Dear Friends,
Greetings on behalf of the Free Software Movement of India.
Free Software Movement of India (FSMI) is a national coalition of
various regional and sectoral free software movements operating in
different parts of India. The formation of FSMI was announced in the
valedictory function of the National Free Software Conference - 2010
held in Bangalore during 20–21 March 2010. To know more about FSMI
please see [1][2]
FSMI has been a coordinating platform in promoting the culture of free
knowledge, free culture, free speech and free society through the use
and development of free software, free hardware and free bandwidth in
India. In order to build a strong free software movement in
Maharashtra we are trying to create a 'Free Software Movement
Maharashtra ' to promote the ideas of a free society via freedom in
the digital realm and in this regard a preparatory meeting is being
organised.
We request you to kindly participate in this meeting and help build
the movement in Maharashtra .
Details:
Preparatory meeting to organise a Free Software Movement Maharashtra
Venue: IIT Bombay campus, Powai, Mumbai.
Date: May 4th Saturday 2013
Time: 4pm - 6pm
Contact: Vikram Vincent: 09969249984
With warm wishes,
Vikram Vincent
Member, General Council,
Free Software Movement India(FSMI)
References:
[1] http://www.fsmi.in/about
[2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Software_Movement_of_India
[3] For more details on the concept of 'free as in freedom' software
http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/free-sw.html
FYI
Media coverage in Sakal newspaper- Mumbai, Pune edition.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
10th Anniversary Special - Marathi Wikipedia will be available in
(free) DVD Format, Aimed to reach 10,000 schools.
विकिपीडिया आता डीव्हीडीच्या रूपात
- मनीषा फाळके - सकाळ वृत्तसेवा
मंगळवार, 30 एप्रिल 2013
http://online3.esakal.com/NewsDetails.aspx?NewsId=4965158952679418726&Secti…
Dear All,
The Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) is seeking applications for the post of Programme Officer, Pilot Projects for its Access to Knowledge (A2K) Programme. The position will be based in its Bangalore office. Programme Officer will collaboratively work with the A2K Team and would report to the Programme Director, Access to Knowledge at CIS.
Position Summary
As Programme Officer, Pilot Projects, your job will be to drive and support the growth of Indian language Wikipedias and its sister projects. Your primary responsibility will be to design and implement different pilot projects with an aim to create high quality content and cultivate new editors on different language Wikipedias in a time bound manner. One of the main pilots you will be spearheading immediately will be on ‘Indian Performing Arts’. The pilots will be premised on themes and seek to create a multi-lingual repository of knowledge using Wikimedia projects as knowledge platforms. In addition to this you will be anchoring the development and growth of at least one Indian language Wikipedia. You are encouraged to deeply engage with the A2K Work Plan before making the application.
You will work cohesively with the Wikimedia community and the Wikimedia India Chapter to meet specific goals of each language community in India. You will be a part of a small team of 5 to 6 doing high visibility and high impact work.
Responsibilities
Support India-focused initiatives to improve quality of India-relevant content and number of editors on Indian language Wikimedia projects.
Support the growth of Indian language Wikimedia communities and projects by designing and implementing community collaborations and partnerships pilot projects – detailing rationale, aim and objective, execution, evaluation, timeline, resource investment, etc.
Spearhead A2K’s pilot projects.
Identify institutions/groups that have ready-made content/archived material and aggregate available material in respective languages.
Create a network of state institutions, university departments, non-government organisations, academics, artists, researchers and wikipedia community members that will work towards creating a repository of knowledge on specific themes by using Wikimedia projects as a platform.
Conduct initial meetings with the principal investigators from each of the shortlisted institutions and share project idea.
Facilitate Wikimedia community involvement with the core network of institutions and principal investigators to collaboratively participate on specific content/area modules.
Create social media platforms for visibility of these projects and facilitate need-based technical and online support.
Conduct a series of wiki-training workshops for various nodes within the network.
Conduct periodic monitoring and evaluation of the pilot projects in progress.
Generate and document lessons from programme activities that can inform the work of Indian communities and similar programmes in other countries.
