Centre for Internet and Society

Second Draft of Open Access Policy of the Department of Biotechnology and Department of Science released

sinha — 2014-10-30T00:33:49Z

The Department of Biotechnology and the Department of Science, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India drafted an Open Access Policy (“Policy”) in consultation with several open access experts, government officials and CIS. The second draft of the Policy released last week and is open for comments till 17th November, 2014.

The Centre for Internet and Society (“CIS”) commends the efforts of the Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India to make scientific research publicly available by developing an open access policy. The first and second drafts of the Policy may be accessed here. The following part highlights the changes inserted in the second draft of the Policy.

Second draft of the Department of Biotechnology and the Department of Science Open Access Policy

The second draft has been titled “Policy on open access to DBT and DST funded research.” At the outset, the second draft reflects that the Policy is voluntary and not mandatory in nature. To reiterate this, the Department of Biotechnology and the Department of Science (“DBT-DST”) acknowledge and respect right of researchers to publish their work in a journal of their choice in the Policy. However, the DBT-DST maintains that it will not underwrite article processing charges. In addition, the Policy respects the limitations placed on research outputs under Indian law and intellectual property policies of the respective institutions.

The Policy lays out that the process for making a research output openly accessible will start at the institutional level, and it has been made mandatory for institutions which receive core funding from DBT-DST to set-up an Institutional Repository(“IR”). The DBT-DST will provide adequate assistance to set up institutional repositories. For other institutions, it is strongly suggested that they set up an IR. Meanwhile, institutions can submit their work in the central repository created by the DBT and DST (dbt.sciencecentral.in and dst.sciencecentral.in). The Ministry of Science and Technology will set up a central harvester (www.sciencecentral.in) that will harvest the full text and metadata of these publication.

The recommended deposit period of the works has been extended to two weeks after the acceptance by the journal, and the recommended embargo period is less than a year. Depositing in a suitable repository has been made mandatory for all research outputs. CIS strongly recommended an embargo period of one year, and making deposits in repositories mandatory, regardless of the open access routes ( Gold OA or Green OA) adopted by the scientist.

The draft makes it clear that the Policy does not intend to override the agreements between the researchers and publishers, however, it recommends the authors to bring to the notice of publishers their obligations under the Policy.

In furtherance of creating awareness of open access, the DBT-DST intend to celebrate “Open Access Day” during the International Open Access Week (http://www.openaccessweek.org/) by organizing sensitizing lectures, programmes, workshops and taking new OA initiatives.

The second draft successfully addresses concerns raised by scientists and publishers on the first draft. The comments on the first draft may be accessed here. In the comments, the scientific community requested clarification on the mandatory nature of the policy. It also raised the issue of impeding career advancement in view of limited number of open access journals and the dependence on publications in certain noteworthy journals while hiring. Therefore, the second draft of the Policy makes it voluntary to publish open access, however, depositing in repositories has been made mandatory.

Further, concerns about IRs and central repository have been addressed in the second draft with the DBT-DST committing to assist institutions in setting up IRs.

Some publishers raised concerns about the stipulated embargo period, and suggested it be extended to a variable of 12-24 months, instead of the 12 months period recommended in the Policy. However, the second draft retains the embargo period of one year because scientific research moves at a fast pace, and locking crucial research for more than one year runs the risk of rendering the research outdated.

FAQs on the Policy will be released soon, as requested by several commentators.

About the Policy

CIS has been assisting the DBT-DST on developing the Policy since June 2014. The Policy document was drafted by the Open Access Policy Committee. I blogged about the exercise undertaken to emerge with the first draft which was followed by a round of comments from the public. After releasing the first draft, the Open Access Policy Committee convened a meeting to review the Policy in light of the feedback received. CIS was invited to participate in the meeting and I attended it in furtherance of the submissions made by CIS previously. The second draft is the outcome of the Open Access Policy Committee meeting.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/second-draft-of-open-access-policy-of-the-department-of-biotechnology-and-department-of-science-released

More Than 40 Million People Await the Launch of Odia Wikisource

subha — 2014-11-04T13:58:48Z

Speakers of Odia will soon have mountains of books to read online in their mother tongue, following the launch of the Odia Wikisource, which will make accessible many rare books that have entered the public domain.

The article by Subhashish Panigrahi was published in Global Voices on October 18, 2014 and thereafter mirrored on the Wikimedia Blog on October 21, 2014.

Authors and publishers are also invited to donate their copyrighted work, possibly bringing open access to large volumes of books and manuscripts, creating a vast archive of educational resources. And everything will be in Odia.

One of the biggest advantages of Wikisource is that all its books are available in Unicode, meaning that Google's search engine indexes the texts’ entirety, and readers are able to copy easily what they wish. (Most conventional archival systems lack this feature.) A volunteer community administers Wikisource. To upload a book's content, volunteers either retype the books word-for-word, or, when possible, use Optical Character Recognition (commonly known as “OCR“), which converts scanned images into editable text. Available at or.wikisource.org, Odia is Wikisource's eleventh Indic language.

There are more than 40 million native Odia speakers in the world. Most live in the Indian state of Odisha and its neighboring states, but there is a large diaspora in countries like the US, UK, UAE, and across South and East Asia. Despite being spoken by so many people, Odia's online presence is relatively small.

As of October 2014, Odia Wikipedia hosted 8,441 articles. The state government's websites have Odia-language content, naturally, but none of the text is in Unicode, making the materials invisible to search engines and difficult to share. Thanks to individual and organizational efforts, some Odia-language websites have recently emerged with Unicode content.

With support from the non-profit organization Pragati Utkal Sangha and the National Institute of Technology Rourkela, a Bhubaneswar-based outfit has digitized about 740 books through the Open Access to Oriya Books (OAOB) project. Most of these texts were published between 1850 and 1950. The OAOB project is the largest existing digital archive of Odia literature, but the archived books are only available as scanned PDFs, restricting readers’ ability to search within the texts.

As a Wikimedia project, Odia Wikisource underwent a long approval process, after running as an active incubator project for nearly two years. Both the Language Committee and the Wikimedia Foundation's Board reviewed and endorsed the project.

Odia Wikisource has already digitized and proofread three books entirely. In collaboration with the Wikimedia-funded Centre for Internet and Society‘s Access to Knowledge, the Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) has partially digitized another book, as well. KISS is also busy digitizing another Nine books by Odia-language author Dr. Jagannath Mohanty that were relicensed to CC-BY-SA 3.0 earlier this year.

In response to posts on Twitter and Facebook, four new contributors recently joined Wikisource to help digitize “The Odia Bhagabata,” a literary classic compiled in the 14th century. “Content that have already been typed with fonts of non-Unicode encoding systems could be converted by converters which was the case of Odia Bhagabata. New contributors did not face the problem of retyping the text, as the book was already available on a website Odia.org and is out of copyright”, says Manoj Sahukar, who (along with yours truly) designed a converter that helped to transcribe “Bhagabata”.

Rising Voices contacted some of those whose efforts made this happen.

Mrutyunjaya Kar (MK), Long time Wikimedian who has proof-read the books on Odia Wikisource
Rising Voices (RV): Youre there with Odia Wikisource since its inception. How you think it will help other Odias?
MK: Odias around the globe will have access to a vast amount of old as well as new books and manuscripts online in the tip of their finger. Knowing more about the long and glorious history of Odisha will become easier.

Nihar Kumar Dalai (NKD), Wikisource writer
RV: How does it feel to be one of the few contributors to digitize Odia Bhagabata. How you want to get involved in future?
NKD: This is a proud opportunity for me to be a part of digitization of such old literature. I, at times, think if I could get involved with this full time!

Nasim Ali (NA), Oldest active Odia Wikimedian and Wikisource writer
RV: Do you think any particular section of the society is going to be benefited by this?
NA: Books contain the gist of all human knowledge. The ease of access and spread of books are the markers of the intellectual status of a society. And in this e-age Wikisource can be helpful by not just providing easy access to a plethora of books under free licenses but also aiding the spread of basic education in developing economies. Together with Wikisource and cheaper internet this could catalyze a Renaissance of 21st century.

Pankajmala Sarangi (PS), Wikisource writer
RV: You have digitized almost two books, are the highest contributor to the project and also one of the main reasons for Odia Wikisource getting approved. What are your plans next to grow it and take to masses?
PS: I would be happy to contribute by typing more books on Odia so that they can be stored and available to all. We can take this to masses through social, print and audio & visual media and organizing meetings/discussions.

Amir Aharoni (AA), Wikimedia Language Committee member and Software Engineer at the Language Engineering team at the Wikimedia Foundation
RV: What you feel Wikisource could do to a language like Odia with more than 40 million speakers?
AA: In schools in Odisha, are there lessons of Odia literature? If the answer is yes, then it can do a very simple thing – make these lessons more fun and help children learn more! Everybody says that in Kerala this worked very well with Malayalam literature.

Clearly, strong passions motivate Odia Wikisource's volunteers, like Nihar Kumar Dalai, who writes on Facebook:

Hindi and English are fine, but our native language it bit more special! Who of us does not now about the art, culture, noted personalities, tourist spots and festivals of Odisha? But if you search online about all of these then there is very little available. There comes a simple and easy solution Odia Wikipedia. Like Odia Wikipedia, Odia Wikisource is another great place and this is my small contribution to bring Odia Bhagabata on Odia Wikisource.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/global-voices-subhashish-panigrahi-october-18-2014-more-than-400-million-people-await-launch-of-odia-wikisource

Bharat Majhi Writings Now Available Under a Creative Commons License

subha — 2014-11-07T15:34:38Z

Before the advent of Odia Wikisource becoming live, Centre for Internet and Society's Access to Knowledge (CIS-A2K) got in touch with notable Odia author Bharat Majhi for bringing his writings on the Internet.

