[[This is a lengthy mail and is cross-posted on all mailing lists. Kindly
bear]]
Dear Wikimedians,
We interact with the government on multiple occasions. The problems are all
too familiar - complex systems, official apathy, corruption - just to name a
few.
Some trivia and stats to qualify these claims:
* Entrepreneurs identified increasing the speed and ease of issuing permits;
lowering taxes; and reducing the time it takes to start a business as key
issues. (Note - All issues relate to government interactions; Source -
Legatum Institute)
* In Mumbai, there are 37 procedural hoops to jump through to gain approval
to build a warehouse. (Source : World Bank)
* On the Corruption Perception Index (2010), India ranks 87th of 178
countries
* Indians are highest ranked in volume of search for terms such as
government rules, passport and registration (Source - Google Trends)
Here's where WikifyIndia - a wiki of government procedures - kicks in.
If Wikipedia is the Thinkers Encyclopedia, WikifyIndia is the Doer's
Encyclopedia
We (the founders) are ardent believers of the Wikipedia model and want to
apply it to government procedures. Our belief is that ordinary citizens
suffer for two reasons – the process is complex and accurate information is
unavailable. WikifyIndia addresses the latter. Agents distort information to
suit themselves. Officials are rarely friendly. The best solution has always
been to ask someone who has ‘been through the grind’. WikifyIndia does it on
a national level.
The scope of the Project is wide ranging. From getting into the armed forces
to filing a Right To Information request, from complaining about a broken
traffic signal to opening a restaurant, from changing your name to adopting
a child, from applying for euthanasia to marrying in court, from getting a
gun permit to filing your taxes, from getting a permit to climb peaks to
getting a gas connection, it will all be there.
www.wikifyindia.com
Every article is expected to have a short intro, requirements/eligibility,
procedure, list of documents, timings, fees, application form, sample
certificate among other details. Unlike Wikipedia, WikifyIndia is also a
forum. There is merit in aggregating experiences (for ex. visa experiences
can be quite varied).
Current approaches on the internet are inadequate. Information is retrieved
from Q&A forums, blog posts, agent or government sites. It is incomplete and
outdated. Wikipedia has proved that a bottom approach is far more suitable
in some areas than any top down approach (where a group is formally trying
to organise information). Even if someone did a good job, they wouldn't be
able to distribute it for free.
WikifyIndia complements Wikipedia. The article on Civil Marriage in
Wikipedia is written differently from the same article on WikifyIndia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_marriagehttp://www.wikifyindia.com/wiki/Civil_Marriage
When WikifyIndia has adequate accurate content, it will reduce what
economists call 'transaction costs'. Any tool to improve productivity of
citizens, entrepreneurs and organisations will be directly contributing to
the Indian economy. To the best of our knowledge, there is no other site
with a similar approach in any other country. We urge you to jump in and
make a difference.
WikifyIndia is a non-profit initiative free of advertising and is being run
by a small fund created by the Founders.
We (the founders) have cribbed about a @#$% and rotten system for far too
long. WikifyIndia is our way of doing something about it. We ask for your
complete support in adding content, sharing experiences, creating templates
and technical support. The goal is for every government procedure to be
available in every Indian language with complete and accurate guidelines. If
a farmer's wife in Manipur wants to get employed under Rural Employment
Guarantee Scheme, she should have all the information and forms on the site
in her language.
Thank you for your time and patience,
Anish and Sohel [User:Sbohra]
<http://kn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B2%9A%E0%B2%BF%E0%B2%A4%E0%B3%8D%E0%B2%B0:…>
The first ever workshop on Wikipedia in North Karnataka is being organized
by Wikipedia volunteers on 28th May, 2011 (Saturday) at *Karnataka
University, Dharwad*. The focus will be on Kannada projects of Wikimedia.
Writers, academicians, students and all wiki enthusiasts in Hubli/Dharwad,
we invite you to participate.
*Date:* Saturday, 28, May 2011
*Time:* 10.00 a.m. to 1.30 p.m.
*Venue:* Auditorium, Mass communication and Journalism Department, Karnataka
University, Dharwad
*Schedule:*
Session 1: Introduction to the projects of Wikmedia, their present status.