Providing ad hoc support to the Wikipedia community on all aspects of Indian languages as may be deemed necessary.
Candidate's Background & Experience
At least two to three years of professional experience with a strong track record of success in high performance organizations.
Prior experience of working with schools of performing arts and/or cultural departments.
A deep understanding of the varied cultural context of India.
Good understanding of the basics of program design and management.
Experience of working in a collaborative community (preferably online).
Strong academic results from highly-regarded university.
Strong understanding of the Internet and the forces that underpin the success of Wikipedia.
Active participation as a Wikimedia volunteer would be an asset, though not a prerequisite (must be prepared to demonstrate knowledge of how Wikipedia works in interviews).
Demonstrated experience working in a global, multi-cultural team environment.
Good writing skills in English and Indic languages and must be fluent in English and at least one Indic language.
Women are strongly encouraged to apply.
Characteristics of the Programme Officer
High level of commitment: The Programme Officer should believe in the values of CIS and Wikimedia projects, exude enthusiasm for the mission and can powerfully embody and communicate the mission.
Intellectual curiosity and flexibility: Must enjoy tackling difficult, ambiguous problems and able to incorporate new knowledge into how one approaches situations and generates solutions, loves learning from others while expanding intellectual horizons.
Open and transparent: Have a high level of integrity and be comfortable working in a highly transparent fashion, open to input and feedback, a proactive and candid communicator who wants people to know what s/he is doing and isn't afraid to bring others in when things are off-track or when you need help and should able to handle criticism in a mature fashion.
Community builder: It is essential that the Programme Officer sees herself/himself as a partner to and supporter of the Wikimedians who have and will continue to be the leaders in building the Wikimedia projects. The Programme Officer must be willing and able to work with a diverse array of people, many of whom come from non-traditional backgrounds and have a fervent commitment to Wikimedia’s community-led nature.
Strong cultural competency: Able to navigate in a global movement and on a global team in addition to navigating the complexity of India.
Partnership developer: Able to initiate, negotiate and operate partnerships that advance the Wikimedia mission in Indic languages and English (as relevant to India) with a wide range of institutions across the public, NGO, universities, philanthropic and private sector.
Willing to travel: The Programme Officer must regularly travel within India to engage with Wikimedia communities and partner with institutions.
Location: The position is based out of the CIS Bangalore office.
Remuneration: Compensation structure will be determined by the level of expertise, experience and current remuneration.
To apply, please send your resume to T. Vishnu Vardhan (vishnu(a)cis-india.org).
You can also find the job posting on our website (http://cis-india.org/jobs/programme-officer-pilot-projects-access-to-knowle…). Please feel free to share this mail with your networks.
Thanks
Nitika Tandon
Program Manager
Access to Knowledge
The Centre for Internet & Society
Hello all!
I'd like to hold a Wikipedia Workshop on 5th of May at The Playce, Mulund.
Would any of you guys help in organizing it? I need a confirmation from at
least three more active Wikipedians, I'll go ahead and make the event page
and ask the Wikipedia in Mumbai page to create an event of the same over
Facebook.
Regards
Krutikaa Jawanjal <http://about.me/krujal>
Dear All,
It’s with deep regret that I announce the resignation of Noopur Raval as Programme Officer CIS-A2K Team.
The Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) would like to thank her for all her valuable contributions to the Wikimedia movement. Noopur has been a great asset to the A2K team. We'd like to thank her for all her leadership and work in the past year around PR, communications, GLAM, outreach and social media. In her formal capacity Noopur has worked to promote Wikimedia movement in India for over a year. We're hoping that she'll continue to be a part of the movement as a treasured volunteer.
It is with warmest regards that CIS wishes her best in all her future endeavors. Please join us as we bid a fond farewell to Noopur and and send her off with hopes for more success and fulfillment. I will personally retain many wonderful memories working with her.
In a day or two CIS-A2K Team will send out an advertisement for the opening of Programme Officer which has been created due to Noopur's departure.
Thanks
Nitika Tandon
Program Manager
Access to Knowledge
The Centre for Internet & Society