Dear colleagues,
This is
1 to introduce a reworked concept for Wiki-Smart Humanity ([[m:WISH]], https://w.wiki/QGD ) project page
2 to update you on the groundwork in Tatarstan and around Russia for growing local and regional public support for Wikimedia community projects, as well as discussions about funding Outreach and other local activities (since my previous report back in early April https://w.wiki/MFm )
3 to inform you of the upcoming pilot regional procurement tender initiated by one of our partners as the easiest way for them to incentivize multilingual article creation and improvement regarding important regional phenomena of Tatarstan.
Below you will find detailed description of for each point above. Comments would be greatly appreciated.
regards,
farhad
P.S. I am in an uncharted territory, so very grateful to all Russia and international colleagues that help me with listening, advice and ideas. Tatar is a non-dominant language community, though in a much better shape than many others around the world - this opens my eyes to the reality that long-term preservation of currently living human languages (over 7000) and their inherent riches of cultural knowledge would require significantly more effort, funding and attention than needed to have enWP, ruWP, trWP and all others in official state languages of UN member countries (about 50) to describe everything that's currently missing. We are talking about amounts that no fundraising will ever bring - something that can only be achieved by staying true to the powerful Wikimedia Vision and aspiring to win the hearts of our existing and potential volunteers for them to be ready and willing to help us with something much more precious than money.
--
Farhad Fatkullin - Фархад Фаткуллин http://sikzn.ru/ Тел.+79274158066 / skype:frhdkazan / Wikipedia:frhdkazan / Wikidata:Q34036417
1) [[m:WISH]] (https://w.wiki/QGD) is community-supported (myself so far) undertaking to collect and chart initiatives that bring us closer to Wikimedia vision:
- various initiatives that help making all forms, types and categories of knowledge equally well described in Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects, - as well as those that help make everyone a Wikimedian.
No individual or even a group can give equal attention and priority to everything in the world, but we can chart initiatives that help us to move towards the world where things are more equal. This started as a Meta-page for the project around regions, languages, and different topic-specific initiatives I started in Wikimedia Russia wiki, but Meta offered a great chance to bring together similar initiatives that exist elsewhere.
2) I am in Kazan (Republic of Tatarstan / Russian Federation), so that's where I start with regarding the Russia-regions' specific part of m:WISH - https://w.wiki/WDk My first priority is to make editing Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects something widely respected, so I'm working with institutional partners.
Locally I am still in touch with or contacted since last update:
* Tatarstan Presidential Administration (description https://w.wiki/WDz )
* Municipality of Kazan (description https://w.wiki/MFH / stats by Wikimedia projects https://w.wiki/JZh in Russian)
* Tatarstan Tourism board (description https://w.wiki/WDD / lists https://w.wiki/WDC )
* Tatarstan Investment Promotion Agency (description https://w.wiki/MFL / articles for creation list https://w.wiki/PSU ) and
* Tatarstan Ministry for Culture (proposal in Russian https://w.wiki/R7g)
Russia's Wikimedians helped me in reaching out to Moscow Trade and Industry Chamber Committee on cross-regional and international cooperation, as well as National Tourism Union - I spoke about Wikimedia opportunities for growing international awareness about regional realities (https://w.wiki/Qht in Russian) at their joint Online meeting on "Tourism post COVID-19" https://mostpp.ru/guilds_news/budet-li-turizm-posle-covid-eksperty-obsudili… - very much interested to see how Tatarstan project will evolve to learn and copy
3) We've advanced most with Tatarstan Investment Development Agency (TIDA)
WHY:
TIDA has English-speaking staff with global exposure (came across Wikipedia before), the head of the Agency has an MBA from UK, and she happens to know and trust me with interpreting various important events for over 10 years.
