Centre for Internet and Society

Bangalore hackers write code as tribute to Aaron Swartz

praskrishna — 2013-01-25T11:41:05Z

A small crowd gathered here on Saturday afternoon in the basement of the Centre for Internet and Society to participate in the Aaron Swartz Memorial Hacknight, organised by HasGeek.

Deepa Kurup's article was published in the Hindu on January 21, 2013. Sunil Abraham is quoted.

Hackers have been coming together the world over to hold memorial services to pay tribute to the work, and the technological and political ideas that are the legacy of Aaron Swartz, who ended his life last Saturday.

A small crowd gathered here on Saturday afternoon in the basement of the Centre for Internet and Society to participate in the Aaron Swartz Memorial Hacknight, organised by HasGeek, a company that hosts technology events in the city.

For the first few hours, before getting down to the technological brass tacks of writing code and contributing to open data projects, they discussed the legacy of the young programming genius; right from co-writing the RSS standard at the age of 14 (which created a standard format for getting feeds of changing web content) to his advocacy against regressive copyright legislations and closed data regimes.

The hacknight, which commenced at 2 p.m., went on till early Sunday morning. It was meant to take forward the legacy of Swartz by coming up with projects that liberate data in the Indian context, as well as working on some of the projects and code that Swartz left unfinished.

“Besides these unfinished projects, there are a lot of ideas on political activism and running campaigns that we need to record and learn from. We also want to maintain some of the tech projects he ran,” says Kiran Jonnalagadda of HasGeek.

This motivated him, and a few others who have collaborated with Swartz on OpenLibrary.org and Internet Archive, to organise this tribute.

Most of the projects that are being worked on at the hacknight have at the core the idea that public data must be accessible and should be used for public good. For instance, one of the groups here proposed to build an interface that can extract data from the electoral rolls so that it becomes easier for citizens to check their names and coordinates on the voter ID list. Another group is working on writing code to extract simple data on passenger reservation and ticket availability to create a database that can then be used to chart simple trends. Yet another team is working on creating a similar web interface that can extract weather data using the weekly updates uploaded by the weather department.

These projects, Mr. Jonnalagadda points out, are all attempts to liberate data, much like what each of the projects Swartz initiated.

Speaking at the event, he said: “Swartz’s death bothered me quite a bit. A guy way ahead of his time, his political activism is an inspiration for many of us here who are working with open data. And we need to preserve this.”

Sunil Abraham, director, CIS, spoke about Swartz and the ethical landmines he stumbled into with the JSTOR case, where he was charged for hacking into and downloading millions of academic papers from the subscription database of JSTOR (short for Journal Storage) in 2011. He put this in the context of American foreign policy rhetoric based on Internet freedom, which restricts itself to freedom of expression and doesn’t include access to knowledge.

“This isn’t the case in India, where the Supreme Court has on various occasions spoken in favour of access to knowledge for example in the Cricket Association Of Bengal decision in 1995 where it was determined that the right to watch cricket cannot be restricted by private broadcasters or channels. This difference was why Swartz, who believed Internet freedom includes access to knowledge, was not defended by Hillary Clinton, who identifies herself as an advocate for Internet freedom.”

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/the-hindu-deepa-kurup-january-21-2013-bangalore-hackers-write-code-as-tribute-to-aaron-swartz

Bangalore Force.com August Meetup

praskrishna — 2012-08-09T13:59:50Z

Following the India Salesforce Platform Developer Hands-On Workshop in July, Bangalore Force.com is organizing monthly meetups in Bangalore, starting in August. The first meeting will be held at the Centre for Internet & Society in Bangalore on Sunday, August 19, 2012 from 2.00 p.m. to 5.00 p.m. John Barnes will be speaking on the occasion.

John Barnes

John Barnes, CTO Model Metrics will be the first speaker for this meetup. John has been working with Force.com and Salesforce.com since 2005. He is a frequent speaker at global conferences on Cloud Computing and Mobility (Dreamforce, Adobe MAX, Interop, Cloud Connect, Enterprise 2.0). You can follow his blogs here.

John will give an overview of the Force.com platform, benefits of Force.com, Heroku, etc., and an overview of the Social Enterprise. Siddhesh Kabe, Sr. Developer, Salesforce.com, will follow up with demos and hands-on coding.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/bangalore-force-com-cloud-apps-developer-meetup-event

Bangalore CryptoParty!

praskrishna — 2013-01-06T13:47:02Z

Care about your privacy and online security? Want to fight against pervasive governmental surveillance and corporate invasions of privacy? The Centre for Internet & Society invites you to the CryptoParty tonight (Friday) at 6.00 p.m. Make sure to bring friends (and your laptop and smart phones)!