Dr. Sailen Routray, Director, Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) (also an institutional partner of CIS-A2K) played a key role in initiating a dialog with Mr. Majhi. Five of his books are now available under Creative Commons Share Alike 4.0 (CC-by-SA 4.0) license:

Agadhu Duari
Saralarekhaa
Murtikaara
Mahanagara Padya
Highwayre Kuhudi

Bharat Majhi is a known name in Odia literary circle. His writings on societal structures in rural Odisha, the people, their life, aspiration and suffering have been critically acclaimed. These books also become the first Odia modern poetry books to be available under a CC-by-SA license and Mr. Majhi takes another leap of being the first Odia poet to release his literary work under CC-by-SA 4.0 license.

Video

In this video, Odia-language poet Bharat Majhi reciting a poem from his first book Agadhu Duari. He recently released 5 of his books under CC-by-SA 4.0 license by the efforts of Centre for Internet and Society's Access To Knowledge (CIS-A2K) and Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS).He also tells Subhashish Panigrahi about his dreams of poetry becoming a performing art coming true by it becoming more open. After other Odia author and poet Dr Jagannath Mohanty, Majhi is the first Odia poet to release poem online under CC-by-SA license and his poetry earn the title of the first Odia modern poetry under the same license.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/bharat-majhi-writings-now-available-under-cc-license

Ada Lovelace Edit-a-thon 2014

praskrishna — 2014-10-13T06:30:08Z

A Wikipedia edit-a-thon is being held at Urban Solace on October 14, 2014 from 10.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. The event is being organized by IndiaBioScience in partnership with the Centre for Internet and Society's Access to Knowledge (CIS-A2K) team. CIS-A2K will conduct the first three edit-a-thons.

In India, Science as a discipline is subject to many of the same gender issues as it is worldwide - women scientists are fewer in number than men, they occupy fewer positions of power, and face distinct issues by virtue of their gender and the accompanying societal pressures. Women Scientists in India also tend to be less visible than their male counterparts, and public awareness of Indian Women Scientists is low.

IndiaBioScience will be organising a series of public events to raise the profile of women scientists on one of the most-popular online encyclopaedias - Wikipedia. At these events, participants will be encouraged to create and complete profiles of Indian Women in Science.

The last of these events, on October 14 coincides with Ada Lovelace Day, an international day to celebrate the achievements of women in Science, Technology and Math.

To participate sign up below or click here (http://www.indiabioscience.org/content/women-science-wiki-edit-thon)

Lunch and snacks will be provided.

At the venue, the events will begin with a short, hands-on introduction to Wiki editing. Participants can then go on to pick the scientist they would like to work on. There will be an interaction session with a guest Woman Scientist around lunch, with a discussion of issues commonly faced by women in science. In the afternoon session, participants can continue working on the Wiki pages, with a break for tea. Participants are requested to bring their laptops. We have a few desktops available at Saturday's venue for those who cannot do so.

Online participants can find us via Google Hangout. Chat with us or dial in for interactions, questions, help or simply to socialize.

Speaker: Rohini Godbole

See the event page on Wikipedia.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/events/ada-lovelace-edit-a-thon-2014

Indian Women in Science Wiki edit-a-thon

praskrishna — 2014-10-13T06:17:56Z

A Wikipedia edit-a-thon is being held at the Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore on October 11, 2014 from 10.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m. The event is being organized by IndiaBioScience in collaboration with the Centre for Internet and Society's Access to Knowledge team.

CIS-A2K will conduct the first three edit-a-thons.

To participate sign up below or click here (http://www.indiabioscience.org/content/women-science-wiki-edit-thon

Contact the IndiaBioScience Team for more details: www.indiabioscience.org & team@indiabioscience.org

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/events/india-women-in-science-wiki-edit-a-thon

ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷା ବିକାଶରେ ପ୍ରତିବନ୍ଧକ ଓ ସମ୍ଭାବନା

subha — 2014-10-13T05:19:44Z

I authored an editorial in today's Samaja (Odia daily). It talks about the hurdles Odia language has been facing and potential aspects of the language including it being used massively on the Internet in Wikipedia and other platforms.

Click to read the article published in the Samaja on October 13, 2014 here. Click to download the file (PDF).

ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷା ଶାସ୍ତ୍ରୀୟ ମାନ୍ୟତା ପାଇବା ପରେ ସଭା ସମିତି ମାଧ୍ୟମରେ ଗୋଟିଏ କଥା "ଓଡ଼ିଆ ସଂସ୍କୃତରୁ ଆହରିତ ନୁହେଁ, ବରଂ ନିଜେ ସ୍ୱୟଂସମ୍ପୂର୍ଣ୍ଣ ଏକ ଭାଷା ଯାହାର ପାଖାପାଖି ପାଞ୍ଚହଜାର ବର୍ଷର ଇତିହାସ ରହିଛି'ଜନମାନସରେ ବାରମ୍ବାର ବିମ୍ବିତ ହୋଇଛି । ଏହା ଅନେକ ଓଡ଼ିଆଙ୍କୁ ନିଜ ଭାଷା ବାବଦରେ ଖାଲି ସଚେତନ କରିନାହିଁ, ବରଂ କେଇ ଶହ ବର୍ଷର ବିଦେଶୀ ଶାସନ ଓ ତା' ପରର ଭୁଶୁଡ଼ି ପଡ଼ିଥିବା ଏକ ସାମାଜିକ ଅବସ୍ଥା ଭିତରେ, ଢୋକେ ପିଇ ଦଣ୍ଡେ ଜିଇ ଆଗକୁ ଆଗେଇଥିବା ଏକ ଜାତିକୁ ଆତ୍ମଗୌରବ ଦେଇଛି । ୧୯୩୬ରେ ଭାଷା ଭିତ୍ତିରେ ଓଡ଼ିଶା ପ୍ରଦେଶ ଗଢ଼ାହେବାବେଳେ ଓଡ଼ିଆଙ୍କ ମଞ୍ଜ ଯେଉଁ ଦମ୍ଭିଲା ହୋଇଥିଲା, ଶାସ୍ତ୍ରୀୟ ମାନ୍ୟତା ମିଳିବା ପରେ ତା' ଉପରେ ଏ ଭାଷାକୁ ଆହୁରି କେଇ ହଜାର ବର୍ଷ ଆଗକୁ ବଢ଼ାଇବା ପାଇଁ ସଂକଳ୍ପର ଇନ୍ଧନ ଯୋଗାଇଛି । ତେବେ ଆମର ଏ ଗୌରବ ସାର୍ବଜନୀନ କି କେବଳ ବୁଦ୍ଧିଜୀବୀଙ୍କ ଭିତରେ ସୀମିତ ତାହା ବିଚାରିବାର ବେଳ ଆସିଛି । ଭାଷାଟିଏ କେବେ ହେଁ ଭାଷାଗବେଷାଳିଙ୍କ ଭାଷା ହୋଇ ଜିଏଁ ନାହିଁ, ଜିଏଁ ସାଧାରଣ ଲୋକଙ୍କ ନିତିଦିନର ଜୀବନରେ-ଘରେ, ସାମାଜିକ ମେଳିରେ, ସାହିତ୍ୟରେ ବିଶେଷ କରି ବେପାର-ବଣିଜରେ ଓ ଶାସନରେ । ଆମ ଭାଷା କେତେ କେଉଁଠି ବ୍ୟବହାରରେ ଲାଗୁଛି ଓ କେତେ ଲାଗିବ, ତାହାର ନିର୍ଦ୍ଧାରଣ ନିତାନ୍ତ ଜରୁରୀ । ଏ ଗୁରୁବେଳା ଏବେ ଆସି ଉପନୀତ । ଭାଷାଟିଏ ସବୁବେଳେ ଆରମ୍ଭ ହୋଇଥାଏ ସମାଜ ସମାଜ ଭିତରେ ଭାବ ଦିଆନିଆ ନିମନ୍ତେ । ଇତିହାସ, ସାମାଜିକତା କିମ୍ବା ଧନ ସମ୍ପତ୍ତି ନିଜପର ପିଢ଼ି ପାଇଁ ସାଇତି ରଖିବାପାଇଁ ସମାଜର ପୁରୁଖା ଲୋକେ କଥିତ ଭାଷାକୁ ଲିପି ମାଧ୍ୟମରେ ଲେଖିରଖନ୍ତି । ଏହି ଳେଖିବାର ପ୍ରକ୍ରିୟା କିଛିକାଳ ଚାଲିବା ଭିତରେ ଲିଖନ ପଦ୍ଧତିକୁ ବ୍ୟବସ୍ଥିତ କରିବା ନିମନ୍ତେ ବ୍ୟାକରଣ ତିଆରି ହୁଏ, କେବଳ ଆବଶ୍ୟକତା ମେଣ୍ଟାଇବାପାଇଁ ଲିଖନ ତିଆରି ନହୋଇ ମନୋରଞ୍ଜନ ଓ ଜୀବନଧାରାକୁ ସୁଗମ କରିବାପାଇଁ ସାହିତ୍ୟ ତିଆରି ହୁଏ । ଏମିତି ହୁଏ ଭାଷାର ବିକାଶ । କେବେ ଏକ ଭାଷାଭାଷୀ ସମାଜ ଆଉ ଏକ ଭାଷାଭାସୀ ସମାଜର ଶିକାର ହୁଏ ତ କେବେ ଷଡ଼ଯନ୍ତ୍ରର । ଭାଷା ପ୍ରବାହର ଏ ଆବଡ଼ାଖାବଡ଼ା ପଥରେ ମୂଳ ଭାଷାରୁ କେତେ ନାଶ ହୁଏ କେତେ ଅଲଗା ଭାଷାରୁ ମିଶେ । କେବେକେବେ ଭାଷାଟିଏର ଆଧୁନିକ ରୂପ ମୂଳ ରୂପରୁ ଖୁବ୍‍ ଅଲଗା ହୋଇବସେ । ଓଡ଼ିଆ, ଏକ ଭାଷା ଭାବେ ଏମିତି ଉତ୍‍ଥାନ ପତନ ଭିତର ଦେଇ ନିଶ୍ଚିତ ଆସିଛି । ଆଜି ଆମେ ଯଦି କଳିଙ୍ଗରୁ ଆବିଷ୍କୃତ ଲିଖିତ ପୋଥିପୁରାଣରୁ (ଯାହା ପାଳି ଭାଷା ସହିତ ସାମଞ୍ଜସ୍ୟ ରଖେ)ଆମ ଭାଷା ସହ ମେଳ ଖୋଜିବସିବା, ଅନେକ ମେଳ ପାଇବା ନିଶ୍ଚିତ, ହେଲେ ଅନେକ ବର୍ଷର ବ୍ୟବଧାନ ହେତୁ ତା'ର ଅନେକ ଭାଗ ଆମକୁ ବୁଝିବାକୁ ଦୁରୁହ ମଧ୍ୟ ହେବ । ଆମ ଭାଷାର ମୌଳିକତା ଜାଣିବା ସମୟରେ ଆମେ ସବୁଠାରୁ ମୂଳ ପ୍ରମାଣ ଯାହା କେବଳ ଆମର ଅଧୁନା ବ୍ୟବହୃତ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷା ସହ ମୋଟାମୋଟି ମିଶୁଥିବା ତଥା ଆମର ସାମାଜିକ ବ୍ୟବସ୍ଥାର ଇତିହାସ ସହ ମିଶୁଥିବ, ତାହା ପରଖି ନିର୍ଦ୍ଧାରିବା । ପ୍ରାମାଣିକ ଓ ଐତିହାସିକ ତଥ୍ୟ, ଲୋକମୁଖରେ ଜୀବନ୍ତ ଇତିହାସ (ଓରାଲ ହିଷ୍ଟି୍ର) ତଥା ପ୍ରତ୍ନତାତ୍ତ୍ୱିକ ଗବେଷଣାର ଆଧାରରେ ଏହା ସାଧିତ ହେବ । ଆମ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷା ପାଇଁ କିଛି ଗବେଷଣା ହୋଇଛି, କିଛି କାମ ବାକି ଅଛି, ଆଉ ଆମ ପାଖେ ମିଳୁଥିବା ଭାଷାଗତ, ଲିପିଗତ, ପ୍ରତ୍ନତାତ୍ତ୍ୱିକ ଓ ସାମାଜିକଗତ ପ୍ରମାଣକୁ ଭିତ୍ତିକରି ହୋଇଥିବା ନାନାଦି ଗବେଷଣାକୁ ପରସ୍ପର ସହ ଯୋଡ଼ିବା ଦେଇ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷାର କ୍ରମବିକାଶର ଧାରା ଜଣାପଡ଼ିବ । ହେଲେ ଇତିହାସ ଗୋଟେ ଆଡ଼େ, ବାସ୍ତବିକ ଜୀବନରେ ଭାଷାର ପ୍ରତିଛବି ଆଉ ଗୋଟେ ଆଡ଼େ । ଆମେ ଅତୀତରେ ଏକ ଲଢ଼ୁଆ, ପରିଶ୍ରମୀ, ଚତୁର ଜାତି ହୋଇଥିଲେ ହେଁ ଆମ ଏବେକାର ପିଢ଼ିରେ ଯେ ଘୋଡ଼ାମୁହାଁ ପୁଅ ଜନମ ନହେବେ ତା'କିଏ ଦମ୍ଭର ସହ କହିପାରିବ? ଗହଣା ଯେତେ ଝଟକୁ ପଛେ ମାସରେ ଥରେ ତେନ୍ତୁଳିପାଣିରେ ମାଜିବା ଚାହି । ଭାଷାଟିଏ ଯେତେ ପୁରାତନ ଓ ସମୃଦ୍ଧ ହେଉ ପଛକେ, ଛୋଟ ପିଲାଟିଏରୁ ନେଇ ବୁଢ଼ାଯାଏ ସେ ଭାଷାକୁ ନିଜ ଜୀବନଧାରଣର ଭାଷା ଭାବେ ବ୍ୟବହାର ନକଲାଯାଏ ସେ ଭାଷାର ଉତ୍ତରଣ କେବେ ହେବନାହିଁ । ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷା ଏବେ ଧୀରେଧୀରେ ସାଧାରଣ ବ୍ୟବହାରରୁ ଦୂରେଇ ଯାଉଛି । ଏ କଥା ଯେତେ ବେଦନାଦାୟକ ହେଲେ ବି ସତ । ଆମେ ରକ୍ଷଣଶୀଳ ଭାବେ ଇଂରାଜୀ ବା ହିନ୍ଦୀଭାଷାକୁ ଦୋଷ ହେଉଛୁ ସିନା, କିନ୍ତୁ ସେହି ପରିମାଣରେ ଆମେ ନିଜ ଭାଷା ପାଇଁ ଜନପ୍ରିୟ ମାଧ୍ୟମରେ ସାଧନ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ କରାଇପାରିନାହୁଁ । ମୋବାଇଲ କଷ୍ଟମର କେଆରରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆଟିଏ ସେପଟରୁ କଲ ଉଠାଇ ହିନ୍ଦୀରେ ସିଧା କଥା ହେବା ଆରମ୍ଭ କରିବା ଦେଖି ଲାଗିବ ଆପଣ ବୋଧେ ଦିଲ୍ଲୀ କି ପାଟଣାରେ ଅଛନ୍ତି । ଗଣମାଧ୍ୟମରେ ବହୁବିଧ ଖେଚୁଡ଼ି ଭାଷାରେ ସମ୍ବାଦ ପରିବେଷଣ, ବିଲବୋର୍ଡ଼ଠାରୁ ଆରମ୍ଭ କରି ଟିଭି ବିଜ୍ଞାପନ ଯାଏ ଅବିକଳ ହିନ୍ଦୀ ବା ଇଂରାଜୀ ଢ଼ାଞ୍ଚାରୁ ଓଡ଼ିଆକୁ ବଦଳାଇବା, ଇଂରାଜୀମାଧ୍ୟମ ସ୍କୁଲମାନଙ୍କରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆକୁ ବାଧ୍ୟତାମୂଳକ ନକରାଇବା, ବିଭିନ୍ନ ଶିକ୍ଷାନୁଷ୍ଠାନଗୁଡ଼ିକରେ, ଦୋକାନ ବଜାରରେ, ରାଜଧାନୀର କ୍ୟାଫେଠାରୁ ଆରମ୍ଭ କରି ଛୋଟଛୋଟ ଦୋକାନରେ ହିନ୍ଦୀରେ କଥାବାର୍ତ୍ତା ଶୁଣି ଲାଗୁଛି ଆମ ସମାଜ ପାଇଁ ଆଉ ଏକ ଭାଷା ଆନ୍ଦୋଳନ ଲୋଡ଼ା ।