PARTNERSHIP:
* March 19 in-person meeting https://w.wiki/WEP to present the idea https://w.wiki/MFL
* Issues discussed
- developing articles for creation lists and Wikidata element creation for them first in agency specialization area, then to cover all phenomena of importance in Tatarstan
- 3+8 target languages for TIDA
- presentations, training session to staff and various stakeholders and WiR-type ongoing consulting
- ways to prepare the ground to have targeted Tatarstan Presidential or Government grants to local Wikimedia community, to avoid Wikimedian-in-Residence positions (complicated for TIDA and other agencies) and otherwise available procurement tenders (perceived low efficiency due to too much red tape and legal complexity vs. Wikipedia's strict policy compliance requirements for content)
* current Wikidata based multilingual (3+8) priority articles for creation list https://w.wiki/PSU
WHERE WE ARE:
TIDA will be announcing a pilot public procurement tender for multilingual Wikipedia content creation (at this stage Tatar, Russian, possibly allow for English) any day now. It's expected to be organized at Tatarstan public procurement entity's https://goszakupki.tatarstan.ru/eng/ (CC-BY 4.0) dedicated procurement portal http://portal-zakupok.tatar in line with Russian Federation Public Procurement Law (FZ 44). It's expected to amount for RUB 1 million (USD13900) & open to bidding for by any legal entity or private proprietor that would like to apply.
References:
* https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Government_procurement_in_Russia
* Full text of Federal Law 44 Inofficial English translation at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Antimonopoly_Service portal - https://en.fas.gov.ru/netcat_files/File/44-FZ%20eng.pdf
HOW DID WE GET THERE:
1 https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wikidata_Map_November_2019_Huge.png - we need to get whole of the map bright and info available in all languages.
2 TIDA is interested to help with Tatarstan, would like to advance with small trial steps, being guided by those with experience and readiness to help them. They are capable and comfortable to organize a procurement contract first, meanwhile observing how others work on topics in the area they feel comfortable with
3 I am keeping Wikimedia Russia informed of all my contacts and progress, so during April 2 Online Meeting https://w.wiki/LsZ WMRU director Vladimir Medeyko https://w.wiki/WFi stated that our partnership or its individual experienced members should take part in TIDA-originated and other similar regional procurement procedures
4 Once TIDA got the approval to initiate procurement (approvals by Tatarstan Ministry of Finance, then Prime Minister, then President of the Republic, May 29, communicate to [wikimedia-ru] Russian-language list https://w.wiki/W7q & English-language Telegram group https://t.me/WikimediaGeneral/15582 ), I inquired with Wikimedia Russia colleagues and identified three respected editors from Russian Wikipedia (that have extensive experience with Paid editing and disclosing COI), who then agreed with my request to take part in the upcoming bidding procedure & provide a detailed response to preliminary request by TIDA:
* Anna Biryukova - https://w.wiki/WEZ
* Dmitry Erokhin - https://w.wiki/WEa
* Dmitry Rozhkov - https://w.wiki/WEb
OVERSIGHT
I was unable to identify previous Wikimedia experience (and thus templates) for large scale cross-project and multilanguage declaration of Paid Editing & disclosure of possible Conflicts of Interest, as well as providing for Community Oversight of such projects, so I'm trying my best to keep the caravan moving whilst assuring everybody is informed and feels in control.
TIDA and others agreed with my request that:
1 / Project is advancing stage-by-stage (first only Russian and Tatar, possibly some English)
2 / We do things publicly, including open statements on mandatory compliance with sourcing and other Wikipedia quality standards in the tendering procedure
3 / I keep Russia & International Wikimedia Community informed at all stages
4 / When preparing tender documentation, TIDA analyses links to specific policies that I provided them with in the project description, experienced Wikipedia editors' comments and other available experience
5 / I don't take part in either preparation or the tendering process to avoid COI as both initiator and an acquaintance of various parties, and my role of impartial communicator (3),
6 / As an interested party (citizen of Kazan, Tatarstan & Russia, as well as project initiator who wants to see this experience then scale globally), I am ready and willing to consult all parties, and open to engaging at the later stages (article analysis, improvement, translation, Wikidata Elements or Commons categorization etc.)
