Please accept our apologies for cross-posting this message.
On behalf of the Wikimedia Foundation Board Elections Committee, I am pleased to announce that self-nominations are now being accepted for the 2017 Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees Elections.[1]
The Board of Trustees (Board) is the decision-making body that is ultimately responsible for the long-term sustainability of the Wikimedia Foundation,[2] so we value wide input into its selection. More information about this role can be found at <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_elections/2017/Board_o…>. Please read the letter from the Board of Trustees calling for candidates here: <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_elections/2017/Board_o…>.
The candidacy submission phase will last from April 7 (00:00 UTC) to April 20 (23:59 UTC) and occurring on Meta-Wiki at <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_elections/2017/Board_o…>
We will also be accepting questions to ask the candidates from April 7 to April 20. You can submit your questions on Meta-Wiki at <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_elections/2017/Board_o…>
Once the questions submission period has ended on April 20, the Elections Committee will then collate the questions for the candidates to respond to beginning on April 21.
The goal of this process is to fill the three community-selected seats on the Wikimedia Foundation Board of Trustees. The election results will be used by the Board itself to select its new members.
The full schedule for the Board elections is as follows. All dates are inclusive, that is, from the beginning of the first day (UTC) to the end of the last.
* April 7 (00:00 UTC) - April 20 (23:59 UTC): Board nominations
* April 7 - April 20: Board candidates questions submission period
* April 21 - April 30: Board candidates answer questions
* May 1 - May 14: Board voting period
* May 15-19: Board vote checking
* May 20: Board result announcement goal
In addition to the Board elections, we will also soon be holding elections for the following roles:
* Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC)
** There are five positions being filled. More information about this election can be found at <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_elections/2017/Funds_D…>.
* Funds Dissemination Committee Ombudsperson (Ombuds)
** One position is being filled. More information about this election can be found at <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_elections/2017/Funds_D…>.
Please note that this year the Board of Trustees elections will be held before the FDC and Ombuds elections. Candidates who are not elected to the Board are explicitly permitted and encouraged to submit themselves as candidates to the FDC or Ombuds positions after the results of the Board elections are announced.
More information on this year's elections can be found at <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_elections/2017>.
Please feel free to post a note about the election on your project's village pump. Any questions related to the election can be posted on the talk page on Meta, or sent to the election committee's mailing list, <board-elections AT wikimedia.org>.
On behalf of the Election Committee,
Katie Chan, Chair, Board Election Committee
Joe Sutherland, Community Advocate, Wikimedia Foundation
PS. An on-wiki version of this message is available for translation at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_elections/2017/Updates…
[1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_elections/2017/Board_o…
[2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation_Board_of_Trustees
--
Joe Sutherland
Community Advocate
Wikimedia Foundation
Note: Apologies for cross-posting and sending in English. This message is available for translation on Meta-Wiki.[1]
As we mentioned last month, the Wikimedia movement is beginning a movement-wide strategy discussion, a process which will run throughout 2017. This movement strategy discussion will focus on the future of our movement: where we want to go together, and what we want to achieve.
Regular updates are being sent to the Wikimedia-l mailing list,[2] and posted on Meta-Wiki.[3] Each month, we are sending overviews of these updates to this list as well.
Here is a overview of the updates that have been sent since our message last month:
Update 7 on Wikimedia movement strategy process (16 February 2017)
- https://meta.wikimedia.org/?curid=10195092
- Development of documentation for Tracks A & B
Update 8 on Wikimedia movement strategy process (24 February 2017)
- https://meta.wikimedia.org/?curid=10201503
- Introduction of Track Leads for all four audience tracks
Update 9 on Wikimedia movement strategy process (2 March 2017)
- https://meta.wikimedia.org/?curid=10207604
- Seeking feedback on documents being used to help facilitate upcoming community discussions
Sign up to receive future announcements and monthly highlights of strategy updates on your user talk page: https://meta.wikimedia.org/?curid=10153505
More information about the movement strategy is available on the Meta-Wiki 2017 Wikimedia movement strategy portal.[3]
A version of this message is available for translation on Meta-Wiki.[1]
[1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2017/Updates/Ov…
[2] https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
[3] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2017
List moderators may request that their mailing list not receive future updates by contacting Gregory Varnum (gvarnum(a)wikimedia.org).