ଏକଥା କହିବାର ଉଦ୍ଦେଶ୍ୟ ହେଉଛି ଯେଉଁ ତୋଷାଳିକୁ ଆମ ସଂସ୍କୃତିର ପ୍ରାଣକେନ୍ଦ୍ର କହି ମନ୍ଦିରମାଳିନୀ ଉପାଧି ଦେଇ ଆମେ ମୁଣ୍ଡରେ ବସାଇଛୁ, ସେଇ ସହରରେ ଅନ୍ୟ ରାଜ୍ୟରୁ ଆଗତ ବିଭିନ୍ନ ଭାଷାଭାଷୀ ଇଞ୍ଜିନିଅରିଂ ବା ଅନ୍ୟାନ୍ୟ ଛାତ୍ର ଓ ଚାକିରିଆ କେତେ ଅଧିକ ହୋଇଗଲେ ଯେ, ଆମର ଦୋକାନବଜାରର ବ୍ୟାବହାରିକ ଭାଷା ହିନ୍ଦୀ ହୋଇଗଲା? ଯେଉଁଠି ଆମ ରାଜ୍ୟର ଭାଷା ଓ ଚଳଣିର ବାନା ସୁଦୂର ଜାପାନ, ଥାଇଲାଣ୍ଡ, କୋରିଆ, ମାଲେସିଆ, ସିଙ୍ଗାପୁରଠୁ ଆରମ୍ଭ କରି ଦକ୍ଷିଣ ଆମେରିକାଯାଏ ଉଡ଼ୁଛି ସେଠି ଆମେ ଆମ ପଡ଼ିଶା ରାଜ୍ୟର କେତୋଟି ପିଲାଙ୍କ ପାଇଁ ନିଜର ପରିଚୟ ହରାଇଦେବା? ନିଜ ଭାଷାକୁ ଉଜାଡ଼ି ଦେବା? ବିଶ୍ୱାସ କରିବାକୁ ବାଧ୍ୟ ହେବେ ଯେ ଧୀରେଧୀରେ ଓଡ଼ିଶାର ଶିକ୍ଷାନୁଷ୍ଠାନମାନଙ୍କରେ ବ୍ୟାବହାରିକ ଭାଷା ଉପରେ ବର୍ଣ୍ଣିତ ଖେଚୁଡ଼ି ଭାଷା ହେଲାଣି । ଏଥିରେ ହିନ୍ଦୀ ଛୁଆଁ ଥିବାରୁ କେହି ହିନ୍ଦୀ ଭାଷା ବିଶାରଦ ଯେ ଆନନ୍ଦ ଅନୁଭବ କରିବେ ତାହା ମୋର ଧାରଣା ବାହାରେ । ଏମିତି ବେମୁରବା ଭାଷାର ଏନ୍ତୁଡ଼ିଶାଳ ହିନ୍ଦୀ ଭାଷାର ଅନେକ ଟିଭି ଚ୍ୟାନେଲ ଓ ବଲିଉଡ଼ । ଯାହା ଜଣାଶୁଣା ମିଡ଼ିଆରେ ପ୍ରସାରିତ ହୁଏ ତାକୁ ଯୁବଗୋଷ୍ଠୀ ଶୁଣନ୍ତି । ସେଥିରେ ଯୁବାମନକୁ ସୁହାଇବାକୁ ଏତେ ଯେ ଉପାଦାନ ଭରି ରଖାଯାଇଛି, ଆମ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷାର ମିଡ଼ିଆ ଏଯାଏ ପହଞ୍ଚି ପାରୁନାହିଁ; ବରଂ ସେମାନେ ହିନ୍ଦୀ ଭାଷାରେ ପ୍ରସାରିତ ଅନେକ କାର୍ଯ୍ୟକ୍ରମର ନକଲ କରିବାକୁ ଯାଇ ଆହୁରି ବେଙ୍ଗା ଭାଷାଟିଏ ତିଆରି କରୁଛନ୍ତି । ଆଉ ଏ ଭାଷାର ପ୍ରସାର କେଉଁ ଗୋଟିଏ ଭାଷାର ଲାଭ ଯେ ହେଉନାହିଁ ଏକଥା କହିବା ବାହୁଲ୍ୟ । ଏ ଭାଷା ଏବେ ରିଆଲିଟି ଶୋ କିମ୍ବା ଗୀତନାଚ ଭଳି ଅନେକ ମନୋରଞ୍ଜନଧର୍ମୀ ଓଡ଼ିଆ କାର୍ଯ୍ୟକ୍ରମରେ ଦେଖିବାକୁ ମିଳିବ । ଭାବନ୍ତୁ, ଆଜିକାଲିର ଶିଶୁମାନେ ବହିଠାରୁ ଯେତେ ଦୂରେଇଗଲେଣି ଆଉ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷା ଶିକ୍ଷାକୁ ସ୍କୁଲରେ ଯେଉଁଭଳି ଅବହେଳା କରାଯାଉଛି ସେଥିରେ ପିଲାଟିଏ କେମିତି ଅବା ଶିଖିବ ଓଡ଼ିଆ? ଯଦି ଏ ରାଜ୍ୟର ଆଗାମୀ ପିଢ଼ି ଏ ଭାଷା ଶିଖୁନାହାନ୍ତି, ଯୁବାଏ ୪୦ ଭାଗରୁ ଅଧିକ ଶବ୍ଦ ହିନ୍ଦୀ, ଇଂରାଜୀରୁ ଆହୁରି ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ବ୍ୟବହାର କରୁଛନ୍ତି ତା'ହେଲେ ଆଉ ଦଶଟି ବର୍ଷରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ କେଉଁଠି ଥିବ? ଭାଷାଟି କେବଳ କ'ଣ କିଛି ଜେଜେ ବୟସର ଲୋକଙ୍କ ପାଇଁ, ଆଉ ସାହିତ୍ୟ ଚଷୁଥିବା କିଛି ତରୁଣ ଓ ପ୍ରବୀଣଙ୍କ ପାଇଁ?

ତେବେ ଏଥିପାଇଁ ଆମ ଗଣମାଧ୍ୟମ ଏକ ଗୁରୁଭୂମିକା ନିଭାଇ ପାରନ୍ତା । ଏବେ ଯେଉଁ ଓଡ଼ିଆକୁ ଆମେ ମାନକ ବୋଲି ମାନୁଛେ ସେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଆମ ଭାଷାର ପୁରାକାଳର ଭାଷା ସହ କିଛି ତ ସାମଞ୍ଜସ୍ୟ ରଖେ । ତା'ର ବାକ୍ୟ ଗଢ଼ଣ ଓ ଶବ୍ଦସମ୍ଭାର ଏବଂ ଦେଶୀୟ କହି ଏକ ସମୟରେ ଫିଙ୍ଗାଯାଇଥିବା ଅନେକ ଶବ୍ଦର ପୁନଃବ୍ୟବହାର କରି ଆଜିର ଖବରକାଗଜ, ରେଡ଼ିଓ-ଟେଲିଭିଜନ ଏବଂ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟ୍‍ରେ ଫେସବୁକ୍‍, ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ, ଅନ୍ୟାନ୍ୟ ପୋର୍ଟାଲ ଆଦିରେ ଅଧିକରୁ ଅଧିକ ବ୍ୟବହାର କଲେ ତା'ର ପ୍ରଭାବ ସିଧାସଳଖ ସମାଜ ଉପରେ ପଡ଼ନ୍ତା । ହିନ୍ଦୀ କି ବାକି ଭାଷାରୁ କପି ନକରି ଆମର ଅନେକ ସୁଖପାଠ୍ୟ ସାହିତ୍ୟରୁ କାହାଣୀମାନ ଓ ଆମର ନିଆରା ପରିବେଷଣ ଶୈଳୀଟିଏ ତିଆରି କରାଗଲେ ଆଗାମୀ କେଇ ପିଢ଼ିର ମନ ଭିତରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଯେ ବ୍ୟାବହାରିକ ଭାଷାଭାବେ ଏକ ସମୃଦ୍ଧ ଭାଷା, ଏ ଭାବନା ତିଆରି ହୋଇଯାଆନ୍ତା ।

ଅନେକେ ଆଳ ଦେଖାନ୍ତି ଯେ କମ୍ପ୍ୟୁଟରରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷାର ବ୍ୟବହାର ଦୁରୂହ । ଅନ୍ତତଃ ୮ବର୍ଷ ଧରି ଓଡ଼ିଆ ବ୍ୟବହାରର ଅନୁଭୂତିରୁ କହିବି ଯେ କମ୍ପ୍ୟୁଟରରେ ବ୍ୟବହାର କରିବାପାଇଁ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଜଗତର ବାକି ଭାଷା ତୁଳନାରେ କୌଣସି ଗୁଣରେ କମ୍‍ ନୁହେଁ । ତେବେ କମ୍ପ୍ୟୁଟର ଓ ମୋବାଇଲରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ପଢ଼ିବା ଓ ଲେଖିବା ସହିତ ଅଧିକରୁ ଅଧିକ ୱେବସାଇଟ୍‍ରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ବ୍ୟବହାର କରିବା ଅଧିକ ବଢ଼ିନାହିଁ । ପାଖାପାଖି ୧୦-୨୦ଜଣ ସ୍ୱେଚ୍ଛାସେବୀଙ୍କ ଅବଦାନରେ ୮୦୦୦ରୁ ଅଧିକ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗ ତିଆରି ହୋଇପାରିଲା ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆରେ, ଆମର ଏତେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଇଞ୍ଜିନିଅର କ'ଣ ଓଡ଼ିଶାର ପାରମ୍ପରିକ ଖେଳକୁ ନେଇ ମୋବାଇଲ କି କମ୍ପ୍ୟୁଟର ଗେମ୍‍, ପିଲାଙ୍କୁ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଶିଖାଇବା ପାଇଁ ଇଣ୍ଟରାକ୍ଟିଭ ଗେମ ତିଆରନ୍ତେ ନାହିଁ? ଆଜିକାଲି ପିଲାଏ ବହି ପଢ଼ାରୁ ଯେଉଁ ଦୂରେଇ ଯାଉଛନ୍ତି, ଇ-ବୁକ୍‍ ବା ଡିଜିଟାଲ ବହି ତିଆରିଲେ ସେସବୁ ପିଲାଏ ଭଲ ଭାବେ ପଢ଼ିପାରନ୍ତେ ।