We will discuss, install and use digital security and privacy tools and practices.

Hosts

Thejesh GN
Kaustubh Srikanth
Pranesh Prakash

Details

We Will Provide

Food and drinks: Snacks - Samosas + Kachoris + Biscuits + Tea + Soft Drinks
Software: Security-in-a-box toolkits + Ubuntu Live USBs + software + internet connection
Expertise: Kaustubh Srikanth + Thejesh GN + Pranesh Prakash

You need to bring

Your own laptop (highly recommended)
Desire to learn about secure and private communications and storage (mandatory! :D)
Expertise, to share with others (if possible)

Intro

(20 mins)

Privacy vs. convenience
Importance of Free and Open Source Software and Open Standards
Basics of Passwords

Choosing secure passwords

Dropbox Register Page

Storing comes later
2FA - Google Authenticator

Securing online Identities

Show and tell

Browsing (45 mins)
(5 mins)

Firefox (multiple platforms) / offline

(15 mins):

AdBlockPlus
RequestPolicy
HTTPSEverywhere
Ghostery / DoNotTrackMe
Noscript

(5 mins)

Anti-Google Surveillance

DuckDuckGo
GoogleSharing

(10 mins)

Password management

Keepass + Password Safe
Cloud Services

LastPass
Keepass + Dropbox

Email + IM (1 hour)
(10 mins)

Thunderbird (multiple platforms) / available offline

Enigmail

(30 mins)

GPG4Win + GPGTools / offline
Seahorse (on Ubuntu Fresh Install)
Enigmail + Key Management (Kaustubh)
Key-signing party!

(15 mins)

Instant Messaging with OTR

Pidgin + Adium / offline
OTR / offline

Tell (27 mins)
(5 mins)

Tor (Pranesh)

(5 mins)

VPNs and SSH tunnel

RiseUp (Kaustubh)
SSH tunneling using AWS / RackSpace (Thej)

(12 mins)

Mobiles

APG + K9 (Pranesh)
WhisperCore (Kaustubh mentions)
Text Secure (Thej)
Gibbberbot (Pranesh)

(3 mins)

Full-disk encryption

Ubuntu (Pranesh demoes quickly)
BitLocker
TrueCrypt

(2 mins)

Virtual machines

VirtualBox (Kaustubh demoes quickly)

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/bangalore-crypto-party

Bangalore Chapter Meet - DSCI

praskrishna — 2015-11-22T12:10:16Z

The Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) is glad to host the Bangalore Chapter Meet of DSCI on Tuesday, December 1, 2015, from 2.30 p.m. to 5.30 p.m.

Pronab Mohanty, Inspector General of Police, will give a talk on Cybercrimes. Given his rich experience in handling cyber-crimes, participants are expected to immensely benefit from his talk. Sunil Abraham, Executive Director, CIS will present the outcome of his SIG, the study period for which got recently concluded after about six months of in-depth study - "Anonymity in Cyberspace" - a topic that touches our daily lives when we browse internet. The session will also include developments from the recent Jaipur International ISO Conference.

Agenda

Time	Detail
2.30 3.00	Recent developments, updates from DSCI and SIGs: P. Srinivas
3.00 4.00	Anonymity in Cyberspace: Sunil Abraham, Executive Director, CIS
4.00 5.00	Talk on Cybercrimes: Pronab Mohanty, Inspector General of Police, Karnataka
5.00 5.30	High Tea and Networking

Since seats are limited, the participation will be restricted to first 50 confirmations. Please rush your email confirmation to Rajesh_K18@infosys.com

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/bangalore-chapter-meet-dsci

Bangalore + Social Good

praskrishna — 2013-09-25T07:41:41Z

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/bangalore-social-good.pdf

Bangalore + Social Good

praskrishna — 2013-09-25T07:43:58Z

In conjunction with The Social Good Summit held in New York City on September 22 - 24, Ashoka India, IDEX + Green Lungi are partnering to host the Bangalore + Sustainability event! The Social Good Summit aims to explore creative ways that technology can be leveraged for positive social change. Green Lungi in collaboration with IDEX and Ashoka is holding the event at CIS, Bangalore on September 21.