Session 2: Editing Kannada Wikipedia, contributing to projects of Wikimedia
in Kannada language.
More information about the workshop at:
http://bit.ly/myg0NS
--
Hari Prasad Nadig
http://twitter.com/hpnadighttp://flickr.com/hpnadig
Juhara,
We have just finished the 4th Meetup for Odia Wikipedia and this was the 2nd
Odia Wiki Meet up in Bengaluru on Sunday 2011April22.
Totally 7 interested folks attended the event.
Odia Wikipedians Ashutosh Kar & Subha Pa headed the event and started the
event with a primary introduction of the present status and main agenda of
the meetup. Subha Pa demonstrated the basics of Wikipedia, Five pillars, How
to Edit Odia Wikipedia, sign up, photo upload and alignment along with basic
introduction of syntax for the new users.
Then the Wikipedians talked about the issues which came across in the recent
days and how they can be solved out. As most of the Wikipedians were either
students or working professionals time constraint is one of the biggest
huddle, many haven't learn the use of typing tool which will also improve in
the coming days. We discussed about Usage of Templates, when and how which
template could be used and how new templates which are not there in the En
Wiki could also be made.Wikipedians also discussed how much impact the
recent Meetupas/Workshops had on the Odia Wikipedia and how such outreach
campaigns can boost the growth of the Odia Wikipedia.
Odia Wikipedia has announced the first Odia Wki project, to reach 1000
articles before 1 June. Individuals attended the event divided the the whole
project based on the user's interest and taken charge of several different
aspects. And also we have set the target to add more and more pictures in
the coming days related to Odia under the template "*Odia loves
Wikipedia"*which will also inspire more people to join in this
movement will cover many
of the heritage sites which still don't have a photo in Commons, We're
motivating more people to upload in Commons so that anyone can access them
and use them.
Here is the 2nd Bengaluru Wikipedia Odia Meetup link
http://or.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:WPOMBLR2
and 1000 Articles before 1 June 2011
http://or.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:Wikiprojects/June/1000_Articles
And Odia Wikipedia few new users who already have started working,
Mrutyunjay Kar (Enormous contribution for Odia Cinema), Dr. Subhransu Mishra
(has written the most extensive article of a medicinal importance) and
Sourav Mohanty.
And also congratulations to the youngest Odia Wikipedian for contributing
maximum amount of templates and making considerable edits.
Thanks Royson for the CIS Space and Tinu for the support.
Cheers!
*
ସୁଭପାSubhashishPanigrahi
ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ
_______________________________________________
Wikipedia Odia (Oriya) mailing list
wikipedia-or(a)lists.wikimedia.org
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikipedia-orfacebook.com/OdiaWiki
Tweet @OdiaWiki
*
Hi All,
Just a quick information for all of you Odia Wikipedia is organizing its 4th
Workshop in Bangalore on 22 May 2011 at CIS, Domlur. Hope to see the
interested Odia Wikipedians there.
http://or.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:Meetup/Bangalore/Bangalore2
*Main Agenda:*
*Session1:**Introduction to Wikipedia and odia wiki projects*
- - Introduction about Wikipedia and Odia Wikipedia
- - Current status of Odia Wikipedia
*Session2:**Introduction to Editing in Wikipedia*
- - How to edit any page in *Odia Wikipedia*
- - How to add *Bold*, *Italicised*, === Headings === and "sign" and
other commonly used syntaxes
- - How to add references and external links
- - Editing conflicts and how to solve them
- - What to write and what *NOT* to add in Odia Wikipedia
*
ସୁଭପାSubhashishPanigrahi
ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ
_______________________________________________
Wikipedia Odia (Oriya) mailing list
wikipedia-or(a)lists.wikimedia.org
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikipedia-orfacebook.com/OdiaWiki
Tweet @OdiaWiki
*
Hi All,
Welcome from Bangalore Wikipedians!
The 33rd Bangalore
WikiMeetUp<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup/Bangalore/Bangalore33>was
organised at 3 PM, CIS, Domlur, Bangalore attended by 19 Wikipedians
including Wikimedia Board of Trustee member Bishakha Datta, Hisham Mundol
from India Programs, Wikimedia Foundation and Wikimedia India Chapter
Executive Committee members.
Here is a brief summary of some of the major talks and discussions.
