Distribits: technologies for distributed data management

April 4th - April 6th, 2024 at “Haus der Universität”, Düsseldorf, Germany Distribits 2024


The first distribits meeting will happen in 2024, and we are inviting all interested parties to join! The aim of this meeting is to bring together enthusiasts of tools and workflows in the domain of distributed data. It is organized by the people behind the git-annex and DataLad projects. The event will comprise a two-day conference and an additional hackathon day.

Audience

We target a diverse audience to promote a stimulating exchange across professions, disciplines, and expertise. Attendees may include researchers, data stewards for collaborative initiatives, data scientists, software developers from academic or corporate environments, or simply enthusiastic individuals. Some people will have expertise with tools like git-annex and DataLad, but this is not a requirement for participation.

Conference

The conference will be a single-track event. Participation is free of charge for attendees, but requires registration. Space is limited, so attendees are selected and confirmed based on the information they provide in their registration. People who are actively contributing to the program have priority.

For this first meeting the format of contributions is pretty flexible.

  1. Talks: presentations (ca. 20 minutes) on research, case studies, practical applications or theoretical developments.
  2. Lightning Talks: brief presentations that introduce new ideas, projects, demo software, or share tips and tricks about workflows and tools.
  3. Discussions: moderated conversations with a panel about particular topics or issues.

Hackathon

The conference is followed by a hackathon day providing opportunities for attendees to further connect and collaborate in a more hands-on fashion. The capacity for this event is smaller. We thus ask everyone interested to indicate during the registration if they want to attend the hackathon, too. As we may receive more hackathon registrations than we can accommodate, attendees will be confirmed separately for the hackathon. A project proposal for this day or strong indication of interest during the registration can help us in the selection process. We plan to prioritize efforts that promote interoperability of tools and workflows with free and open solutions.

Registration Notifications and Late Registration

Notifications for registration acceptance have been sent out (November 1st). Thank you for shaping an exciting event with your contribution!

However, if you missed the registration deadline, don’t worry! It is possible to submit a late registration for the conference, and add yourself to the hackathon waiting list. We plan to accept conference registrations until we reach the venue capacity. We will assess late registrations at an interval of ~ 2 weeks and will send out notification emails accordingly. For the hackathon, late registrations will be added to the waiting list and will be notified when there is a change to the application status.

Contact and further information

For any further information or questions, please see the News page or contact distribits-org@fz-juelich.de.

Given the free nature of the event, attendees are expected to organize and cover their own travel, accommodation, and food. The event takes place in downtown Düsseldorf with plenty of options available – see Location.