Sharath Chandra Ram, a researcher at CIS is one of the panelists. A brief abstract of his talk is given below:

"Are digital networked technologies adopted or used in the same way globally across all communities? Were social networks and apps across Twitter or Facebook really that pivotal in the mass citizen uprisings of the recent past? In this session, we shall see how it is essential to consider cultural specificities while designing technological interventions. Furthermore, I shall discuss how an effective strategy for citizen activism is not that which relies solely on virtual networks, but one that bridges networks, across different mediums, to engage offline citizens as much as the online. There will be a few live demonstrations of solutions we developed at the Centre for Internet and Society which embrace openness in pervasive technologies that enable us to bridge this crucial trans-medial interface."

The Bangalore + Sustainability event will focus on devising creative applications of technologies to confront sustainability challenges. We believe that young people have the power to affect change, and its time that we provide them with more opportunities to solve the challenges they see around them. This event is a first step in the direction of developing these problem-solving skills in our young people. Through an innovative Make-a-thon format, participants will engage in developing creative tech-based solutions to everyday challenges like road safety, waste management, water management, improving green cover and safer spaces for women.

Event Format and Details

1:45 - 2:00 -- Registration + Welcome

2:00 - 2:45 -- Panel Discussion + Q&A

Panelists will give a brief talk (5 - 7 minutes), posing questions for participants to consider around the intersection of technology + behavioral change + sustainability + youth engagement. A panelist from each of these sectors will set the context for the Jam to follow:

Sustainability
Communications/Design
Technology
Young Changemakers

Click to download the event brochure for details on the panelists/speakers

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/events/bangalore-social-good

bandwith

praskrishna — 2012-10-03T07:09:38Z

Bandwith

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/home-images/copy_of_scale.jpg

Bali meet to discuss Internet governance issues

praskrishna — 2013-10-23T08:29:23Z

Four-day event hosted by Internet Governance Forum to also discuss Internet access and diversity, privacy, security.

This article by Moulishree Srivastava was published in Livemint on October 22, 2013. Sunil Abraham is quoted.

Representatives of governments around the world, technology executives and activists will discuss issues such as Internet access and diversity, privacy, security, inter-governmental corporation, and Internet governance at a four-day event hosted by the Internet Governance Forum (IGF) that begins on Tuesday in Bali, Indonesia.

J. Satyanarayana, secretary, ministry of communications and information technology, confirmed India’s participation in the forum and said the country would be represented by Dr Govind, a senior director and head of department, e-infrastructure and Internet governance division, department of information technology.

“We will also be taking part in a working group on Internet governance and enhanced cooperation, which will be convened by the United Nations Commission on Science and Technology for Development in November,” said Satyanarayana.

“IGF is a valuable learning forum wherein different stakeholders can discuss Internet governance policy issues without any antagonism. Other fora for Internet policy like ICANN, WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization), ITU (International Telecommunication Union), etc., are places where international law and policy are developed, and do not allow for such learning because negotiations are always very acrimonious. Since IGF is only meant for learning, it does not directly address the global policy vacuum that exists for cyber crime, data protection and privacy,” said Sunil Abraham, executive director of Bangalore-based Centre for Internet and Society, who will be participating in the Bali event.

“Indian government, private sector, civil society, technical and academic community can become more competent and effective through such a dialogue in other multilateral and multi-stakeholder fora where international Internet standards, policies and laws are formulated. It also helps the stakeholders contribute to the development of internationally interoperable domestic policy,” he added.

In 2006, the UN secretary general established a small secretariat in Geneva to assist him in the convening of IGF. The first meeting was convened in October-November 2006 in Athens. In December 2010, IGF’s mandate was extended for five years.

In its eighth edition, IGF will have detailed discussions on issues such as free flow of information on the Internet, regulatory approaches to privacy, and protection of interests of individuals and communities in cyberspace, Internet surveillance and legal framework for cyber crime, said the forum in a statement on its website.

During the four-event, for instance, one of the workshops “will explore what core principles and strategies are needed to achieve a balanced and fair approach to data protection that is effective internationally and regionally”, according to IGF.

Some of the prominent speakers in the event include Jari Arkko, chairman, Internet Engineering Task Force, Finland; Virat Bhatia, president, South Asia, AT&T Inc.; Chris Painter, coordinator for cyber issues, US department of state; Karen Mulberry, policy adviser, Internet Society; and Matthew Shears, director of Internet policy and human rights, Center for Democracy and Technology.

According to industry estimates, over 2.5 billion Internet users interact in shared cross-border online spaces where they can post content potentially accessible worldwide.