Note: Apologies for cross-posting and sending in English. Message is available for translation on Meta-Wiki.[1]
The Wikimedia movement is beginning a movement-wide strategy discussion, a process which will run throughout 2017. For 15 years, Wikimedians have worked together to build the largest free knowledge resource in human history. During this time, we've grown from a small group of editors to a diverse network of editors, developers, affiliates, readers, donors, and partners. Today, we are more than a group of websites. We are a movement rooted in values and a powerful vision: all knowledge for all people. As a movement, we have an opportunity to decide where we go from here.
This movement strategy discussion will focus on the future of our movement: where we want to go together, and what we want to achieve. We hope to design an inclusive process that makes space for everyone: editors, community leaders, affiliates, developers, readers, donors, technology platforms, institutional partners, and people we have yet to reach. There will be multiple ways to participate including on-wiki, in private spaces, and in-person meetings. You are warmly invited to join and make your voice heard.
The immediate goal is to have a strategic direction by Wikimania 2017 to help frame a discussion on how we work together toward that strategic direction.
Regular updates are being sent to the Wikimedia-l mailing list,[2] and posted on Meta-Wiki.[3] Beginning with this message, monthly reviews of these updates will be sent to this list as well.
Here is a review of the updates that have been sent so far:
Update 1 on Wikimedia movement strategy process (15 December 2016)
- https://meta.wikimedia.org/?curid=10153348
- Introduction to process and information about budget spending resolution to support it
Update 2 on Wikimedia movement strategy process (23 December 2016)
- https://meta.wikimedia.org/?curid=10157430
- Start of search for Lead Architect for movement strategy process
Update 3 on Wikimedia movement strategy process (8 January 2017)
- https://meta.wikimedia.org/?curid=10167420
- Plans for strategy sessions at upcoming Wikimedia Conference 2017
Update 4 on Wikimedia movement strategy process (11 January 2017)
- https://meta.wikimedia.org/?curid=10169064
- Introduction of williamsworks
Update 5 on Wikimedia movement strategy process (2 February 2017)
- https://meta.wikimedia.org/?curid=10184130
- The core movement strategy team, team tracks being developed, introduction of the Community Process Steering Committee, discussions at WikiIndaba conference 2017 and the Wikimedia movement affiliates executive directors gathering in Switzerland
Update 6 on Wikimedia movement strategy process (10 February 2017)
- https://meta.wikimedia.org/?curid=10190631
- Tracks A & B process prototypes and providing feedback, updates on development of all four Tracks
Sign up to receive future announcements and monthly highlights of strategy updates on your user talk page: https://meta.wikimedia.org/?curid=10153505
More information about the movement strategy is available on the Meta-Wiki 2017 Wikimedia movement strategy portal.[3]
A version of this message is available for translation on Meta-Wiki.[1]
[1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2017/Updates/In…
[2] https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
[3] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Strategy/Wikimedia_movement/2017
List moderators may request that their mailing list not receive future updates by contacting Gregory Varnum (gvarnum(a)wikimedia.org).
Hi,
On behalf of Wikimedia Foundation’s Global Reach Team
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Global_Reach>, we would like to invite all
the South Asian Wikimedia communities to our office hours to discuss our
work in the region.
Meeting Details
Date: Thursday, 19th January 2017
Time: 16:00 UTC/21:30 IST
Duration: 1 hour
Language: English
Google Hangout Location:
https://hangouts.google.com/hangouts/_/ytl/w5sE6IZTXERWH0VvKtDRiAm9WE1eZ5
mYcnQm0h7dHok=?hl=en_US&authuser=0
If you are not able to join the hangout, you can watch the live stream with
a few seconds lag at
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qD-VCpQkVSk
Etherpad: https://etherpad.wikimedia.org/p/Global_Reach_South_Asia_
Office_Hours
Agenda
-
Introduction of Global Reach Team and office hours
-
Research around New Readers <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/New_Readers>
and our partnership themes
-
Feedback for next office hours
-
Q&A
We plan to hold these office hours at regular intervals. FYI, office hours
for South East Asia and Central Asia/Eastern Europe will be held
separately; given the size of communities, we needed to break down the
regions.