MOVING FORWARD
* I was informed that Russian Government Procurement Law does NOT allow setting too stringent qualifications for bidding participants, so the process will only set content qualification criteria. Keeping in mind how these can be interpreted by those without any prior Wikipedia experience (let's assume some copyrighting or PR company is willing to bid), I asked our partner to be ready that they might end up with a contractor who is unable to prepare content in line with target language Wikipedia communities' policies, practices and other expectations. TIDA seems to understand this and is willing to mitigate this possible outcome by breaking the process into stages, for necessary improvements to be done at later stages. I also calmed them down that whoever wins the bidding is better be ready to play well, as this case will most likely end up at the radar of Russia's and international Mass media, might be investigated and then forever described in Wikipedia.
* I will post the link to this on English-speaking Facebook groups and Telegram channels of Wikimedia movement
* I will inform respective Wikipedia language section's Village pumps once procurement contract details are out (Russian and Tatar for certain, possibly English).
* Meanwhile, I start hearing similar interest from Tatarstan's Tourism Board (to be continued)
-------- Пересылаемое сообщение --------
30.05.2020, 15:26, "Фархад Фаткуллин / Farhad Fatkullin" <frhd(a)yandex.com>:
Dear Richard and WREN colleagues,
I have good news to share and a request for comment - one of my counterparts in Tatarstan receiving regional department of finance approval for funding Wikipedia related services via tendering state procurement contract in line with Russian regulations.
Details below, grateful for any advice.
regards,
farhad
--
Farhad Fatkullin - Фархад Фаткуллин http://sikzn.ru/ Тел.+79274158066 / skype:frhdkazan / Wikipedia:frhdkazan / Wikidata:Q34036417
We will start with them by making sure that https://w.wiki/SBF list entries (plus a few more Wikidata entities to be created) are equally well developed and sourced in Tatar, Russian and English, after which the intent is to venture into other domains (images, data, etc.) and 8 more languages of initial interest to them.
I'm now thinking on how to structure all this in a way that our first engagement with the regional government entity is seen as a mutual success, as this is an important step to get backing of Tatarstan President necessary to have local GLAMs and Education entities more willing to consider cooperation with Wikimedia.
In parallel, we are discussing a WiR position for training their staff, organizing events for their local and foreign partners, and moving their investments portal to CC-BY.
I seem to be the only experienced local Wikimedian to be both active internationally and proficient in regional language (Tatar), so I am still undecided if I should concentrate on getting local partners happy or, instead of doing the raw writing and sourcing work they are ready to pay for, I better concentrate on making sure global Wikimedia community is comfortable with this activity. I understand that myself and other Wikimedia Russia members serving as eyes to assure material meets Wikipedia and wider Wikimedia principles and policies would be good, with international oversight from outside of Russia likely being an important component as well.
On top of this, I am also talking to Tourism, Youth Affairs and Culture departments, as well as Office of the President for their Tatar language related initiatives, was recently invited to join an Advisory Committee on Preservation and Development of Tatar language.
-------- Конец пересылаемого сообщения --------
Dear Wikimedians,
This is a reminder that *tomorrow, Wednesday, Jan 13th, at 6pm UTC*, we
will have Wikimedia Clinic #012, this time featuring a presentation from
the Wikimedia Foundation's Growth team, on the latest developments and
findings from their work.
The call will be held in English, using *Google Meet*, and the link is
*https://meet.google.com/kdr-ufce-qxh*
<https://meet.google.com/kdr-ufce-qxh>
As in all Clinics, after the presentation (which will include time for
questions and answers), there will be time to bring up *your own topics,
questions, or short presentations*.
For more information about the program, see its Meta page
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Clinics>. You may also be
interested in the recent *retrospective*
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Clinics/Retrospective> we
published about the program so far.
See you tomorrow!
A.
