Together with the Munich startup Subject 15 At the beginning of 2026, the Bavarian capital city of Munich launched the open data competition "Munich Data Gems Wanted." Until February 11, 2026, data enthusiasts, developers, designers, and creative minds are invited to submit their projects and demonstrate how city data can be reinterpreted.
The use of open data from the City of Munich forms the basis for this work. Interested parties must use at least one dataset from the Munich Open Data Portal. The data is administrative, machine-readable, freely usable, and openly licensed.
Creative presentation is welcome
The competition encourages creative engagement with the data. Examples of submissions include:
- Visual data presentations that reveal surprising connections or correlations
- Artistic and creative presentations of city data that are both informative and appealing.
- Interactive dashboards that invite users to conduct their own analysis
- Humorous interpretations that playfully convey data
- Technically elegant solutions that reveal new ways to analyze or present data.
Submissions should inspire new perspectives on Munich and simultaneously strengthen the understanding of open data. A jury of experts will evaluate the submissions based on creativity, degree of innovation, and technical implementation. Particularly successful ideas will be awarded prizes.
Background and promotion of the competition
The competition originated from an initiative by the startup Proband 15, which won the "Unlocking Open Data Potential for Munich" challenge in the Munich Innovation Competition in 2025 with its "Datengartl'n" project. Building on this success, new "Munich Data Treats" will now showcase the potential of open urban data. The results are intended to provide impetus for further data-driven projects and promote the use of open data in business, research, and society.
Terms and conditions, examples and tips on using open data, and further information on registration and the prize money can be found on the Competition page.