Please feel free to add your questions, comments, and expectations in the
Etherpad document shared above. You can also reach out to
sgupta(a)wikimedia.org and rayyakkannu(a)wikimedia.org for any clarification.
Please share this invitation in community social media channels to spread
the word.
Thanks,
Ravi
--
Manager, Strategic Partnerships, Asia
Wikimedia Foundation.
Mobile: +91-9986993336
Skype: ravidreams(a)gmail.com
Dear Indic Wikipedians,
India <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India> celebrates 28 February as
National Science Day <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Science_Day>
each year to mark the discovery of the Raman effect
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raman_Effect> by Indian scientist Sir
Chandrasekhara Venkata Raman <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/C.V._Raman> on
28 February 1928. Raman was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nobel_Prize_in_Physics> For this discovery,
in the year 1930. Most schools celebrate National Science day by arranging
science festivals, demo and competition of science models, visiting science
museums, etc.
Instead of celebrating National Science Day as just one-day event, it is
planned to have a month long events in Indian language Wikipedias. These
events will be online and offline editathons, outreach activities and
meetups. The goal is to add more articles on science topics to Indian
language Wikipedias on topics on which articles are not present in the
respective language Wikipedia as of now. Additionally, efforts will be made
to enhance and improve existing articles on science topics.
Please join this. Add your event here -
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/National_Science_Month_Editathon
[Sorry for cross-posting]
Thanks and regards,
Pavanaja
Hello,
It gives us great pleasure to inform that the Train-the-Trainer (TTT) 2017
programme organised by CIS-A2K is going to be held from 20-22 February 2017.
*What is TTT?*
Train the Trainer or TTT is a residential training program. The program
attempts to groom leadership skills among the Indian Wikimedia community
members. Earlier TTT have been conducted in 2013, 2015 and 2016.
*Who should join?*
Any active Wikimedian contributing to any Indic language Wikimedia project
is eligible to apply.
An editor must have 500+ edits.
Anyone who have already participated in an earlier iteration of TTT, can
not apply.
Please see more about this program and apply to participate or encourage
the deserving candidates from your community to do so:
https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CIS-A2K/Events/Train_the_Tra
iner_Program/2017
If you have any question, please let us know.
Regards
Dear one & all
Please find below Monthly Report of Wikimedia India
You can find this report along with our other monthly reports here -
http://wiki.wikimedia.in/Reports#2016-17
EventsWiki Loves Monuments 2016 Results
<https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2016_in_Ind…>
After going through more than 37,000 images, the results for Wiki Loves
Monuments have finally been announced. To summarise, we received 37,000+
images images in this edition from 1784 participants. 1500+ participants
contributed to the movement for the first time during the contest. From the
37,000+ images we received, 1300 images are already been used in Wikipedia
and it sister projects. Inspite of the contest ending, the flow of
knowledge doesn’t end here, there are plenty of unused ASI monument images
which is now available to utilize them across the movement. The WLM India
core team which comprised of Abhinav Srivastava,Kiran RaviKumar,Karthik
Nadar,Naveen Francis,Sanket Oswal,Santosh Shringare and Yohann Thomas show
their gratitude to the jury members, the volunteers & the participants who
made this successful. Also, the organizers want to thank Wikimedia
Foundation for funding, Wikimedia India Chapter for joining hands and WLM
International team for the support received throughout the competition.
You can find the winners here-
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Wiki_Loves_Monuments_2016_in_Ind…
Upgradation of Wikimedia India Server
Wikimedia India's website layout has remained the same since its inception
in 2011 With an outdated server & firmware, and the website facing downtime
with periodic snags, a decision was made to upgrade the server & also the
interface of the Wikimedia India website In the months of October &
November, the software was upgraded & migrated to the new software. With a
new interface & updated layout, the website of Wikimedia India is now
better than ever.
Wikimedia India would want to thank Naveen Francis & Ranjith Siji for all
their help in this exercise.
Wikipedia Asian Month 2016
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Wikipedia_Asian_Month>
With the 2016's iteration of the online edit-a-thon,taking place in
November 2016, the purpose of Asian Month on the English Wikipedia is to
improve the quantity and quality of articles relating to Asian countries.
