph Straumann
... is a partner, member of the IT division management team and head of data science at EBP. Additionally, he is a lecturer for the CAS Spatial Data Analytics at the FHNW and the CAS Geographic Information Systems and Analysis at ETHZ. Thanks to his activities and his experience, he is familiar with important issues that the public sector faces and with the data landscape in Switzerland. At the same time, he also knows where data is currently lacking. Ralph has expertise in data analysis and visualisation, particularly for issues that require domain knowledge. Ralph supports the DIZH Public Data Lab because its inter- and transdisciplinary approach convinces him and because it stands for values such as fairness, openness and accessibility, which are also important to him.