2013/7/11 Denny Vrandečić denny.vrandecic@wikimedia.de: [...]
Besides Wikipedia, Wikidata can be used in many other places. We just started the conversations about sister projects, but also external projects are expected to become smarter thanks to Wikidata. I expect tools and libraries and patterns for these type of uses will emerge in the next few months, and applications will become more intelligent and act more informed, powered by Wikidata.
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Dear Denny,
I was in Haifa when there was the very first announce of Wikidata, and I was in Washington when Wikidata was definitely announced as a project.
I still remember my excitement when I asked if the coats of arms of municipalities and states and whatever could have been put into Wikidata, and you guys said "yes, they will". I was so naive at that moment that I couldn't have imagined what this project would have turned into, yet it was this little answer to convince me to join the community.
Now, along with some fellow wikipedians/wikimedians, we're in talks with http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Istituto_Centrale_per_il_Catalogo_Unico, the Italian institution that oversees a large part of the Italian public and private libraries. They are willing to give us their data, but also to establish a more thorough cooperation, involving librarians to contribute to Wikidata and the other Wikimedia projects.
We could have set up a cooperation with the institute anyway, but Wikidata was the perfect key project to make this cooperation come true, because they were fascinated by the work on the authority control we're doing with VIAF and other institutions. If we managed to reach this stage, it was also because of your work. So, I'd like to thank you and all the Wikidata developers for having helped us with that.
Good luck with your new work at Google and good luck with your family. :) Hope to see you at Hong Kong.
Cheers,