“No clear frameworks exist yet to handle the tensions between these competing normative orders or values and enable peaceful cohabitation in cross-border cyberspace. This challenge constitutes a rare issue of common concern for all stakeholder groups,” said IGF on its website.

According to a UN estimate, nearly 40% of the world’s population will be online by the end of 2013. “The Internet has become an essential tool for the creation of jobs and the delivery of basic public services,” said the UN undersecretary-general for economic and social affairs, Wu Hungbo, in a statement, adding that it is also essential “for improving access to knowledge and education, for empowering women, for enhancing transparency, and for giving marginalized populations a voice in decision-making processes”.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/livemint-moulishree-srivastava-october-22-2013-bali-meet-to-discuss-internet-governance-issues

Balasubramanian

praskrishna — 2014-05-22T10:08:13Z

Balasubramanian

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/home-images/Balasubramaniam.png

Balancing vigilance and privacy

praskrishna — 2013-09-05T10:53:28Z

As the government steps up its surveillance capabilities, the entire social contract between the state and citizens is being reformulated, with worrying consequences.

This article by Prashant Jha was published in the Hindu on August 18, 2013. Pranesh Prakash is quoted.

The Indian state is arming itself with both technological capabilities and the institutional framework to track the lives of citizens in an unprecedented manner.

A new Centralised Monitoring System (CMS) is in the offing, which would build on the already existing mechanisms. As The Hindu reported on June 21, this would allow the government to access in real-time any mobile and fixed line conversation, SMS, fax, website visit, social media usage, Internet search and email, and will have ‘unmatched capabilities of deep search surveillance and monitoring’.

Civil society groups and citizens expressed concern about the government’s actions, plans, and intent at a discussion organised by the Foundation for Media Professionals, on Saturday.

The context

Usha Ramanathan, a widely respected legal scholar, pointed to the larger political context which had permitted this form of surveillance. It stemmed, she argued, from a misunderstanding of the notion of sovereignty. “It is not the government, but the people who are sovereign.” Laws and the Constitution are about limiting the power of the state, but while people were being subjected to these restrictions, the government itself had found ways to remain above it – either by not having laws, or having ineffective regulators. States knew the kind of power they exercised over citizens, with the result that ‘impunity had grown’.

“There is also a complete breakdown of the criminal justice system,” Ms Ramanathan said. This had resulted in a reliance on extra-judicial methods of investigation, and ‘scape-goating’ had become the norm. ‘National security’ had been emphasised, re-emphasised, and projected as the central goal. “We haven’t paused to ask what this means, and the extent to which we have been asked to give up personal security for the sake of national security.” It was in this backdrop that technology had advanced by leaps, and made extensive surveillance possible.

The implications are enormous. The data is often used for purposes it is not meant for, including political vendetta, keeping track of rivals, corporates, and digging out facts about a citizen when he may have antagonised those in power.

Pranesh Prakash, director of the Centre of Internet and Society (CIS) looked back at the killing of Haren Pandya, the senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader in Gujarat. Mr Pandya was using the SIM card of a friend, and it was by tracking the SIM, and through it his location, that the Gujarat government got to know that Mr Pandya had deposed before a commission and indicted the administration for its role in the riots. Eventually, he was found murdered outside a park in Ahmedabad. The Gujarat Police had accessed call details of 90,000 phones.

It is also not clear whether mining this kind of data has been effective for the national security purposes, which provide the reason for doing it in the first place. Saikat Datta, resident editor of Daily News and Analysis, and an expert on India’s intelligence apparatus, said a core problem was the absence of any auditing and over sight. “There needs to be a constant review of the number of calls, emails under surveillance, with questions about whether it is yielding results. But this does not happen, probably because a majority is not for counter-terrorism. There would be trouble if you build accountability mechanisms.” When he sought information under RTI around precisely such issues, he was denied information on the grounds that it would strengthen ‘enemies of the state’.

Anja Kovacs, who works with the Internet Democracy Project, said this form of “mass surveillance” criminalised everybody since it was based on the assumption that each citizen was a “potential criminal”. She also pointed out that having “more information” did not necessarily mean it was easier to address security threats – there was intelligence preceding the Mumbai attacks, but it was not acted upon. She added, “Most incidents have been resolved by traditional intelligence. Investing in agencies, training them better could be more effective.”