ଭାଷା ସାହିତ୍ୟର ଚଉହଦିରୁ ମୁକୁଳି ବେପାର ବଣିଜର ଭାଷା, ଶାସନର ଭାଷା ହେଉ । ଭାଷା ଶିକ୍ଷାଦୀକ୍ଷାର କେବଳ ଭାଷା ନୁହେଁ ବରଂ ବ୍ୟାବହାରିକ ଭାଷା ହେଲେ ଯାଇ ଲୋକେ ତାକୁ ଅଧିକ କହିବା ଆରମ୍ଭ କରିବେ । ଭାଷାକୁ ନେଇ ହୀନମନ୍ୟତା ସେତେବେଳେ ଦୂର ହେବ ଯେତେବେଳେ ଆମେ ଆମ ଭାଷାକୁ ଅର୍ଥ ରୋଜଗାରର ଭାଷା କରିପାରିବୁ । ଭାଷା ଯେତେବେଳେ ବିତ୍ତଶାଳୀଙ୍କ ଭାଷା ହୁଏ ସେଥିରେ ଗବେଷଣା ହେବାର ଅଧିକ । ଭାଷା ଯେଉଁଠି ଯେତେବେଶି ସାମାଜିକ, ସେଠି ସେତେ ବ୍ୟାପକ । କେରଳୀମାନେ ମନ୍ଦିରର ପୂଜାରେ ଖାଲି ନୁହେଁ, ଚର୍ଚ୍ଚର ଉପାସନାରେ ଆଉ ମସଜିଦର ଫାଟକରେ ମଧ୍ୟ ମାଲାୟାଲାମର ବହୁଳ ବ୍ୟବହାର କରନ୍ତି । ସେମାନଙ୍କର ଧର୍ମଗତ ବିଭେଦ ବାହ୍ୟ ରୂପରେ ଏତେ କମ ଯେ ବେଳେବେଳେ ଜଣାପଡ଼େ ନାହିଁ କିଏ କେଉଁ ଧର୍ମର । ଆମର ଭାଷାର ବ୍ୟବହାର ବେଳେବେଳେ ସାମାଜିକ ବ୍ୟବହାରରୁ ସଂକୀର୍ଣ୍ଣ ହୋଇ ଧର୍ମଗତ ହୋଇଛି । କଳିଙ୍ଗର ଇତିହାସ କହେ ଏ ଚତୁର ଜାତି ସାଗର ବେଳାର ଲମ୍ବା ବେଳାଭୂଇଁ ଉପକୂଳରେ ବସତି ସ୍ଥାପନ କରି କେତେ ଦଶନ୍ଧି ରାଜୁତି କରିଥିଲା, ତା'ର ବଣିକ-ସାଧବ ପୁଅ ମାଛମରାଠାରୁ ପାଟଲୁଗା ବୁଣା ବହୁବିଧ କାମରେ ନିପୁଣ ହୋଇ ନିଜର ଭାଷା, ଚଳଣି ଓ ଜୀବନର ଅନେକ ରଙ୍ଗ ଦକ୍ଷିଣ ଏସିଆର ଦେଶମାନଙ୍କରେ ମାଖିଥିଲେ । ସେ ଭାଷା ବଳବାନ, ଯାହା ବେପାର ଆଉ ଶାସନର ଭାଷା । ସରକାରୀ କାମ ସବୁ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷାରେ ହେବା ଆରମ୍ଭ ହେଉ । ଆଗରୁ ଦୁଇଥର ହୋଇ ବନ୍ଦ ହୋଇଯାଇଥିବା ଏ ବ୍ୟବସ୍ଥାର ପୁନରାରମ୍ଭ କରାଗଲେ ଅନେକ ସମ୍ଭାବନା ଠିଆ ହୁଅନ୍ତା ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷାର ଭବିଷ୍ୟତ ପାଇଁ । ଏଥି ସହିତ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷାକୁ ନେଇ ଚାକିରି କରିବାପାଇଁ ବି ବାଟ ମିଳିଯାଆନ୍ତା ଯୁବପିଢ଼ିକୁ ।

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/subhashish-panigrahi-october-13-2014-editorial-in-samaja

Barcamp Bangalore

praskrishna — 2014-10-13T04:43:45Z

The Centre for Internet and Society's Access to Knowledge team participated in a Barcamp at SAP Labs, Bangalore on October 12, 2014. Dr. U.B.Pavanaja and Rahmanuddin Shaik participated in the event.

Dissecting Wikipedia

Wikipedia is the world’s most famous free and open encyclopaedia which anyone can edit. In this session we will explore various technical aspects of Wikipedia with demonstrations. Wikipedia has its own set of APIs using which we can retrieve information by using various queris and parameters. The output can be generated in various formats. These output can be used for processing by programming languages as input. These will be demonstrated.

Click to read the details on the Barcamp website.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/news/barcamp-bangalore

Sangeet Baithak: A Hindustani Music Resource Donation Event in Mumbai

praskrishna — 2014-10-07T04:27:49Z

The Access to Knowledge team from the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS-A2K) and Khayal Trust is organizing a music event on October 7, 2014 in Shivaji Park, Dadar, Mumbai. T.Vishnu Vardhan and Tejaswini Niranjana will be participating.

Neela Bhagwat will donate her comprehensive textual compilation of Gwalior Gharana bandishes. Gwalior Gharana is one of the old traditions of Hindustani gayaki and like other gayaki's the tradition has been passed on orally in the guru-shishya parampara. Pt. Neela Bhagwat has over a period of 30 years (of learning and teaching music) meticulously compiled most of the Gwalior Gharana bandishes with notations and notes. This comprehensive collection which will be scanned and hosted on Wikisource and made available under CC-BY-SA 4.0. license.

Click to download the event invite here.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/events/sangeet-baithak

Big Data and Positive Social Change in the Developing World: A White Paper for Practitioners and Researchers

nishant — 2014-10-01T03:52:35Z

I was a part of a working group writing a white paper on big data and social change, over the last six months. This white paper was produced by a group of activists, researchers and data experts who met at the Rockefeller Foundation’s Bellagio Centre to discuss the question of whether, and how, big data is becoming a resource for positive social change in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs).

Bellagio Big Data Workshop Participants. (2014). “Big data and positive social change in the developing world: A white paper for practitioners and researchers.” Oxford: Oxford Internet Institute. Available online: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2491555.

Summary

Our working definition of big data includes, but is not limited to, sources such as social media, mobile phone use, digitally mediated transactions, the online news media, and administrative records. It can be categorised as data that is provided explicitly (e.g. social media feedback); data that is observed (e.g. mobile phone call records); and data that is inferred and derived by algorithms (for example social network structure or inflation rates). We defined four main areas where big data has potential for those interested in promoting positive social change: advocating and facilitating; describing and predicting; facilitating information exchange and promoting accountability and transparency.

In terms of advocating and facilitating, we discussed ways in which volunteered data may help organisations to open up new public spaces for discussion and awareness-building; how both aggregating data and working across different databases can be tools for building awareness, and howthe digital data commons can also configure new communities and actions (sometimes serendipitously) through data science and aggregation. Finally, we also looked at the problem of overexposure and howactivists and organisations can protect themselves and hide their digital footprints. The challenges we identified in this area were how to interpret data correctly when supplementary information may be lacking; organisational capacity constraints around processing and storing data, and issues around data dissemination, i.e. the possible negative consequences of inadvertently identifying groups or individuals.

Next, we looked at the way big data can help describe and predict, functions which are particularly important in the academic, development and humanitarian areas of work where researchers can combine data into new dynamic, high-resolution datasets to detect new correlations and surface new questions. With data such as mobile phone data and Twitter analytics, understanding the data’s comprehensiveness, meaning and bias are the main challenges, accompanied by the problem of developing new and more comprehensive ethical systems to protect data subjects where data is observed rather than volunteered.

The next group of activities discussed was facilitating information exchange. We looked at mobile-based information services, where it is possible for a platform created around a particular aim (e.g. agricultural knowledge-building) to incorporate multiple feedback loops which feed into both research and action. The pitfalls include the technical challenge of developing a platform which is lean yet multifaceted in terms of its uses, and particularly making it reliably available to low-income users. This kind of platform, addressed by big data analytics, also offers new insights through data discovery and allows the provider to steer service provision according to users’ revealed needs and priorities.

Our last category for big data use was accountability and transparency, where organisations are using crowdsourcing methods to aggregate and analyse information in real time to establish new spaces for critical discussion, awareness and action. Flows of digital information can be managed to prioritise participation and feedback, provide a safe space to engage with policy decisions and expose abuse. The main challenges are how to keep sensitive information (and informants) safe while also exposing data and making authorities accountable; how to make the work sustainable without selling data, and how to establish feedback loops so that users remain involved in the work beyond an initial posting. In the crowdsourcing context, new challenges are also arising in terms of how to verify and moderate real-time flows of information, and how to make this process itself transparent.

Finally, we also discussed the relationship between big and open data. Open data can be seen as a system of governance and a knowledge commons, whereas big data does not by its nature involve the idea of the commons, so we leaned toward the term ‘opening data’, i.e. processes which could apply to commercially generated as much as public-sector datasets. It is also important to understand where to prioritise opening, and where this may exclude people who are not using the ‘right’ technologies: for example, analogue methods (e.g. nailing a local authority budget to a town hall door every month) may be more open than ‘open’ digital data that’s available online.

Our discussion surfaced many questions to do with representation and meaning: must datasets be interpreted by people with local knowledge? For researchers to get access to data that is fully representative, do we need a data commons? How are data proprietors engaging with the power dynamics and inequalities in the research field, and how can civil society engage with the private sector on its own terms if data access is skewed towards elites? We also looked at issues of privacy and risk: do we need a contextual risk perspective rather than a single set of standards? What is the role of local knowledge in protecting data subjects, and what kinds of institutions and practices are necessary? We concluded that there is a case to be made for building a data commons for private/public data, and for setting up new and more appropriate ethical guidelines to deal with big data, since aggregating, linking and merging data present new kinds of privacy risk. In particular, organisations advocating for opening datasets must admit the limitations of anonymisation, which is currently being ascribed more power to protect data subjects than it merits in the era of big data.