Asaf Bartov (he/him/his)
Senior Program Officer, Emerging Wikimedia Communities
Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/>
Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the
sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality!
https://donate.wikimedia.org
Hi Samir -
Thanks for the update. We've had a good response to this and will be including contributions from India and Ghana. We'll possibly/hopefully engage with someone from the northern hemisphere later too.
Warm wishes,
Toni
On Tuesday, January 12, 2021, 12:02:43 PM GMT, wikimedia-l-request(a)lists.wikimedia.org <wikimedia-l-request(a)lists.wikimedia.org> wrote:
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 1
Date: Mon, 11 Jan 2021 17:34:03 +0200
From: Samir Elsharbaty <selsharbaty(a)wikimedia.org>
To: Toni Sant <toni.sant(a)wikimalta.org>, Wikimedia Mailing List
<wikimedia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org>
Subject: Re: [Wikimedia-l] Wikipedia 20 on the radio in Malta
Message-ID:
<CANGCV0DxTNT84RiQmQrz9uRughariFDD5CKDUGcdbKxizoakag(a)mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="utf-8"
On Wed, Dec 30, 2020 at 2:58 PM Toni Sant <toni.sant(a)wikimalta.org> wrote:
> I know there's a list of events on meta [1] but I'm not sure how to go
> about spreading the word about this call out for messages from celebration
> organizers around the world. If I get nothing from this, I'll directly
> target some of the local even organizers through their user talk pages.
Hi Toni. Sorry for the late reply here.
There are some channels for communications regarding Wikipedia 20 on meta
wiki [1], Facebook [2] and Telegram [3].
Hope that helps with your plans.
Best,
Samir
[1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Wikipedia_20
[2] https://www.facebook.com/groups/3028324960606545
[3] https://t.me/joinchat/E1HSNh2q8E-XPzdw3pLUIw
Samir Elsharbaty (he/him)
Brand Associate
Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/>
On Wed, Dec 30, 2020 at 2:58 PM Toni Sant <toni.sant(a)wikimalta.org> wrote:
> Hello to all -
>
> Wikimedia Community Malta is supporting a weekly 60-minute radio series
> called Vjaġġi Enċiklopediċi *(literal trans: Encyclopedic Voyages)*,
> which sees the start of season 2 next week. For the program planned for
> the week of 12 January 2021 we'll be marking Wikipedia's 20th birthday,
> which as most Wikipedians know is on January 15th.
>
> We'd very much like to hear from anyone who is preparing to celebrate
> Wikipedia's 20th birthday is some way or other. Please contact me directly
> to arrange a recording (in English and/or in your language) over the coming
> days. If you prefer, you can also record a brief audio message yourself (in
> English and/or in your language) and email it to me by Monday 4 January.
>
> I know there's a list of events on meta [1] but I'm not sure how to go
> about spreading the word about this call out for messages from celebration
> organizers around the world. If I get nothing from this, I'll directly
> target some of the local even organizers through their user talk pages.
>
> Many thanks and happy new year!
>
> Toni
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> *___________________________Dr Toni SantWikimedia Community MaltaUser:
> ToniSantEmail: toni.sant(a)wikimalta.org <toni.sant(a)wikimalta.org>Web:
> http://www.wikimalta.org <http://www.wikimalta.org>*
>
> [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_20/Events/List
------------------------------
End of Wikimedia-l Digest, Vol 202, Issue 12
********************************************
Hello to all -
Wikimedia Community Malta is supporting a weekly 60-minute radio series called Vjaġġi Enċiklopediċi (literal trans: Encyclopedic Voyages), which sees the start of season 2 next week. For the program planned for the week of 12 January 2021 we'll be marking Wikipedia's 20th birthday, which as most Wikipedians know is on January 15th.
We'd very much like to hear from anyone who is preparing to celebrate Wikipedia's 20th birthday is some way or other. Please contact me directly to arrange a recording (in English and/or in your language) over the coming days. If you prefer, you can also record a brief audio message yourself (in English and/or in your language) and email it to me by Monday 4 January.