Bring in the caveats

Few argue that the state is not entitled to exercise surveillance at all. In fact, a social contract underpins democratic states. Citizens agree to subject some of their rights to restrictions, and vest the state with the monopoly over instruments and use of violence. In turn, the state – acting within a set of legal principles; being accountable to citizens; and renewing its popular legitimacy through different measures, including elections – provides order and performs a range of developmental functions.

This framework, citizens and civil liberty groups worry, is under threat with governments appropriating and usurping authority to conduct unprecedented surveillance. Citizen groups, technology and privacy experts came together globally to draft the International Principles on the Application of Human Rights to Communication Surveillance.

It prescribed that any restriction to privacy through surveillance must be ‘legal’; it must be for a ‘legitimate aim’; it must be ‘strictly and demonstrably necessary’; it must be preceded by showing to an established authority that other ‘less invasive investigative techniques’ have been used; it must follow ‘due process’; decisions must be taken by a ‘competent judicial authority’; there must be ‘public oversight’ mechanisms; and ‘integrity of communications and systems’ should be maintained. (Full text available on www.necessaryandproportionate.org)Mr Prakash of CIS, which has done extensive work on surveillance and privacy issues, said, “An additional principle must be collection limitation or data minimisation.” Giving the instance of Indian Railways seeking the date of birth from a customer booking a ticket, Mr Prakash said this was not information which was necessary. But it could be used by hackers and many other agencies to access an individual’s private transactions in other areas. The UPA government is finalising a privacy Bill, but its final version is not yet public, and it is not clear how far the government would go in protecting citizen rights.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/the-hindu-august-19-2013-prashant-jha-balancing-vigilance-and-privacy

Background Note Big Data

praskrishna — 2016-01-17T01:55:42Z

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/background-note-big-data

୧୧ ବର୍ଷରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିଅଭିଧାନ, ଯୋଡ଼ିହୋଇଛି ଲକ୍ଷେରୁ ଅଧିକ ଶବ୍ଦ

praskrishna — 2016-07-09T07:38:46Z

Odia Wikisource turned 11 on June 16. A news article was published about the project and the contributor community in Odia-language daily Prameya on June 17.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/a2k/news/prameya-june-17-2016-article-on-odia-wikipedia

୧୧ ବର୍ଷରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିଅଭିଧାନ, ଯୋଡ଼ିହୋଇଛି ଲକ୍ଷେରୁ ଅଧିକ ଶବ୍ଦ

praskrishna — 2016-06-20T02:49:31Z

News coverage in Odia daily Prameya about Odia Wiktionary's 11th anniversary on June 15. In this news article, the project's administrator Shitikantha Dash shares about a 10-day long campaign that encourages every single Odia Wikimedians to add at least one entry each. Mrutyunjaya Kar, administrator of Odia Wikipedia and Wikisource elaborates how everyone can contribute entries and correct mistakes in existing entries.

The article was published in the Prameya

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/a2k/news/odia-wiktionary-prameya-11-anniversary

୧୦ ବର୍ଷରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ୱିକିପିଡିଆ

praskrishna — 2014-03-06T05:38:58Z

This is a feature about Odia Wikipedia's 10th anniversary and the story of a dead volunteer community reviving after 8 years. This has been published in Rabibara Sambad (Sunday supplement of Odia newspaper The Sambad) on February 9, 2014.

Click to read the original published in Odiya here.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/rabibara-sambad-february-9-2014-feature-on-odia-wikipedia-tenth-anniversary

ଓଡିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆର କର୍ମଶାଳା ଅନୁଷ୍ଠିତ ହୋଇଯାଇଛି ବୀର ସୁରେନ୍ଦ୍ର ସାଏ ବୈଷୟିକ ବିଶ୍ୱବିଦ୍ୟାଳୟ, ବୁର୍ଲାରେ

praskrishna — 2013-08-05T08:25:47Z

Odishan.com covered the Wikipedia event organized at Veer Surendra Sai University of Technology, Burla on July 26 and 27, 2013.

Click to read the original published in Odishan.com.

