Data is a key asset for digital transformation. It is a building material for research and innovation, personalised products and services, powerful new technologies and better decision-making. These translate into solutions to societal challenges that can improve and even save people’s lives, as the current pandemic demonstrates. Open data is also freely available to generate value through reuse. The EU Open Data Days aim to increase awareness of this valuable asset, to explore its potential and to generate more value from it, on the way towards a European data-driven economy.