Hisham introduced the ongoing programs of Foundation focused on the outreach
of Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects to masses and bring out potential
editors for both English and Indic Wikipedias. The primary structure of new
projects for India includes creating awareness through various media with a
prime focus on Digital Media (Central Notice, Social Networks, Video
Editing, etc) and campus programs like Pune Pilot Project. The present
campus program also encompasses on educating students as well as teachers
about the importance of Wikipedia and Potential of Wikipedia in Classrooms.
The model structures from US campus programs which gave rise to a huge some
962 good quality articles could be also a beneficial factor to be imparted
with an Indian context. He also insisted using repeatability impact of core
messages during the outreach programs like [Edit] India!. And also during
this sort of campaigns a student-teacher correlation and collaborative
effort will give birth to not only a handy, easily searchable modern tool
but also an imperative knowlegde base for various age groups and
professions. These campus programs will also make a student-teacher
relationship better to join hands and produce authentic, reliable source of
information and make conventional education easier rather than creating
cracks in the existing education system, the mission is to bridge the gaps,
not expanding them. The campus program will also facilitate
extensive support for training on editing, motivation for both student and
teachers, monitoring the strategic implementation by campus ambassadors. The
Pune Pilot project will be a learning sessions and infancy of future
outreach campaigns for India.
The 2nd Talk of the day was by EC President Arjuna which started by
introduction of the EC members Gautam, Anirudh, Arun to the attendees. He
shared the following points
a) Formulation of several guidelines of the approved India Chapter
membership. The chapter has opened a bank account and will soon be opening
the membership. All Indian nationals of/above 18 with contact address in
India can become members. An online form will be made available, which
needs to be filled and then printed. The printed form after signing can be
sent to chapter office along with payment details. He shared the benefits
of membership and encouraged all the participants to become members once the
membership is open.
b) He also shared the idea of designing Wikimedia Chapter brochures in
English and native languages. He shared a sample brochure to explain the key
expectations from the brochure.
c) He said that city/language subcommittee is being launched soon and
invited community members to propose Wikimedians to serve on the same.
Finally WMF Board of Trustee member Bishakha Datta shared a brief talk about
her current role with the foundation and possible major goals, involvement
of Women Wikipedians, socio-economic strategies and progressive growth in
the field of Art, Culture and Communication.
*
*
*(Report prepared with support from Hisham and Arjun. Guidance from Tinu
Cherian)*
*
*
Thanks
*
ସୁଭପାSubhaPa
ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ
_______________________________________________
Wikipedia Odia (Oriya) mailing list
wikipedia-or(a)lists.wikimedia.org
https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikipedia-orfacebook.com/OdiaWiki
Tweet @OdiaWiki
*
Hi Wikipedians,
You are cordially invited to attend the upcoming
* Bangalore
Wikipedia / Wikimedia Wiki-meetup 33* on *Sunday, May 8 , 3:00PM*.
This is the 33rd edition of Bangalore Wiki-meetups.
*Hisham Mundol*, Wikimedia Foundation - India Progams and *Bishakha Datta*,
Member, Wikimedia Foundation - Board of Trustees will also be attending the
Wikimeetup.
*Venue :* The Centre for Internet and Society
No. 194,Opposite to Domlur Club, 2nd 'C' Cross, 4th Main Domlur 2nd Stage
Bangalore, Karnataka.
*Agenda : *
* Talks:
* * *Wikimedia Foundation India Programs and Campus Wikipedia Campus
Ambassadors Initiative* - Hisham Mundol
* Discussions
* Updates
* * *Wikimedia India Chapter Updates *- Arjuna Rao Chavala
Please do sign up and attend the Wiki-meetup.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Meetup/Bangalore/Bangalore33http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=143327615739148
Regards
Tinu Cherian
Hi All
(cross-posting pan-india; apologies if you get this more than once.)
A few of you have reached out and suggested modifications / corrections in the postings. I've made these. Thank you for your inputs.