Our analysis makes a strong case that it is time for civil society groups in particular to become part of the conversation about the power of data. These groups are the connectors between individuals and governments, corporations and governance institutions, and have the potential to promote big data analysis that is locally driven and rooted. Civil society groups are also crucially important but currently underrepresented in debates about privacy and the rights of technology users, and civil society as a whole has a responsibility for building critical awareness of the ways big data is being used to sort, categorise and intervene in LMICs by corporations, governments and other actors. Big data is shaping up to be one of the key battlefields of our era, incorporating many of the issues civil society activists worldwide have been working on for decades. We hope that this paper can inform organisations and
individuals as to where their particular interests may gain traction in the debate, and what their contribution may look like.

Click to download the full white paper here. (PDF, 1.95 Mb)

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/big-data-and-positive-social-change-in-developing-world

Developing Digital Open Knowledge Resources in Indian Languages

Tejaswini Niranjana and Tanveer Hasan — 2014-10-12T03:52:20Z

A two-day workshop for students was organized by Krantijyoti Savitribai Phule Women’s Studies Centre, University of Pune (KSPWSC), Centre for Indian Languages in Higher Education (CILHE), Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai and Access to Knowledge Programme, Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore (CIS-A2K) on September 11 and 12, 2014 in Pune. Tejaswini Niranjana and Tanveer Hasan summarize the developments from the workshop in this report.

Day 1

The workshop began with Tejaswini Niranjana speaking about the monolingual nature of the present day higher education system. She explained why monolingual students were disadvantaged in their pursuit of knowledge, since they could not grasp the concepts coming from the societies they lived in. The mandate of CILHE was briefly explained, and the commitment of the centre to generate accurate and relevant multi-lingual terminology for the social sciences and humanities stressed upon. She lauded the role of the KSPWSC, Pune University, in using bilingual pedagogic material and promoting an engagement with Indian language materials in their courses. The importance of using digital resources was also discussed. The collaborative nature of creating entries on the Wikipedia platform was stressed. The organizers added that students from various other institutions across the country would be participating in the larger exercise.

Next, T. Vishnu Vardhan of CIS-A2K spoke about the changing nature of knowledge repositories and the pattern of access to those repositories. He described at length the genesis of Wikipedia and the influence it has today on the way we access and understand knowledge. Different types of digital resources available to us and the nature in which they generate the knowledge and make it available was explained. Participants were also introduced to the difference between born digital material and digitized material along with the many sister projects of the Wikimedia foundation. Vishnu explained how anyone registering as an editor on Wikipedia could begin contributing to the development of this knowledge base. This was followed by a session in which the basics of Wikipedia editing were explained.

Following lunch, there was a group exercise that required the participants to pick any three concepts that were provided to them in a handout and try to explain the same without using the concept itself. This exercise was important as the participants would try to understand the concept more closely without assuming its meaning. This was self-evident. Better understanding of the concept would in turn help them to write about it or use it meaningfully in an Indian language entry on Wikipedia. Many participants found this exercise difficult in the initial stages as they fell back upon their classroom understanding of the term. They were asked to focus on explaining the concept without using the word itself but by understanding its effects and its multiple meanings.

In the second exercise, the participants made use of the material generated through the first exercise and tried to explain the denotative and connotative meanings of their chosen concept. The third exercise involved coming up with a cluster of concepts in which their chosen concept was embedded. The idea was to show how concepts derived meaning from a larger context, and could not be understood outside of their conceptual universe. The first day of the workshop ended with all the participants successfully registering themselves as Wikipedia editors, learning the basics of editing, and having taken part in an exercise that made them think about the concepts they used with greater clarity.


						Above: A participant explains the denotative and connotative meaning of her chosen concept.

Day 2

Participants were asked to search for an article in the English Wikipedia for a person, a book and a concept connected to women’s studies. They were asked to identify the challenges involved if they had to translate the article into an Indian language they were familiar with. The exercise was intended to alert the participants to the kind of problems they were likely to face during the act of translation. They were also asked to come up with solutions as to how these problems could be overcome. A key problem voiced by many participants was that of the non-availability of the right phrase/term/word in Indian languages. Tejaswini Niranjana advised the participants not to reinvent the wheel but use the terms that had been coined earlier but were now out of circulation in Indian languages. She also pointed out that translation from English to Indian languages is a different process than from Indian languages to English. In the former, one has to break sentence structure to make the meaning more clear, and in the latter one has to combine the sentences. She also said that the process of translation must happen at the level of sentences and ideas and not simply at the level of terms and words.

Answering another question about the lack of social context while translating a concept, Prof. Niranjana asked the participants to use the existing historical and social writings already available in their languages to overcome this problem. These writings could be updated and edited, and current references added.

Vishnu continued the discussion of using digital platforms to create and disseminate knowledge by explaining various tools available. He stressed the importance of sharing our efforts in creating knowledge and making it widely available, and pointed out various features of Wikipedia and Google translator. Participants were shown ways by which the existing knowledge base on Google and such other digital knowledge platforms could be improved.

Everyone then started working on his/her individual entries that would be the quantitative output of this workshop. They were asked to select one topic (a book, a person, a concept) from their previous exercise and develop an article based on that in any Indian language that they preferred. Most of the entries were in Marathi, with a few participants opting for Hindi. There was an entry in Bangla as well.

At the end of the workshop, more than half of our 26 participants had fully developed entries in Indian languages. These entries contained a table of contents and references, inter-wiki references, and external links, and in some cases included images too. Many participants wrote about personalities such as the writer Mukta Salve, the feminist theorist Mary John, and the contemporary Marathi writer Narayan Bhosle. Some wrote about concepts such as feminism, nationalism and domestic violence.

This two-day workshop proved to be immensely successful as the participants were motivated to contribute to the Wikimedia platforms regularly, and began to appreciate the importance of Indian language initiatives such as these.

We are very thankful to the entire faculty at KSPWSC, Pune University, Dr. Anagha Tambe, Dr. Swati Dyahadroy, Sneha Gole, Sanjay Kumar Kamble, and Deepa Tak who facilitated the discussions and were of immense help in conducting the workshop.


					Above: Tejaswini Niranjana with participants at the Pune workshop.

Click to download all the photographs from the workshop.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/report-on-developing-digital-open-knowledge-resources-in-indian-languages

State Level Seminar on "Odia alphabet and order teaching in primary education"

praskrishna — 2014-09-30T08:51:05Z

Subhashish Panigrahi participated in a state-level seminar on "Number of Odia characters and order teaching in primary education" (ପ୍ରଥମ ଶ୍ରେଣୀରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଅକ୍ଷର ସଂଖ୍ୟା ଓ କ୍ରମଶିକ୍ଷା) co-organised by Institute of Odia Studies and Research, and Odia Bhasa Pratisthan in Bhubaneswar on September 14, 2014.

Subhashish discussed about the applied aspects of Odia language in the context of primary education and need for reforms in the total number and order in the character-set citing problems with computer and internet.

The reports of the event are given below:


Above: Report of the event published in Prameya


Above: Report of the event published in Dharitri


Above: Report of the event published in Samaja

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/news/odia-alphabet-and-order-teaching-in-primary-education

Publishing Next

praskrishna — 2014-09-30T07:50:28Z

T. Vishnu Vardhan was a speaker at Publishing Next organized by CinnamonTeal Publishing, a Margao (Goa)-based publishing house that provides publishing services to authors and publishers. The event was held in Goa on September 19 and 20.

For speakers click here. Read the full description on Publishing Next website.

Schedule | publishing next

Schedule

For descriptions of each session, please view this page.

19th September 2014			20th September 2014
	Hall 1 (Panel Discussions and Presentations)	Hall 2 (Workshops)		Hall 1 (Panel Discussions and Presentations)	Hall 2 (Workshops)
09:00 – 10:00	Registration of attendees		09:30 – 10:00	Insight Talk by Klaus Willberg
10:00 – 10:20	Inauguration / Address		10:00 – 11:30	A Pulse on Publishing
10:20 – 11:00	Keynote Address		11:30 – 12:00	Tea
11:00 – 11:20	Tea		12:00 – 13:15	Worse Off Without Verse?	Physical Distribution in a Global World: 12.00-12.45
11:20 – 11:45	Presentation by Netex Knowledge Factory		13:15 – 14:00	Lunch
11:45 – 13:15	Publishing in Indian languages		14:00 – 14:20	Presentation by HP India
13:15 – 14:00	Lunch		14:20 – 15:20	The Art of the Book	Fiction/History/Research : 14:20 – 15:00
14:00 – 14:20	Presentation by NewsHunt		15:20 – 15:45	Q&A on ISBN Issues
14:20 – 15:45	Open Publishing, Copyright and Copyleft	Face to Face: Printers and Publishers: 14:20 – 16:15	15:45 – 16:15	Tea
15:45 – 16:15	Tea		16:15 – 16:30	Presentation by IppStar	Publishing Environments in Brazil and Sri Lanka: 16:15 – 17:00
16:15 – 17:30	The Business of Graphic Books	Publishing Translated Literature: 16:15-17:00	16:30 – 18:00	e-Publishing in India
17:30 – 19:00	Are There Enough Good Books for Children?	eBook Development and Distribution: 17.30-18.30	18.00 – Publishing Next Industry Awards Presentation Ceremony
20:30 – Networking Dinner at Hotel Sandalwood

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/news/publishing-next

Expanding the World of Telugu Wikipedia – CIS-A2K and ALC join hands

T Vishnu Vardhan and Rahmanuddin Shaik — 2014-09-30T05:11:29Z

Students and faculty of Andhra Loyola College in Vijayawada aim to enhance Telugu Wikipedia through increased contributions to Wikipedia and make it available under free license.

