Hello all,

Are you interested in the future of Wikipedia and Wikidata? Have you heard the buzz around "Abstract Wikipedia" and want to learn more? Confused about the differences between "Abstract Wikipedia", "Wikifunctions" and "WikiLambda"? If the answer to any of these questions is "Yes", then you should read more. [image: 🙂]

*What?* My academic course at Tel Aviv University, "From Web 2.0 to Web 3.0, from Wikipedia to Wikidata", is coming to an end soon and next week we will be closing the Wikidata module of the course in a special celebration, hosting Denny Vrandečić (initiator of Wikidata, and more recently the director of "Abstract Wikipedia", or rather "Wikifunctions"). To properly celebrate, Denny & I have designed a two-parts "party" for my students, which includes a pre-recorded interview https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GjNkrvT7Yc&ab_channel=ShaniEvenstein, and then *a live Q & A session with Denny during the course hour*. And the good news is -- *you are all invited!*

*Where?* *1) Pre-recorded interview* (available here - https://youtu.be/0GjNkrvT7Yc https://l.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fyoutu.be%2F0GjNkrvT7Yc%3Ffbclid%3DIwAR2jvCkKYAiV1fo_JmF7Mp5XXajuosu8AJcFs404ykGJeGWe2cIksMLx9L0&h=AT0jOvVgIC3EeAlVTF2e1KyD1RGfg1YbzfTx-n48IIJNKtWMyiwyJSqGYkCkAquPZEBM7HiU2d9AN4K2ka_4pHJZFYh-8IixPUtPpB7VripZ4bMI4RbtezH7FBcnp97rSoBs&__tn__=-UK-R&c[0]=AT3dkcEWaPTufn9QYJx4cNAI-mRe_nPvG9be550iH7xlkuLdrHJgvq0MQEwmQXNOj95DVM8_M-VGeE6RVdML3iDeygxlnIc_TCDJq3HF26-D6636PyDbLifoB2wG9FgJ8w9XXZ1stjHrM0wpK0iYhwRtZVFzdwZV6Iii7xiTp_6Ulx4) - In the interview we discussed the some of the challenges we have in Wikipedia and Wikidata, and how they brought about the idea of "Abstract Wikipedia"; What is the difference between "Abstract Wikipedia", "Wikifunctions" and "WikiLambda"; What is the current state of the project; and how it all ties to the current Internet Ecosystem and things like AI and Machine Learning. *2) Q & A live session - * *Next Monday, June 7th, at 15:00 Israel time (12:00 UTC),* I will be hosting Denny in my course for a 45 mins Q & A session via Zoom. This part of class will be open and anyone interested in this topic, and you are welcome to either *join us live*, *send questions* to Denny (after watching the pre-recorded interview) *or watch later*.

*How?* If you are interested to join, *please write me an email *(simply reply privately to this email) *by Sunday June 6th at 20:00 UTC*, and I will send you the zoom link (this is to avoid Zoombombing). If you are unable to participate live, but still want to engage, *feel free to send in questions *(again replying to this email privately). The session will also be recorded, so if you cannot make it to the live session, you will be able to watch later on YouTube (I will be sharing the recording later).

Looking forward to your questions and to seeing you next week, Shani.