Last year, over 7,000 articles were contributed in 43 languages in
Wikipedia Asian Month.
This year too, more than 500 users have enrolled themselves to contribute
to this online edit-a-thon.
As a symbol of friendship between Wikipedia's Asian communities, each
participant who creates at least four (4) articles that fulfill the
criteria will receive a specially designed Wikipedia postcard from other
participating countries. Wikipedians who create the most articles on each
Wikipedia will be honored as "Wikipedia Asian Ambassadors".
Other newsWikiSangamotsavam`2016
Wikisangamotsavam-2016, the fifth annual gathering of users and well
wishers of Malayalam Wikimedia projects, will take place from 26,27,28
December, 2016 in Kanjangad,Kasargod Kerala. Wikimedia India helped the
organizers of WikiSangamotsavam`2016 to apply for a Rapid grant
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project/Rapid/ML_Wikipedia/WikiSanga…>
to the WMF which was successfully approved.
Raju Suthar Infrastructure Scholarship
Wikimedia India helped Raju Suthar to apply for a Rapid grant
<https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project/Rapid/Raju_Suthar/Laptop>
to the WMF which was successfully approved. Raju Suthar is one of the most
active Wikipedians on the Hindi Wikipedia with almost 750+ articles to his
name. In July 2016, he was also featured on the Wikimedia India website as
the Featured Wikimedian
<http://wiki.wikimedia.in/Featured_Wikimedian/Archive/2016> of the month.
Featured Wikimedia of the Month for November
Dr.Vishwanatha Badikana
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Vishwanatha_Badikana> is a Kannada
Professor at the Prestigious St. Aloysius College
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St._Aloysius_College_(Mangalore)> in
Mangalore.He started editing Kannada Wikipedia in Septmeber,2014 & Tulu in
January,2015 as part of Wikipedia Education Programme run in his Institute.
He was part of a small team of editors who worked & finally brought Tulu
Wikipedia out of incubator recently. Dr Vishwanatha mainly write articles
on folklore & has written close to 100+ articles in Tulu Wikipedia. He
currently working on a unique project where he is writing articles on all
the Alphabets of Tulu. Since Tulu is spoken over a small region of across
Karnataka & Kerala,he believes that these articles will be useful for
students to learn & speak Tulu which will lead to growth of the language.
Other Wikimedia news in IndiaOpen Con 2016 Ranchi
The OpenCon 2016 Ranchi was hosted at Dept. of Zoology, Ranchi University
was jointly organized by the Open Access India and the Dept. of Zoology,
Ranchi University in partnership with OpenCon on 12 November 2016 from
10:00 am to 4:00 pm. The OpenCon is a conference for the next generation to
learn about Open Access, Open Education, and Open Data, develop critical
skills, and catalyze action towards a more open system of research and
education organized by SPARC, the Right to Research Coalition, and a
Organizing Committee of students and early career academic professionals
from around the world. The OpenCon 2016 Ranchi is a satellite event of the
main OpenCon 2016 which was hosted for the first time in Ranchi, Jharkhand
and is the only second satellite event to be held in India this year. First
being the OpenCon 2016 Chandigarh which was organized as a parallel event
along side of the Wiki Conference India held at Chandigarh in August 2016.
Previously OpenCon 2015 Kolkata satellite event was organized in December
2015 at Kolkata by the Open Access India community of practice consisting
of students, researchers, librarians, professors advocating for Open
Access, Open Data, and Open Education in India. Approximately 2000 people
have attended various satellite events around the world in the past 2014
and 2015.
Indic Wikisource Update
After the implementation of the Google OCR script to all the Indic
Wikisource projects, there is an accelerated increase in the statitics.The
Wikisource community has published the following updates for Indic
Wikisource
- November
<https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2016-November/012752…>
- December
<https://lists.wikimedia.org/pipermail/wikimediaindia-l/2016-December/012782…>
Regards,
Yohann Thomas
Wikimedia India
<!--Apologies if this mail is not in your language.-->
Friends,
TL; DR
After almost five years of professional engagement with the South Asian
language Wikimedia communities, I have decided to step down from my current
role. And I will remain a Wikipedian friend of yours who you can reach out
in volunteer capacity on my talk page.