I know there's a list of events on meta [1] but I'm not sure how to go about spreading the word about this call out for messages from celebration organizers around the world. If I get nothing from this, I'll directly target some of the local even organizers through their user talk pages.
Many thanks and happy new year!
Toni
___________________________
Dr Toni Sant
Wikimedia Community Malta
User: ToniSant
Email: toni.sant(a)wikimalta.org
Web: http://www.wikimalta.org
[1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia_20/Events/List
Hi Yamen and Mourad,
Thanks for pointing this, the report is in this meta page:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Tunisie/Report_2020
All the reports are listed in our Reporting page:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Tunisie/Reports
Best regards,
Habib Mhenni
Le dim. 10 janv. 2021 à 13:28, Mourad Ben Abdallah <
mourad.babdallah(a)gmail.com> a écrit :
> Hi Habib,
>
> Did you intend to attach a document?
>
> Regards,
> Mourad
>
> Le 7 janv. 2021 à 09:36, Habib M'henni <habib.mhenni(a)gmail.com> a écrit :
>
> Hi everyone,
>
> On behalf of the Wikimedia Tunisia User Group, I am pleased to submit to
> you the report of the group's activities during the year 2020.
>
> Happy New Year everyone.
> Habib Mhenni
>
>
>
> --
> <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Dyolf77>
> _______________________________________________
> Wikimedia-tn mailing list
> Wikimedia-tn(a)lists.wikimedia.org
> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-tn
> ****
> Ceci est un courriel diffusé sur la Mailing List officielle de Wikimedia
> TN User Group, pour vous désinscrire, visitez
> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-tn
>
>
>
Hi,
We have the great honor to present you the report
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Algeria/Gestion/Reports/Repport20…>of
the WikiDZ Algeria group,
WikiDZ <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Algeria>is a local user
group officially recognized by the Wikimedia Foundation.
This year will remain in the collective memory of all humanity, where we
felt united, a feeling that we already feel within the great wikimedia
community.
In spite of this, the group continued its activities even more strongly:
We reached largely our objectives
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Algeria/Gestion/plan/Plan2020>that
we set last year.
By improving the governance structure of the group by establishing a charter
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Algeria/Charte>for the group.
By organization of local and international competitions
By cultural exchange between the Maghreb and the East using two languages :
French for Algeria and English for the Levant.
Participation in regional and international meetings and conferences .
Participation in international Wikimedia discussions.
Brand / Strategy / Universal code of conduct.
See our direct link of report in arabic / french and english at :
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Algeria/Gestion/Reports/Repport20…
Take care / 2021 will be better for our community for the implementation of
its vision we will be with you on this wonderful journey.
Bests wishes
*FR translation*
Salut,
Nous avons le grand honneur de vous présenter le rapport du groupe WikiDZ
Algérie,
WikiDZ est un groupe d'utilisateurs local officiellement reconnu par la
Wikimedia Foundation.
Cette année restera dans nos mémoires collectives, où nous nous sommes
sentis unis, un sentiment que nous ressentons déjà au sein de la grande
communauté wikimedia.
Malgré cela, le groupe a poursuivi ses activités avec encore plus de
détermination :
Nous avons largement atteint les objectifs que nous nous étions fixés
l'année dernière.
En améliorant la structure de gouvernance du groupe par l'établissement
d'une charte pour le groupe.
En organisant des concours locaux et internationaux
Par des échanges culturels entre le Maghreb et l'Orient en utilisant deux
langues : le français pour l'Algérie et l'anglais pour le Levant.
Participation à des rencontres et conférences régionales et internationales
.
Participation aux discussions internationales de Wikimedia.
Marque / Stratégie / Code de conduite universel.
Voir notre lien direct de reportage en arabe / français et anglais à :
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Algeria/Gestion/Reports/Repport20…
Prenez soin de vous / 2021 sera meilleur pour notre communauté pour la mise
en œuvre de sa vision nous serons avec vous dans ce merveilleux voyage.
