[Foundation-l] Fwd: Wikimedia India Program Trust

Fri Nov 11 18:58:33 UTC 2011

A couple of clarifications:

On Fri, Nov 11, 2011 at 10:41 AM, Béria Lima <berialima at gmail.com> wrote:

> Disclaimer: I'm not Indian, and I don't know much about the Indian
> operations, but I needed to answer about something I do know.
>
>
> *Anirudh said: WMIN and WIPT will theoretically compete for funding within
> >> India, much of which will be allocated to WIPT, given that it is
> >> professionalized (and because we never had a chance) and in WMF's good
> >> graces.*
> >>
> >
> > *And Bishakha answered: As I understand it, WMIN has received a grant
> > from WMF, so I can't understand how it "never had a chance".**  *
> >
>
> Ok talking about grants: WMIN has so far 2 grants: a Bootstrap
> Grant<http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:WM_IN/Bootstrap_Grant>and
> a grant for WCI
> 2011 <
> http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:WM_IN/WikiConference_India_2011
> >(since
> this
> grant<
> http://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:WM_IN/Wiki_Community_development_in_India_and_newsletter
> >state
> in the begin that is not a chapter grant, despite the fact that has
> the WMIN in the title). One is for a ver specif thing - a conference - who
> is being leading by 2 "fellows" of WMF.

So there are some technical issues that we were dealing with regarding the
funding of the conference that did not enable it to be a grant. Also, I
think it is a mistake to say that the conference is the product of a WMF
initiative or is being controlled by WMF. The conference was and is a
community initiative with lots of participation. We provided a small
stipend to help once it was clear that the logistical activities required
full time resources.  WMF or the trust as not run the conference...we have
provided funds to enable it.

> The second one has nothing to do
> with professionalization.

The grant does actually help to put some building blocks in place such as
supporting accounting and legal needs. Also, nothing stopping the chapter
from building further in the future...since the grant process remains open
as do communication lines with WMF and the community.

> So when comes to funding, if they decide to
> collect funds locally, would be incredible difficult to "fight against" the
> WIPT who is full of employees[1] who are used to work with that for years.
> That was - I believe - Anirudh's point.
>

As I said, there is no reason to "fight against" anyone.  For example,
Hisham, Gautam and others all worked to find sponsorships for the
Wikiconference India. It was a collaborative effort, not a competition.
Funding should and will flow to program work in various places.  In some
cases, donors may be more comfortable giving to one org or another...so it
may actually be an asset to have more than one alternative.

>
> [1] I'm in WMIN ML and I see a hiring once per month, sometimes more.
>

There have been three consultant hires in India to date - Hisham,  Nitika
and Shiju. As mentioned in the past, the team is expected to be 5 people.

_____
> *Béria Lima*
> <http://wikimedia.pt/>(351) 925 171 484
>
> *Imagine um mundo onde é dada a qualquer pessoa a possibilidade de ter
> livre acesso ao somatório de todo o conhecimento humano. Ajude-nos a
> construir esse sonho. <http://wikimedia.pt/Donativos>*
>
> Best,
Barry

>
> On 11 November 2011 17:34, Bishakha Datta <bishakhadatta at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > On Fri, Nov 11, 2011 at 8:39 PM, Anirudh Bhati <anirudhsbh at gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >
> > >
> > > The initial idea, if I understood it correctly, was to establish
> another
> > > non-profit body within India, for a period of three to five years to
> > > execute specific (and large-scale) programmes.  As of now, the WIPT
> > > (Wikimedia India Program Office) can pretty much do anything it wants
> > with
> > > the Wikimedia brand - partner with institutions, raise money locally,
> > have
> > > paid employees and bypass community.
> >
> >
> > From what I have seen, the program office does not behave like a law unto
> > itself, as implied above.
> >
> >
> > > This is what I foresee happening:
> > >  WMIN will be involved in community-building and small-scale projects
> > which
> > > support volunteers and the WIPT will partner with large institutions in
> > > India (who are understandably looking to club with international
> > > organizations), get a lot of media coverage and acquire the big grants
> > > (since WMIN is not a professional body).
> >
> >
> > WMIN has already had interest from and meetings with other donors,
> > including pretty big ones in India (I was there at one such in 2010), so
> > why this feeling that WMIN can't acquire the big grants?
> >
> >
> > > WMIN and WIPT will theoretically
> > > compete for funding within India, much of which will be allocated to
> > WIPT,
> > > given that it is professionalized (and because we never had a chance)
> and
> > > in WMF's good graces.
> >
> >
> > As I understand it, WMIN has received a grant from WMF, so I can't
> > understand how it "never had a chance".
> >
> >
> > > This is how WMIN has been made redundant (something
> > > that I have been saying for a long, long time).
> > >
> > > I really don't get this. Given that India is a huge country - with more
> > than 1 billion people - and zillions of opportunities to grow editing
> > communities in different languages, how can WMIN become or be made
> > redundant? Also, given that the chapter is less than a year old, and has
> > some new office-bearers, and has announced new plans for moving forward,
> > how is it redundant?
> >
> > My personal view is that there is enough work ahead for not just one, or
> > two, but numerous entities, formal and informal, to enter the fray and
> > actualize this potential. Already, there are many more requests for
> > collaboration within India than either WMIN or WIPT or both put together
> > can handle.
> >
> > Given this huge potential, I don't see why this discussion has to be
> framed
> > through the lens of competition or territoriality.
> >
> > Cheers
> > Bishakha
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> >
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-- 
Barry Newstead
Chief Global Development Officer
Wikimedia Foundation

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