——
I was about to complete my first wiki-versary when I joined the Wikimedia
Foundation’s India Program as a Consultant for Community and Program
Support. The program ran until August of 2012 and then got housed at the
Centre for Internet Society’s Access to Knowledge program (CIS-A2K) [0].
Thanks to Sunil, Pranesh, Nirmita, Nishant and many others at the CIS
family who embraced my team from India Program with great amount of trust.
CIS became more like a family for me all these years. It will always remain
my other home and alma mater - calling CIS a former employer will be quite
an understatement. I feel I grew as a person along with the organization
that is today a noted name for its research in openness, accessibility,
privacy, IP reform, access to knowledge, and digital humanity.
Over these years I have had the most memorable time in my personal and
professional life. I have traveled a lot in the country and across the
world, met many friends in the Wikimedia and the open knowledge community,
and had the privilege of working on many important projects both locally
and globally. The South Asian language Wikimedia communities that I have
worked with have not just been patient and understanding, but have been my
mentor in many ways. I thank you all wholeheartedly for being such great
friends and guides. And I hope that I have added some value to your
community, project and the larger Wikimedia movement.
This was an incredible journey and I feel really honored to see as many as
three new Wikimedia projects taking birth where I had a chance to
contribute. Many of you have shared your stories in an interview series
WikipediansSpeak [1] that I started during my time at CIS, and I felt so
touched and connected to many people that spoke languages that I never even
understood. I want to thank many Wikimedians both from the Indian and the
global Wikimedia community that participated in @WeAreWikipedia [2], a
rotation curation project on Twitter that I started as a voluntary project.
The good news is @WeAreWikipedia has always been and will be a
volunteer-led project even after I leave my professional role at CIS.
In the last few days of my work at CIS, my biggest worry was if I will be
able to give much time to wrap up Project Ol Chiki [3], a project to create
typeface family and input tools for the Ol Chiki script (used to write the
Santali language) that I was leading. I would like to personally thank to
colleagues T.Vishnuvardhan (former Programme Director of CIS-A2K) for his
guidance, Pooja Saxena for designing the typeface and several other
peripherals, Prof. Damayanti Besra and other friends of the
Santali-language community who have reviewed the typeface, and Wikimedians
Jnanaranjan Sahu and Nasim Ali who have created the input tools. A few
years of my childhood was spent in a place where 30% of people spoke this
aboriginal language Santali, and I cannot share how nostalgic it felt when
the opportunity came to lead this project.
Once again, thanks you all the friends in the Wikimedia community, and the
larger openness movement for your kind support over all these years. In the
long road, this was a great milestone but there are many more to come. I
hope to continue working with you in my volunteer capacity, and/or may be
in my new role.
Where I am heading next?
Some of you might know this already. I am super excited that the next
milestone is going to be another open source community as I am joining
Mozilla’s Participation team as South Asia Community Catalyzer [4]. I am
super excited for it. And I will keep seeing you all amazing people on the
Wikimedia projects like before.
Do feel free to get in touch with me in my talk page at User:Psubhashish,
or over email at psubhashish (at) gmail (dot) com, or at @subhapa on both
Twitter and Telegram.
0. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CIS-A2K
<https://psubhashish-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com/Redirect?ukey=1PJvbCaYjAlErR…>
1. https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/WikipediansSpeak
<https://psubhashish-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com/Redirect?ukey=1PJvbCaYjAlErR…>
2. https://twitter.com/wearewikipedia
<https://psubhashish-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com/Redirect?ukey=1PJvbCaYjAlErR…>
3. https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Project_Ol_chiki
<https://psubhashish-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com/Redirect?ukey=1PJvbCaYjAlErR…>
4.
https://discourse.mozilla-community.org/t/introducing-our-new-south-asia-co…
<https://psubhashish-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com/Redirect?ukey=1PJvbCaYjAlErR…>
Love,
Subhashish
Subhashish Panigrahi
Programme Officer, Access To Knowledge
Centre for Internet and Society
@subhapa / https://cis-india.org
<https://psubhashish-dot-yamm-track.appspot.com/Redirect?ukey=1PJvbCaYjAlErR…>
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