Dear All,
TLDR: We have a new research roadmap for the Addressing Knowledge Gaps
program <https://research.wikimedia.org/knowledge-gaps.html>, with new
guiding principles, three main research directions (identify, measure, and
bridge knowledge gaps), and ideas for future research! You can check our
update <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Knowledge_Gaps_3_Years_On>
to the original 2019 Knowledge Gaps White Paper
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Knowledge_Gaps_%E2%80%93_Wikimedia_Research_2030.pdf>
on Meta (or its pdf version on Commons
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Address_Knowledge_Gaps_Three_Years_On.pdf>),
or our diff blog post
<https://diff.wikimedia.org/2022/04/21/a-new-research-roadmap-for-addressing-knowledge-gaps/>
.
Longer version:
In 2019, the Wikimedia Research team released the Knowledge Gaps White Paper
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Knowledge_Gaps_%E2%80%93_Wikimedia_Research_2030.pdf>,
in response to Wikimedia Movement’s 2030 strategic direction. The white
paper included our team’s long-term research plans and priorities for the
Addressing Knowledge Gaps program
<https://research.wikimedia.org/knowledge-gaps.html>. Since 2019, we learnt
and discovered new methods and advancements in our scientific fields, and
developed new models and tools. Today, we share an update
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Knowledge_Gaps_3_Years_On> to the
original white paper. With a continued commitment to knowledge equity
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2018-20>, the
update reflects on the past, present, and future of knowledge gaps
research, provides a summary of our research findings and contributions,
and revises the roadmap for the next 3-5 years. The update describes three
main developments:
-
A Set of Principles, guiding our research in knowledge gaps: knowledge
equity as our end goal; a research focus beyond Wikipedia; community-driven
research work; machine-in-the-loop frameworks for automated systems;
inclusivity by default; privacy; and openness.
-
A Consolidated Research Roadmap, consisting of three main directions:
-
identify knowledge gaps by understanding readers and contributors,
and systematically defining knowledge gaps and barriers;
-
measure knowledge gaps by generating and visualizing measurements of
inequality in Wikimedia projects;
-
bridge knowledge gaps, by building tools and models that can help
tag, prioritize, and recommend content to be added to Wikimedia projects.
-
Ideas for Future Research: big research questions, spanning a 5 to
10-year horizon, which include: understanding learning, entity
recognition in images, a model for Wikipedia complexity, and studying new
and external forms of knowledge.
For more in-depth information about our revised roadmap, please refer to
the full update
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Knowledge_Gaps_3_Years_On> on
Meta (or its pdf version on Commons
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Address_Knowledge_Gaps_Three_Years_On.pdf>),
or our diff blog post
<https://diff.wikimedia.org/2022/04/21/a-new-research-roadmap-for-addressing-knowledge-gaps/>.
Feel free to share suggestions and feedback on the talk
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research_talk:Knowledge_Gaps_3_Years_On>
page.
This updated paper is the result of a collaborative process with Isaac
Johnson, Martin Gerlach and Leila Zia from Research, consisting of many
hours of discussions, 70 pages of notes, and lots of love. We want to thank
the rest of the Wikimedia Research team, our Research Fellow Bob West, our
contractors and collaborators for their input into brainstorming sessions;
Legal, Machine Learning Platform, Traffic, Comms, and Major Gifts teams for
their help in shaping the final document; and everyone
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Research:Knowledge_Gaps_3_Years_On#Acknowledgements>
who made our Knowledge Gaps research possible throughout the years. Thank
you all!
Best,
Miriam