Hi everyone,

Thank you for asking about the Decolonizing the Internet conference. We had thought to write a little note of explanation just before Wikimania begins, but are happy to provide some overview information now that the buzz has already begun - somewhat inadvertently but usefully, as sometimes happens on our maillists. ;-)

What is the Decolonizing the Internet conference, and who’s behind it?

The Decolonizing the Internet conference (DTI) is being convened by Whose Knowledge?, a global multi-lingual campaign to center marginalized knowledges online. We launched in September 2016, and are also a Wikimedia user group. All of us leading it - Siko, Adele and Anasuya - have been part of the Wikimedia movement for many years in different capacities, including as volunteer contributors.

Decolonizing the Internet is meant to bring together a group of folks from around the world (about 75-100) from different domains of expertise and experience - including those from marginalized communities (women, people of colour, LGBTQI folks, indigenous communities, and others from the global South). Participants include Wikimedians, librarians, archivists, techies, and internet policy folks.

Why is it invite-only?

As we say on our website, 75% of the world’s online population is from the global South, and nearly half is projected to be women. Yet while global access to the internet may be within our grasp (despite the persistence of uneven connections), research shows that content online remains heavily skewed towards rich, Western countries.

Decolonizing the Internet is invite-only because this is the first time such a conference has been held: explicitly to discuss issues of power and privilege involved in the design, architecture, content and experience of the internet; and to center the leadership of marginalized communities - the majority of the world - in changing and re-designing the internet to be for and from us all.

We don’t have the answers; we’re asking lots of questions! And in order to do so in a spirit of shared ease and generosity, we decided to make this inaugural effort invite-only as we learn from each other, and perhaps collaboratively and creatively craft some ideas and action plans.

Why is it being called a Wikimania pre-conference?

We are “co-locating” with Wikimania for a reason: we hope to have at least half of our DTI participants stay on for Wikimania to learn from Wikimedians, and for Wikimedians to learn from them. This feels particularly appropriate given the theme of this year’s Wikimania - Bridging Knowledge Gaps: The Ubuntu Way Forward.

In order to do this easily, we’re registered as a Wikimania “pre-conference”, so that invited participants - including Wikimedians - can easily opt for both the DTI conference as well as Wikimania.

...also, about a third of the invitees are Wikimedians from around the world, and we’re hoping there will much learning about the Wikimedia movement at DTI, just as Wikimedians may learn about other communities and movements.

How are Wikimedia South Africa and the Wikimedia Foundation involved?

Wikimedia South Africa and the Wikimedia Foundation - as core Wikimania planning team - have been enormously helpful (ngiyabonga, enkosi, thank you!) in helping us with the logistics of making the move between the DTI conference and Wikimania as seamless as possible for our participants. In turn, we’re hoping that the DTI participants will infuse our movement with new energy and possibility, while we entice them into becoming Wikimedians for life. :-)

Looking forward to seeing you all in Cape Town!

Warmly,

Anasuya, Siko, Adele and the Whose Knowledge? team