ସମ୍ବଲପୁରର ବୁର୍ଲାଠାରେ ଥିବା ‘ବୀର ସୁରେନ୍ଦ୍ରସାଏ ବୈଷୟିକ ବିଶ୍ୱବିଦ୍ୟାଳୟ(ଭିସୁଟ)’ ର ଗୋଲ୍ଡ଼େନ ଜୁବୁଲୀ ସେମିନାର ହଲ ପରିସରରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ସମ୍ବନ୍ଧରେ ଏକ କର୍ମଶାଳା ଅନୁଷ୍ଠିତ ହୋଇଯାଇଛି । ବିଶ୍ୱବିଦ୍ୟାଳୟର ୧୦୦ରୁ ଉର୍ଦ୍ଧ୍ୱ ଛାତ୍ରଛାତ୍ରୀ ଏହି କର୍ମଶାଳାରେ ଭାଗ ନେଇ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ବ୍ୟବହାର ସଂପର୍କରେ ଜ୍ଞାନ ଅର୍ଜନ କରିଥିଲେ । ବିଶ୍ୱବିଦ୍ୟାଳୟର ପୁରାତନ ଛାତ୍ର ତଥା ସକ୍ରିୟ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିଆଳି ଗୋର୍ବାଚୋଭ ପୋଥାଳଙ୍କ ତତ୍ୱାବଧାନରେ ଏହି କର୍ମଶାଳା ଆୟୋଜିତ ହୋଇଥିଲା ଏବଂ ଉପସ୍ଥିତ ସମସ୍ତଙ୍କୁ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ସଂପର୍କରେ ସବିଶେଷ ବିବରଣୀ ପ୍ରଦାନ କରାଯାଇଥିଲା । ସେ କହିଥିଲେ ଯେ, ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷାରେ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟ୍‌ରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ ଏକ ଖୋଲା ଜ୍ଞାନକୋଷ । ଏହାକୁ ବ୍ୟବହାର କରି ଜଣେ କିପରି ନିଜର ଗବେଷଣା ଦକ୍ଷତା ବିକାଶ ଓ ମାଗଣା ଜ୍ଞାନର ବିତରଣ କରିପାରିବ, ସେହି ବିଷୟରେ ଆଲୋଚନା କରିଥିଲେ । ଏହା ବ୍ୟତୀତ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆର ଇତିହାସ, ଆଭିମୁଖ୍ୟ, ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆରେ ବର୍ତ୍ତମାନ ଚାଲୁଥିବା ବିଭିନ୍ନ ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପ ବିଷୟରେ ସବିଶେଷ ଆଲୋଚନା କରିଥିଲେ ଓ କହିଥିଲେ ଓଡ଼ିଆରୁ ଦୂରେଇ ଯାଉଥିବା ଲୋକଙ୍କୁ ଓଡ଼ିଆମୁଖୀ କରାଇବାର ଏହା ଅନ୍ୟତମ ପ୍ରଚେଷ୍ଟା । ଶ୍ରୀ ପୋଥାଳ ନିଜର ବକ୍ତବ୍ୟ ଦେଇ ସାରିବା ପରେ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ସମ୍ବନ୍ଧରେ ଛାତ୍ରଛାତ୍ରୀଙ୍କର ବିଭିନ୍ନ ପ୍ରଶ୍ନର ଉତ୍ତର ଦେଇଥିଲେ । ଏହା ପରେ କର୍ମଶାଳରେ ସେ ଉଇକିପିଡିଆରେ ନୂତନ ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗ ଲେଖିବା, ସମ୍ପାଦନା କରିବା, ଆଧାର ଦେବା ଇତ୍ୟାଦିର ପ୍ରଶିକ୍ଷଣ ଦେଇ ଏକ ଗଣ-ସମ୍ପାଦନା ଆୟୋଜନ କରିଥିଲେ । କର୍ମଶାଳାରେ ବିଶ୍ୱବିଦ୍ୟାଳୟର ପ୍ରାଧ୍ୟାପକ ଡ. ଅମରନାଥ ନାୟକ, ଡ଼ ବିଭୂତି ଭୂଷଣ ପାଣି, ଡ଼. ଅକ୍ଷୟ କୁମାର ପଟ୍ଟନାୟକ, ଡ. ଜ୍ୟୋତି ରଞ୍ଜନ ମହାନ୍ତି ପ୍ରମୁଖ ଉପସ୍ଥିତ ଥିଲେ । କର୍ମଶାଳାର ସଫଳ ପରିଚାଳନା ପାଇଁ ଛାତ୍ର ପ୍ରତିନିଧି ଅବିନାଶ କୁମାର ପୁହାଣ, ସୁପ୍ରଜ୍ଞାନ ପଟ୍ଟନାୟକ, ସୁଭମ ସାହୁ, ସୋମ୍ୟଶ୍ରୀ ଋତୁପର୍ଣ୍ଣୋ ସାହୁ, ଅନନ୍ୟା ସୃଷ୍ଟି ଶତପଥୀ ସାହାଯ୍ୟ କରିଥିଲେ ।

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