The Access to Knowledge (A2K) programme of the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) in its quest to catalyze the growth of open knowledge movement in Indic languages recently added another feather to its cap by signing a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Andhra Loyola College (ALC) in Vijayawada on August 14, 2014 to work collaboratively to improve Telugu Wikipedia and Telugu Wikisource. College Principal Fr. G.A.P. Kishore, Vice-Principals Fr. P. Anil Kumar and Fr. Rex Angelo, correspondent Fr. Raju signed the agreement with CIS-A2K programme director T. Vishnu Vardhan.

The MoU signed with ALC is for a period of five years and encompasses four activities: Open knowledge creation in Telugu across various disciplines on Telugu Wikipedia: ALC faculty and students will be trained by CIS-A2K staff and interested Telugu Wikimedians to understand the principles that govern Wikipedia in order to generate quality entries. Faculty from Botany, Physics, Statistics, Ethics, Religion, Telugu Literature, and Music will work with CIS-A2K. Each of the faculty in the coming months will come up with a plan to generate open knowledge in Telugu in their respective disciplines. Content donation and digitization on Telugu Wikisource: ALC through its networks will help CIS-A2K to bring Telugu content under CC-BY-SA 4.0 license. The Telugu department of the college expressed keen interest to work with CIS-A2K in digitizing historical Telugu content and to make it available on Telugu Wikisource. Various competitions will be planned in the future. Creating a free software environment at Andhra Loyola College: 400 machines within various labs on the campus will be converted into FOSS systems with free and open source software including support for Telugu and other Indic languages. It should be noted that all the existing computers of ALC are run on proprietary software. As a pilot initiative CIS-A2K has already converted 30 systems in a lab and named it as Loyola FOSS Lab. CIS-A2K to revise the FIT (Fundamentals in Information Technology): A mandatory course for all undergraduate students which will introduce students to FOSS, Openness and Wikipedia. This is an outcome of the FOSS orientation done by T. Vishnu Vardhan and Rahimanuddin Shaik during the two workshops that were held at ALC.

CIS-A2K will put every effort to involve Telugu Wikimedians and FOSS community in taking this collaboration with ALC forward. CIS-A2K will also create a project page on Telugu Wikipedia to actively document and publicly share the detailed plans and progress. More updates will also be shared on this website.


Above: Representatives from ALC and CIS-A2K seen during the signing ceremony.

The signing of the MoU was done at a public event in the presence of students, faculty and management of ALC and various representatives from media. The media covered this event enthusiastically. The Hindu coverage can be found here and Eenadu article coverage is here.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/expanding-the-world-of-telugu-wikipedia-cis-and-alc-join-hands

September 2014 Bulletin

praskrishna — 2015-01-02T01:26:03Z

Welcome you to the ninth issue of the newsletter (September 2014).

We at the Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) welcome you to the ninth issue of the newsletter (September 2014). Archives of our newsletters can be accessed at: http://cis-india.org/about/newsletters

Highlights

Nishant Shah was part of a working group writing a white paper on big data and social change, over the last six months. This white paper produced by a group of activists, researchers and data experts was published by Oxford.
As part of the Pervasive Technologies project Maggie Huang interviewed Semiconductor Industry Professionals in Taiwan on the trends and changes in technology and understanding mobile chip manufacturing.

CIS entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Andhra Loyola College for a period of 5 years to enhance Telugu Wikipedia through increased contributions to Wikipedia and make it available under free license.
CIS-A2K signed a memorandum of understanding with Nirmala Institute of Education, Goa to enhance digital literacy in Konkani in the education sector across Goa.
Tejaswini Niranjana and Tanveer Hasan wrote a report on the workshop Developing Digital Open Knowledge Resources in Indian Languages for which CIS-A2K was one of the organizers.

CIS joined the Dynamic Coalition for Platform Responsibility towards creating due diligence recommendations for online platforms.
CIS organized a workshop on an evidence-based framework for intermediary liability at the IGF held in Istanbul on September 3, 2014. Jyoti Panday coordinated the workshop in collaboration with Stanford Centre for Internet & Society.
Elonnai Hickok contributed a thematic chapter on Intermediary Liability and Surveillance in the GISWatch Report.
The Supreme Court of India revised the law on electronic evidence in the case of Anvar v. P. K. Basheer. Bhairav Acharya has done an analysis on this. It was published by Law and Policy in India and subsequently mirrored on our website.

Accessibility and Inclusion

Under a grant from the Hans Foundation we are doing two projects. The first project is on creating a national resource kit of state-wise laws, policies and programmes on issues relating to persons with disabilities in India. CIS in partnership with CLPR (Centre for Law and Policy Research) compiled the National Compendium of Policies, Programmes and Schemes for Persons with Disabilities (29 states and 6 union territories). The updated draft is being reviewed by the Office of the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities. The draft chapters and the quarterly reports can be accessed on the project page. The second project is on developing text-to-speech software for 15 Indian languages. The progress made so far in the project can be accessed here.

NVDA and eSpeak

Monthly Update

Work Report for September (Suman Dogra; August 31, 2014).

Blog Entry

Study on Budget Allocation and Expenditure by States on Schemes for Persons with Disabilities (Anandhi Viswanathan; September 29, 2014).

Access to Knowledge

As part of the Access to Knowledge programme we are doing two projects. The first one (Pervasive Technologies) under a grant from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is for research on the complex interplay between pervasive technologies and intellectual property to support intellectual property norms that encourage the proliferation and development of such technologies as a social good. The second one (Wikipedia) under a grant from the Wikimedia Foundation is for the growth of Indic language communities and projects by designing community collaborations and partnerships that recruit and cultivate new editors and explore innovative approaches to building projects.

Pervasive Technologies

Interviews with Semiconductor Industry Professionals in Taiwan: Trends and Changes in Technology (Maggie Huang; September 26, 2014).
Interviews with Semiconductor Industry Professionals in Taiwan: Understanding Mobile Chip Manufacturing (Maggie Huang; September 30, 2014).

Wikipedia

As part of the project grant from the Wikimedia Foundation we have reached out to more than 3500 people across India by organizing more than 100 outreach events and catalysed the release of encyclopaedic and other content under the Creative Commons (CC-BY-3.0) license in four Indian languages (21 books in Telugu, 13 in Odia, 4 volumes of encyclopaedia in Konkani and 6 volumes in Kannada, and 1 book on Odia language history in English).

Event Report

Developing Digital Open Knowledge Resources in Indian Languages (Tejaswini Niranjana and Tanveer Hasan; September 30, 2014). The workshop was organized by Krantijyoti Savitribai Phule Women's Studies Centre, University of Pune (KSPWSC), Centre for Indian Languages in Higher Education (CILHE), Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai and CIS-A2K.

Blog Entries

NIE Steps in to Grow Konkani Wikipedia (T. Vishnu Vardhan; September 6, 2014).
Expanding the World of Telugu Wikipedia - CIS-A2K and ALC join hands (T. Vishnu Vardhan and Rahmanuddin Shaik; September 17, 2014).

The following were published in August and mirrored on our website in September:

OpenGLAM at Wikimania 2014 (Subhashish Panigrahi; OpenGLAM; August 27, 2014).
We are Wikipedia (By Subhashish Panigrahi; Wikimedia Deutschland; August 25, 2014). Wikimedia Deutchland has included a paragraph about WeAreWikipedia on their blog.

Event Organized

Kannada Wikipedia Workshop for Students (Tumkur University; Tumkur; September 27, 2014). Dr. U.B.Pavanaja conducted the workshop. Fifty people participated in the event.

Event Co-organized

Kannada Wikipedia Workshop (Organized by Basaveshwara Science College and CIS-A2K; September 20, 2014). Dr. U.B.Pavanaja conducted the workshop.

News and Media Coverage

CIS-A2K team gave its inputs to the following media coverage:

Implementation of IT in Kannada (Prajavani; September 21, 2014).
105 Kannada books released under Creative Commons (Shyam Prasad S; Bangalore Mirror; September 29, 2014).

Participation in Events

State Level Seminar on "Odia alphabet and order teaching in primary education" (Co-organized by Institute of Odia Studies and Research and Odia Bhasa Pratisthan, Bhubaneswar; September 14, 2014). Subhashish Panigrahi participated in the event and discussed about the applied aspects of Odia language in the context of primary education and need for reforms in the total number and order in the character-set citing problems with computer and internet.
Publishing Next (Organized by CinnamonTeal Publishing; Goa; September 19 - 20, 2014). T. Vishnu Vardhan was a panelist at the 5th edition of Publishing Next the annual conference on the future of publishing. He spoke on Open Access, Copyright and Copyleft.

Internet Governance

Privacy

As part of our Surveillance and Freedom: Global Understandings and Rights Development (SAFEGUARD) project with Privacy International we are engaged in enhancing respect for the right to privacy in developing countries. We have produced the following outputs during the month:

Note: The White Paper below is not a part of the SAFEGUARD project .

