All Blogs
MoU between PAH Solapur University & CIS-A2K
CIS-A2K is working in collaboration with PAH Solapur University, Solapur in Maharashtra on Wikimedia projects. The Mass Communication and Journalism departments are involved in content generation on Marathi Wikipedia & Commons.
The Huawei bogey
India needs to prove company aids Chinese government, or risk playing into US hands.
Picking ‘Wholes’ - Thinking in Systems Workshop
A System's Thinking masterclass was conducted by Dinesh Korjan on 27th and 28th May in the CIS Delhi office.
Should India adopt Plan S to realise Open Access to Public-funded Scientific Research?
Timely and affordable access to scientific research remains a problem in this digital day and age. Around three decades ago, the radical response that emerged was making public-funded scientific research “open access”, i.e. publishing it on the Web without any legal, technical or financial barriers to access and use such research. Several Indian public research institutions also adopted open access mandates and built self-archiving digital tools, however, the efforts haven’t yielded much. Most countries including India, continue to struggle with implementing open access. The latest international initiative (created in Europe) to remedy this problem is Plan S. Plan S is has been positioned as a strategy to implement immediate open access to scientific publications from 2021 – which India is considering adopting. This article unpacks the disorderly growth of open access in India, and discusses the gap between the Plan's vision and current Indian scenario in some respects.
Wikisource Workshop at Vigyan Ashram, Pabal
The Centre for Internet & Society's Access to Knowledge team (CIS-A2K) organized a workshop in collaboration with Vigyan Ashram, Pabal on May 25-26, 2019 at Pabal. Total 12 participants attended sessions during this two days workshop. The basic skills in digitisation, uploading on Commons and Wikisource process were imparted in the workshop. Jayanta Nath was the facilitator.
Open Data and Land Ownership
In this chapter of the recently published volume on State of Open Data, Tim Davies and Sumandro Chattapadhyay discuss how the lessons from the land ownership field highlight the political nature of data, and illustrate the importance of politically aware interventions when creating open data standards, infrastructure, and ecosystems. State of Open Data, edited by Tim Davies, Stephen B. Walker, Mor Rubinstein, and Fernando Perini, is published by African Minds and International Development Research Centre, Canada.
Can data ever know who we really are?
This is an excerpt from an essay by Zara Rahman, written for and published as part of the Bodies of Evidence collection of Deep Dives. The Bodies of Evidence collection, edited by Bishakha Datta and Richa Kaul Padte, is a collaboration between Point of View and the Centre for Internet and Society, undertaken as part of the Big Data for Development Network supported by International Development Research Centre, Canada.
Project Tiger 2019 Coordinator position open
To contribute to support, and coordinate of the work of the Project Tiger, we are looking for a creative, dedicated individual to join the team as a coordinator. Please note that women, especially those from socioeconomically marginalized communities, and women who are returning to work after a hiatus will be given preference.
Digital Native: Three things we need to realise about what TikTok is doing to us
Fifteen seconds is all that will take for TikTok to own you.
CIS-A2K Communication Officer position
The Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) is seeking applications only from prospective candidates who identify themselves as women, for the position of Programme Officer (Communications, the position is also known as Communication Officer), to support its Access to Knowledge (CIS-A2K) Programme. The job application is open to women only because we feel that a woman communications person will contribute more towards bridging the gender gap in the Wikimedia movement by emphasising on gender-sensitive communication apart from contributing internally for bringing a gender balance in the team.
Wikidata Advisor (Consultant) position open
The Access to Knowledge team of the Centre for Internet and Society is seeking applications for the position of Wikidata Advisor (consultant), to support its Access to Knowledge (CIS-A2K) Programme.
Announcement of a Three-Region Research Alliance on the Appropriate Use of Digital Identity
Omidyar Network has recently announced its decision to invest in establishment of a three-region research alliance — to be co-led by the Institute for Technology & Society (ITS), Brazil, the Centre for Intellectual Property and Information Technology Law (CIPIT) , Kenya, and the CIS, India — on the Appropriate Use of Digital Identity. As part of this Alliance, we at the CIS will look at the policy objectives of digital identity projects, how technological policy choices can be thought through to meet the objectives, and how legitimate uses of a digital identity framework may be evaluated.
Workshop on Feminist Information Infrastructure
The Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) organised a workshop on feminist infrastructure in collaboration with Blank Noise and Sangama, on 29th October, 2018. The purpose of the workshop was to disseminate the findings from a two-month long project being undertaken by researchers at Blank Noise and Sangama, with research support and training from CIS.
RTI Application to BSNL for the list of websites blocked in India
A Right to Information (RTI) request to a public company operating as an ISP for the list of websites and URLs blocked in India, and copies of such blocking orders issued by the Government of India.
Will the WTO Finally Tackle the ‘Trump’ Card of National Security?
The election of Donald Trump has marked a foundational challenge to the rules-based international order based on “free and fair trade”.
An Analysis of the RBI’s Draft Framework on Regulatory Sandbox for Fintech
The term Fintech is generally used to describe innovative technology and technological processes being used in the financial services sector.
Digital Native: Narendra Modi’s interview by Akshay Kumar is a PR masterpiece
How to spot the influencer in your politics.
Why the TikTok ban is worrying
Rather than critically examining the infringement of liberties by the political executive, the Indian courts are becoming an additional threat to the right to freedom of expression, which we must be increasingly wary of.
Sunil Abraham - Key Listener Speech at Wikimedia Summit 2019
The Wikimedia Summit 2019 – formerly known as "Wikimedia Conference" or "Chapters Meeting" – took place on 29–31 March 2019 in Berlin. Sunil Abraham made a speech at the summit organized in Berlin.
Wikipedia assignments workshop for Post Graduate students in PAH Solapur University
On May 3, 2019, Centre for Internet & Society's Access to Knowledge team (CIS-A2K) along with PAH Solapur University conducted a Wikipedia workshop for students from the post-graduate stream in PAH Solapur University. Ten students from Mass Communication department and three faculty members participated in the workshop. Prof. Ravindra Chincholkar and Subodh Kulkarni were the facilitators for the workshop.