Please see the revised ones :
Wiki
http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/RFP/Consultant,_Participation_-_India_P…http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/RFP/Consultant,_Indic_Initiatives_-_Ind…
LinkedIn
http://www.linkedin.com/jobs?viewJob=&jobId=1592308http://www.linkedin.com/jobs?viewJob=&jobId=1592351
Many thanks
Hisham Mundol
Wikimedia Foundation India Programs
skype: hisham.wikimedia
gtalk: hmundol(a)wikimedia.org
twitter: @mundol
On May 4, 2011, at 10:06 AM, Hisham Mundol wrote:
> Hi All
>
> I'm writing to inform you that the selection process for 2 of the 4 potential new team members of the India Programs team has started. These have been posted on Office as well as LinkedIn. They can be seen at the at the following locations:
>
> Wiki
> http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/RFP/Consultant,_Participation_-_India_P…
> http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/RFP/Consultant,_Indic_Initiatives_-_Ind…
>
> LinkedIn
> http://www.linkedin.com/jobs?viewJob=&jobId=1592308
> http://www.linkedin.com/jobs?viewJob=&jobId=1592351
>
> Can I request a few things.
>
> a) India Programs is extremely keen on having existing Wikimedians on board in the team. I therefore invite and urge anyone from the existing community to respond to either / both of these. As you will make out from the wordings, there is a clear preference for those who are already involved in the community.
> b) Please do forward this mail to anyone you know who you think might be interested. While they may not be from the existing community, you are best placed to know your who would fit into the movement and who might be interested.
> c) Please do broadcast these links on any other mailing lists, bulletin boards, various social networks (twitter, facebook, etc.), etc. so that we can reach more potential candidates / remind potential candidates.
>
> Please do not hesitate to contact me for any clarifications.
>
> Many thanks.
>
> Hisham Mundol
> Wikimedia Foundation India Programs
> skype: hisham.wikimedia
>
> gtalk: hmundol(a)wikimedia.org
> twitter: @mundol
>
Hi Folks
(cross-posting to reach all-India; apologies if you get multiple messages.)
Our regular monthly IRC on India Programs is on the 1st Thursday of every month. Please do join in this evening (details are in the subject of this mail.)
The agenda is to share an update on India Programs (such as the India Campus Program, the Campus Ambassadors initiative and building the team for India Programs.) Needless to say, we will also discuss any other areas that you wish to cover.
I look forward to as many of you as can make it.
Many thanks.
Warm Regards,
Hisham Mundol
Wikimedia Foundation India Programs
skype: hisham.wikimedia
gtalk: hmundol(a)wikimedia.org
twitter: @mundol
cross posting to local India lists
Hisham Mundol
Wikimedia Foundation India Programs
skype: hisham.wikimedia
gtalk: hmundol(a)wikimedia.org
twitter: @mundol
Begin forwarded message:
> From: Hisham Mundol <hmundol(a)wikimedia.org>
> Date: May 4, 2011 10:06:31 AM GMT+05:30
> To: Wikimedia India Community list <wikimediaindia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
> Subject: India Programs: Team Selection: Call for Talent!
>
> Hi All
>
> I'm writing to inform you that the selection process for 2 of the 4 potential new team members of the India Programs team has started. These have been posted on Office as well as LinkedIn. They can be seen at the at the following locations:
>
> Wiki
> http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/RFP/Consultant,_Participation_-_India_P…
> http://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/RFP/Consultant,_Indic_Initiatives_-_Ind…
>
> LinkedIn
> http://www.linkedin.com/jobs?viewJob=&jobId=1592308
> http://www.linkedin.com/jobs?viewJob=&jobId=1592351
>
> Can I request a few things.
>
> a) India Programs is extremely keen on having existing Wikimedians on board in the team. I therefore invite and urge anyone from the existing community to respond to either / both of these. As you will make out from the wordings, there is a clear preference for those who are already involved in the community.
> b) Please do forward this mail to anyone you know who you think might be interested. While they may not be from the existing community, you are best placed to know your who would fit into the movement and who might be interested.
> c) Please do broadcast these links on any other mailing lists, bulletin boards, various social networks (twitter, facebook, etc.), etc. so that we can reach more potential candidates / remind potential candidates.
>
> Please do not hesitate to contact me for any clarifications.
>
> Many thanks.
>
> Hisham Mundol
> Wikimedia Foundation India Programs
> skype: hisham.wikimedia
>
> gtalk: hmundol(a)wikimedia.org
> twitter: @mundol
>
Hi All (cross-posting to make sure I reach as much of India as possible),
As you're aware, we had invited applications for Campus Ambassadors for the upcoming Pune Pilot of the India Campus Program.