Meilleurs voeux
*الترجمة بالعربي *
مرحبا،
نتشرف بتقديم تقرير مجموعة ويكي ديزاد الجزائر لكم ،
.هي مجموعة مستخدمين محلية معترف بها رسميًا من قبل مؤسسة ويكيميديا wikiDZ .
.سيبقى هذا العام في الذاكرة الجماعية للبشرية جمعاء ، حيث شعرنا بالوحدة ،
وهو شعور نشعر به بالفعل داخل مجتمع ويكيميديا .
وعلى الرغم من ذلك ، واصلت المجموعة نشاطها بقوة أكبر:
لقد حققنا إلى حد كبير أهدافنا التي حددناها العام الماضي.
من خلال تحسين هيكل الحوكمة للمجموعة من خلال وضع ميثاق للمجموعة.
عن طريق تنظيم مسابقات محلية ودولية
عن طريق التبادل الثقافي بين المغرب و المشرق باستخدام لغتين: الفرنسية
للجزائر والإنجليزية للمشرق.
المشاركة في الاجتماعات والمؤتمرات الإقليمية والدولية.
المشاركة في مناقشات ويكيميديا الدولية.
العلامة التجارية / الإستراتيجية / مدونة السلوك العالمية.
في أسفل السطر الرابط المباشر للتقرير باللغتين العربية / الفرنسية
والإنجليزية
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Algeria/Gestion/Reports/Repport20…
إعتنو بأنفسكم / سيكون 2021 أفضل لمجتمعنا لتنفيذ رؤيته وسنكون معكم في هذه
الرحلة الرائعة
كل الأماني
*محمد بشوندة Mohammed Bachounda <http://bachounda.com/>*
Leader Wikimedia Algeria UG
[image: Thumbnail for version as of 13:48, 19 April 2020]
Dear Friends/Wikimedians,
The Community Resources team is reviewing its current grants programs
(Annual Plan Grants, Simple Annual Plan Grants, Project Grants and Rapid
Grants) to ensure we are aligning with the strategic direction, with a
focus on equity and building a thriving movement. The redesign process will
take into consideration the Movement Strategy recommendations and
discussions around the recommendations. It will integrate direct feedback
from applicants and grantees that we have received over the past five
years. It will also continue to seek feedback from community members as it
is developed.
We want to move towards implementing and learning new models for grant
programs that will feed into the broader resource allocation discussion of
the Global Council.
In this redesign process, we are examining:
-
Our role as a team to support communities and the movement
-
Our processes: applications, reporting, metrics, and participatory
decision-making processes and their alignment with equity
-
Our programs and understanding of what are the needs we are addressing,
and what elements are missing to achieve the strategic direction.
We invite all of you to join us on this journey. On the Meta-Wiki page [1],
there is an overview and timeline for the grants redesign process. We will
host office hours for multiple time zones in January 2021 to answer any
questions about the redesign process [2].
In February 2021, we will post a proposal for the new grants strategy. We
will invite you to review the proposed ideas. You will be able to provide
feedback on proposed grant programs on-wiki and through other channels.
Information about participating will be shared on the Meta-Wiki page [1].
When the feedback period is over, the Community Resources team will review
all community input and make final adjustments to complete the redesign. In
March 2020, the Community Resources team will review and incorporate
suggested changes and send a final proposal for endorsement and approval by
the leadership of the Wikimedia Foundation. Working together with you is
essential so that together we create grant programs that are useful and
address real needs for our communities. We look forward to engaging in this
next step and to hearing your ideas.
On behalf of the Community Resources team,
Kassia
1.
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Resources/Grants_Strategy_Relaunc…
2.
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Resources/Grants_Strategy_Relaunc…
--
*Kassia Echavarri-Queen* (She/Her)
Director Community Investment
Wikimedia Foundation <https://wikimediafoundation.org/>
kechavarriqueen(a)wikimedia.org
