*Hi Everyone, On Thursday, we released an extensive research report [1]
about Wikimedia’s role in shaping the future of the information commons.
The report was created as part of the Wikimedia 2030 strategy process, as
the Foundation engaged research teams to examine awareness and usage of
Wikimedia projects and evolving information consumption habits. The
consulting teams conducted desk research and spoke both with people
familiar with and involved in the Wikimedia movement and expert observers
who could inform the strategy process but who are not directly involved
today. In one-on-one interviews, experts in geographic areas where the
projects are most heavily used were asked to think about future trends in
their fields and how the trends might apply to the Wikimedia movement’s
strategy. This particular research focused on six broad topics that seemed
most likely to further or frustrate the vision for growth that the
Foundation embraces. In this report, the Foundation’s staff and its
consulting teams present top-level insights from this global process.
Perspectives from interviewees around the world are also provided with
context about their region and area of expertise. The report draws from six
comprehensive research briefs,[2] published on Wikimedia’s strategy
website, which address these topics: - Demographics: Who is in the world in
2030? The report outlines global population trends, which project the
highest population growth in places where Wikimedia has significant room to
expand.- Emerging platforms: How will people around the world be using
communications technologies to find, create, and share information? The
report considers future technologies, from the imminent to the speculative,
and examines what range of new hardware, software, and content production
capabilities might mean for content creation and user access.-
Misinformation: How will people find trustworthy sources of knowledge and
information? The report explores how content creators and technologists can
ensure that knowledge is trustworthy and also identifies threats to these
efforts.- Literacy: How will the world learn in the future? The report
forecasts that technology will transform learning and educational settings
as well as expand the requirements for literacy beyond text and images.-
Open knowledge: How will we share culture, ideas, and information? The
report documents the global trend toward opening collections and archives
to the public and making them freely available online, and explores ways
the Wikimedia movement might partner with people and organizations to
accelerate this sharing.- Expect the unexpected: How can we know what the
world will look like in 2030 — and what the Wikimedia movement’s role will
be in it?The report proposes that a study of trends can never be truly
predictive and introduces alternative visionary tools such as scenario
planning and speculative social science fiction.The consulting team
published an additional research brief on the future of the digital
commons,[3] examining the political and commercial forces that could lead
to the contraction or expansion of the open web. Looking at the
constellation of issues most important to the Wikimedia community, this
brief identifies access, censorship, privacy, copyright, and intermediary
liability as active battlefronts.The fate of the digital commons is the
single subject that rises above and intersects with each of the other areas
of research. The commons of the future will shape the environment that
ultimately fosters or blocks all of the Wikimedia projects’ work. Thus,
this report weaves research findings about the future of the commons
throughout.Specifically, the report highlights growing concerns across
civil society about the quality of and access to open knowledge online, as
well as compounding threats to the Wikimedia movement and its open
knowledge allies. Between now and 2030, open knowledge advocates face
headwinds that include censorship by governments and corporations, internet
shutdowns, surveillance of users, information monopolies, and troubling
developments such as the arrests of scholars and journalists operating in
closed societies.The Wikimedia movement is positioned to work toward
potential solutions to these threats. Despite the trend toward a “darkening
globe,” some leaders see the Wikimedia movement as among the brightest
hopes and most inspiring exemplars of the global digital commons.The
Wikimedia movement has immediate internal challenges to address, including
adapting to an increasingly mobile internet, recruiting a new generation of
volunteers, and expanding its partnerships with schools and “GLAM”
organizations (i.e. galleries, libraries, archives, museums, and other
cultural institutions that have access to knowledge as their mission). But
Wikimedia and its open knowledge allies, working together, can lift up
people everywhere, empowering communities through access and participation
in knowledge creation and sharing. Across the interviews and salons, there
was a clarion call for the building of this larger, more active, and
multi-partner open knowledge movement.For extended narratives, many more
citations, and community discussion of the research, visit the Wikimedia
strategy page that aggregates into a single web directory not only this
work but also the totality of the Foundation’s strategy process:
2030.wikimedia.org <https://2030.wikimedia.org/>.The report concludes with
an analysis of cross-cutting themes that arose from the research, as well
as a set of recommendations and discussion questions for the movement and
its partners. The goal of these final sections is not to close the
discussion. Instead, it is to set the stage for the next phase of work for
the Foundation and the movement: to move from strategies to actions that
not only will preserve what has already been built, but also make the
projects useful and vital for billions of future Wikimedia users.We're
grateful to the Wikimedia staff, volunteers, consultants, and interviewees
who made this report possible. Best,Caitlin Virtue[1] You can read this on
Wikimedia Commons (PDF):
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Strategy_2030_Wikipedia%27s_role_in…
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Strategy_2030_Wikipedia%27s_role_in_shaping_the_future_of_the_information_commons.pdf>Or
Medium:
https://medium.com/freely-sharing-the-sum-of-all-knowledge/wikimedia-2030-f…
<https://medium.com/freely-sharing-the-sum-of-all-knowledge/wikimedia-2030-forward-and-introductory-notes-dac9ec013c72>[2]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2017/Sources/St…
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2017/Sources/Strategy_2030:_Wikipedia%27s_role_in_shaping_the_future_of_the_information_commons>[3]
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2017/Sources/St…
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2017/Sources/Strategy_2030:_Wikipedia%27s_role_in_shaping_the_future_of_the_information_commons>*
--
Caitlin Virtue
Director of Development
Wikimedia Foundation
(415) 839-6885 x6733
cvirtue(a)wikimedia.org
www.wikimediafoundation.org
*Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the
sum of all knowledge. That's our commitment. Donate.
<https://donate.wikimedia.org>*
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