The response has been fantastic: we've received ~500 applications/enquiries from across India, ~70 of which were from Pune. This has been really heartening - indicating the desire of many to support the Wikimedia movement. It's also been overwhelming because we need to process all the applications, respond to applicants, etc.!
I think, most critically, it also presents an amazing opportunity for us to introduce new people to Wikimedia projects (especially Wikipedia) - and invite them to join the community. I've interviewed quite a few and there is a recurring theme I hear from many of them. It goes something like, "I've been using Wikipedia for years and years, and I love it. I want to contribute back to it - but I wasn't sure how. Then I saw the banner and decided this was a great way to help." The overwhelming common trait I have noticed in the applicants is that they are bright, well-intentioned and eager to contribute.
Here are some thoughts I had, and I'd love to hear your suggestions/comments on these.
We should respond to every single applicant, and even to those who didn't actually apply but sent emails enquiries (such as "When is the program coming to my city?", etc.) No one should be left behind.
We will prioritise (in terms of sequence of events) the Pune Campus Ambassadors. We need to have a reasonable number available for a training session that we need to conduct before the start of the program. Of the 70 who applied from Pune, we should hopefully get 20-30 Campus Ambassadors.
The important suggestion I had for everyone else (in Pune and beyond) is that we do not "reject" anyone. While some might not become Campus Ambassadors because we don't plan to run the program in their towns/cities right now, or some in Pune might not currently have the desired experience (in teaching and people management), there is no reason that they can't participate in some other roles. Therefore, I don't think we should send any "reject letters" to anyone. No one should be left behind. Instead, we should send them options on how they can participate/learn more about participating. For example:-
i) they could form student clubs in their respective educational establishments
ii) they could form Wikipedia clubs in their workplaces/social groups (as a number of applicants are working professionals, and no longer on campus)
iii) they could become individual editors
For us to try and help realise their potential, here are some thoughts I had:-
i) Invite all the applicants/enquirers to attend the next community meet-ups. This was a suggestion shared by the Pune community. This would give them a chance to interact with the community and understand more about the movement/projects.
ii) Additionally, those who have not been selected as Campus Ambassadors can be reassured by telling them that they can join an "incubation" program. This was a suggestion shared by the Pune community. This would involve them attending meet-ups, learning how to edit, starting to edit - and being supported and hand-held along the way by existing community members. This would help them if they eventually wish to reapply as Campus Ambassadors. Even if they choose not to, they could easily become individual newbie editors.
iii) Invite all applicants/enquirers in a town/city to attend a full-fledged Wiki Academy. This was a suggestion shared by the Mumbai community. This is currently envisaged as a full day session where they are given insights into the movement & projects, taught how to edit, and actually edit articles.
iv) In towns/cities where a full-fledged Wiki Academy is not viable (e.g. if there aren't enough numbers of either participants or volunteers/volunteer time to run a Wiki Academy), then an alternative suggestion is to have a smaller group (3-5) of the applicants /enquirers linked up with a community member who can conduct smaller, shorter groups to explain how to edit and hand-hold them as they edit.
I'd really like to hear your views/comments/suggestions on the ideas listed here.
Also, do let me know which of you would like to volunteer either to help conduct Wiki Academies (point (iii) above) or to manage smaller groups of potential newbies (point (iv) above). Also, it'd be great if we could invite them to your next meet-ups at your respective towns/cities (point (i) above).
Another aspect I'd like to get suggestions from you on is how to manage the process of inviting them to these events. We could, for example, share the contacts of these applicants with the respective communities could reach out and invite them. Alternatively, if you wish this to be done for you, that also can be arranged (though it will put some strain on already stretched resources.)
I look forward to hearing from you. (Please note that we have received applicants from every corner of the country - so please don't assume that the applicants are only from Pune or only from large cities or only interested in English Wikipedia. (They are literally from everywhere, and no one should be left behind!)
Kind Regards,
Hisham Mundol
Wikimedia Foundation India Programs
skype: hisham.wikimedia
gtalk: hmundol(a)wikimedia.org
twitter: @mundol