White Paper

Big Data and Positive Social Change in the Developing World: A White Paper for Practitioners and Researchers (Nishant Shah; Oxford: Oxford Internet Institute; September 30, 2014). Nishant Shah was part of a group of activists, researchers and data experts in producing this white paper.

Analysis

Anvar v. Basheer and the New (Old) Law of Electronic Evidence (Bhairav Acharya; September 30, 2014).

Announcement

CIS joins the Dynamic Coalition for Platform Responsibility (Jyoti Panday; September 23, 2014).

Blog Entries

The Aadhaar Case (Vipul Kharbanda; September 5, 2014).
UID: A Data Subject's Registration Tale (Mukta Batra; September 11, 2014).
Biometrics: An 'Angootha Chaap' nation? (Mukta Batra; September 19, 2014).
UID and NPR: Towards Common Ground (September 19, 2014): This is an anonymous post.

CIS @ IGF

The ninth Internet Governance Forum ("IGF2014") was hosted by Turkey in Istanbul from September 2 to 5, 2014. A BestBits pre-event, which saw robust discussions on renewal of the IGF mandate, the NETmundial Initiative and other live Internet governance processes, flagged off a week of many meetings and sessions. CIS participated in multiple workshops and panels:

WS112: Implications of post-Snowden Internet localization proposals (Organized by Center for Democracy and Technology, Istanbul, September 2, 2014). Sunil Abraham was a speaker at this IGF workshop.
WS63: Preserving a universal Internet: Costs of fragmentation (Organized by OECD and Centre for International Governance Innovation; September 3, 2014). Sunil Abraham was a speaker at this IGF workshop.
WS2 Mobile, Trust and Privacy (Organized by GSM Association; September 4, 2014). Sunil Abraham was a speaker.
Transparency reporting as a tool for Internet governance (Organized by Global Network Initiative; September 3, 2014). Pranesh Prakash was a panelist.
WS149: Aligning ICANN policy with the privacy rights of users (Organized by Yale ISP; September 5, 2014). Pranesh Prakash was a moderator.

Other Participation

Launch of the GISWatch Report (Association for Progressive Communications and the Humanist Institute for Cooperation with Developing Countries (Hivos). Elonnai Hickok contributed a thematic chapter on Intermediary Liability and Surveillance to this report.

Participation in Events

Re-Wiring Women's Rights Debates in the Digital Age (Organized by IT for Change in partnership with Kutch Mahila Vikas Sangathan and ANANDI; September 13 - 14, 2014). Rohini Lakshane was a speaker.
Workshop on Enabling Information Systems for Local Governance (Organized by Jamia Milla Islamia, Tagore Hall; New Delhi; September 18, 2014). Sunil Abraham was a participant.
National Consultation on Media Law (Organized by Law Commission of India and the National University, Delhi; India Habitat Centre, New Delhi; September 27 - 28, 2014). Nehaa Chaudhari, Jyoti Panday and Anubha Sinha participated in the event.

Upcoming Event

CPDP 2015 : The eighth international conference on computers, privacy and data protection will be held in Brussels from January 21 to 23, 2015. CIS is a moral supporter of CPDP.

News & Media Coverage

CIS gave its inputs to the following media coverage:

Fighting battles online (Nikhil Varma; The Hindu; September 2, 2014).
Colonial yoke or bureaucratic insouciance? (Vidya Venkat with additional reporting by K.T. Sangameswaran in Chennai; The Hindu; September 7, 2014).
Social Media Aids Rescue Efforts in Flood-Hit Kashmir (Anjana Pasricha, September 10, 2014).
Google aims to win 40% of India with Android One (Varun Aggarwal; Economic Times; September 11, 2014).

Digital Humanities

CIS is building research clusters in the field of Digital Humanities. The Digital will be used as a way of unpacking the debates in humanities and social sciences and look at the new frameworks, concepts and ideas that emerge in our engagement with the digital. The clusters aim to produce and document new conversations and debates that shape the contours of Digital Humanities in Asia:

Event Organized

Consultation on New Figures of Learning in the Digital Context (CIS, Bangalore, September 22, 2014). P.P. Sneha wrote a report on the event.

About CIS

The Centre for Internet and Society is a non-profit research organization that works on policy issues relating to freedom of expression, privacy, accessibility for persons with disabilities, access to knowledge and IPR reform, and openness (including open government, FOSS, open standards, etc.), and engages in academic research on digital natives and digital humanities.

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We invite researchers, practitioners, and theoreticians, both organisationally and as individuals, to collaboratively engage with Internet and society and improve our understanding of this new field. To discuss the research collaborations, write to Sunil Abraham, Executive Director, atsunil@cis-india.org or Nishant Shah, Director - Research, at nishant@cis-india.org. To discuss collaborations on Indic language Wikipedia, write to T. Vishnu Vardhan, Programme Director, A2K, at vishnu@cis-india.org.

CIS is grateful to its primary donor the Kusuma Trust founded by Anurag Dikshit and Soma Pujari, philanthropists of Indian origin for its core funding and support for most of its projects. CIS is also grateful to its other donors, Wikimedia Foundation, Ford Foundation, Privacy International, UK, Hans Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, and IDRC for funding its various projects.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/september-2014-bulletin

NIE Steps in to Grow Konkani Wikipedia

vishnu — 2014-10-10T11:26:26Z

The Centre for Internet & Society's Access to Knowledge team (CIS-A2K) signed a memorandum of agreement (MoU) with Nirmala Institute of Education, Goa to enhance digital literacy in Konkani in the education sector across Goa.

The Access to Knowledge (A2K) programme of CIS, in its sustained efforts to enhance the content and reach of Kokani Wikepedia (which is in incubation), has signed an MoU for a period of five years with Nirmala Insitute of Education (NIE), a Secondary Teacher Education College established in 1963 by the Society of the Daughters of the Heart of Mary in response to the then urgent need for trained teachers in post liberation Goa. The key objectives of this partnership are: a) to design, develop and execute a certificate course titled "Teaching in the Age of Wikipedia", which is aimed at middle and high school teacher-trainees and teachers; and b) to introduce Wikimedia projects into the pedagogic curriculum of NIE.

Both CIS and NIE share a mutual interest in conserving, developing and disseminating knowledge free of cost in Konkani, which incidentally is Goa’s official language. Konkani as a language faces several challenges — it has no official script. The population who speak it are dispersed across the world and have little motivation to further the cause of Konkani, and there are few educational venues that offer a formal course to study Konkani or offer Konkani based curriculum. NIE Principal Dr. Denzil Martins welcomed this MoU and said that "it will guide our teacher-trainees to upload relevant information in Konkani that can be freely accessed by the local population" and "provide the volunteer-trainees with skills that they will be able to use to contribute and enhance the free knowledge in Konkani". The MoU was signed by Dr. Denzil Martins from NIE and T. Vishnu Vardhan (Programme Director, Access to Knowledge, CIS) in the presence of staff and students of NIE and volunteers Harriet Vidyasagar and Gayathri Rao Konkar. Dr. Rita Paes, ex-Principal of NIE who worked to forge this MoU sent her best wishes.

CIS-A2K since 2013, has worked to develop partnerships with key educational institutions to promote and grow Konkani Wikipedia. It has previously worked with NIE to design and implement a program to enroll 100 B.Ed. students to increase the amount of information available in Goan villages and towns on Konkani Wikipedia. A2K has also been instrumental in convincing Goa University to re-release Konkani Vishwakosh (encyclopedia) under CC-BY-SA 3.0 , making it freely available to public, giving them the right to share, use and even build upon the work that has already been done.

The course ‘Teaching in the Age of Wikipedia’ will enable the teacher participant to have a) a comprehensive understanding of changes due to digital technology to the knowledge domain; b) an introduction to various openness movements that inform the discourse on Open Educational Resources; c) exposure and training to participate on open knowledge platforms like Wikipedia; and d) practical examples and best practices of using Wikipedia and sister projects within the classroom context. The parties will also co-design and jointly implement programmes to introduce Wikipedia in the NIE curriculum. The curriculum for this workshop is positioned within the context of indian languages (particularly Konkani) and school education to ensure that any learning is practical and can be applied within the teachers immediate pedagogic environment. Speaking about the relevance of this course Gayathri and Harriet (who have been associated with NIE as volunteers) mentioned that "the Goa government has handed out tablets to all school going children in Goa. In order to use them effectively in the classroom will require teachers to rethink their role and teaching methodologies and this course is an important step towards that". Agreeing with this Denzil Martins feels that this course "will provide the teacher-trainees with ideas and inputs for using Wikipedia in creative ways in the classroom".

This partnership could bring huge momentum and scale for the growth of Konkani as participants who graduate from this course will as teachers act as anchors and mentors to teach and assign Wikipedia editing assignments in their respective schools and classrooms.

As Gayathri feels "such courses once fine tuned should be made available to teachers from all over the country and should be part of the package for introducing the digital technology in the school system. Today it ends with setting up computer labls in schools or distribution of hardware to students - they may have a 'computer teacher' but the class and subject teachers never become part of these new initiatives. Only when this happens can we move away from 'teaching computers' to using computers as tools to learn and teach, which is the primary objective of digital technology in schools".

CIS will develop this open course and welcomes anyone to partner in this effort, which will be made available for anyone to use it within their context. The efforts to build free and open knowledge platforms like Konkani Wikipedia will continue and partnerships like NIE will play a crucial role in building a robust knowledge society in India.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/nie-steps-in-to-grow-konkani-wikipedia