Centre for Internet and Society

Right to Information Act and Open Data Policy in India

praskrishna — 2015-06-18T01:27:34Z

Sumandro led a knowledge sharing session at this event organized by Myanmar ICT Development Organization (MIDO) on May 14, 2015.

The session focused on the making of the global open data movement, the open data policy in India and its linkages with the Right to Information Act, the experience of the making of the Right to Information Act in India and its implementational challenges, the emerging open data activities in India and its opportunities and challenges. The issue of Myanmar’s decision to become part of the Open Government Partnership was discussed. The initiative started during Barack Obama's visit in Myanmar in 2012.

The NGOs in Myanmar since then have boycotted talks with the government regarding this topic, as they have felt that the government did not involve them in the decision in the first place. The Myanmar government has promised to be part of OGP by 2016. The NGOs in Myanmar has started to engage with the OGP process on their own. This is being led by the Myanmar Alliance for Transparency and Accountability, or MATA. MIDO is a member of the Alliance. Also, Nwezin Win of National NGO Network of Myanmar has also become a civil society member of the OGP Steering Committee during the rotation of the committee in 2014.

In a brief discussion regarding how open data can be part of the OGP conversations in Myanmar, and the role that MIDO can play in this, Sumandro suggested that MATA focuses both on articulating a demand for open data and information from the government, and on increasing the capacities to work with data among its members. MIDO has critical roles to play in both the demand and supply side of open data and information, especially since ICT capabilities of NGOs in Myanmar are often not sufficient, and it is very important to raise general awareness about technical qualities of open data and information impact the way such data and information can be used in transparency and accountability initiatives.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/news/right-to-information-act-and-open-data-policy-in-india

Open Street Map "Mapping Workshop"

sumandro — 2015-06-17T16:47:47Z

I conducted a workshop titled "OpenStreetMap Mapping Workshop" on Wednesday, May 13, 2015 at Phandeeyar. The workshop was attended by 20 enthusiasts. This involved organisations that work on resource issues, mostly on land grabbing, a start-up company that is planning to offer location-based local news feeds, a representative of MIDO, and an organisation that sells children’s books.

The participants had basic background knowledge of maps, which allowed us to directly get into the discussion of the OpenStreetMap project, Java OpenStreetMap Editor, and Field Papers. After the initial discussion, the participants got into three groups — one of which stayed indoors and used the online editor to contribute to OSM, one group went out to map the area using their phones (locations were saved on their phone and uploaded to OSM when they came back), and the last group went out to map the area using Field Papers. Connectivity problems made it challenging some of the groups to upload their data, but overall everyone took part in collecting geo-data and contributing it to OSM. The workshop simultaneously involved training trainers at Phandeeyar for future OSM workshops.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/phandeeyar-event-open-street-map-mapping-workshop

Odia Wikipedia Set to Celebrate 13 Years of Volunteer Contributions

subha — 2015-08-22T16:54:53Z

Odia Wikipedia, one of the first of several Indian language Wikipedia projects, is ready to celebrate 13 glorious years of free knowledge contribution on June 3.

Read the original post published by Global Voices on May 31, 2015 here. For event details click here: https://or.wikipedia.org/s/sml

Beginning in 2002 — a year after the world's largest online encyclopedia, the English Wikipedia, was launched — Odia Wikipedia has grown to be the largest content repository in the Odia language available in Unicode* on the Internet.

With about 17 active editors (also known as “uikiali”) spread across various parts of India and abroad, and over 8,800 articles, the project has become more than just an encyclopedia. The voluntary editor community has put its efforts into acquiring valuable Creative Commons (CC) licensed content by lobbying copyright holders/authors to relicense copyrighted content under CC licenses.

It has also engaged with over 2,000 people by organizing various outreach programs including the globally accredited pedagogic program the Wikipedia Education Program (WEP).

For its 13th anniversary the community is planning to release a character-encoding converter that promises to unlock massive amounts of content from government portals as well as journals, newspapers and magazines that have their content in non-Unicode character encoding that prevents user searching and reuse of digital-based content.

Odia language is spoken by more than 40 million people in the Indian state of Odisha (the 9 ^th largest Indian state by territory), its neighboring states and the Odia diaspora living outside India.

With over 5,000 years of literary heritage, it has been recognized as one of the oldest South Asian languages and has been given the status of a “classical language” by the Indian government.

However, the language has not gathered as much traction in terms of online presence as it might have.

Almost all the online newspapers in Odia are available either in non-Unicode and proprietary encoding systems, or as images. This makes them completely invisible as far as a search engine is concerned.

The same goes for the state government's official portals that either lack Odia-language content or have content in legacy encoding systems. To address these issues, a bunch of character encoding converters that convert text typed using various non-Unicode encoding systems to Unicode are incorporated on Odia Wikipedia.

With this new tool, the community aims at a mass conversion of content from all available sources — from newspapers and magazines to government journals and portals — into Unicode, so this content can be used in order to enrich Odia Wikipedia and generally improve the language's reach online.

Odia Wikipedia was not content-rich until the beginning of 2011, when editor activity began to pick up.

Since then it has expanded its content massively, with topics ranging from the essentials of medical science to the cuisine of Odisha.

The growth in readership of the project is a great example of how content is driving the internet. A project that was virtually unknown a few years back with monthly page views in the low thousands recorded 8,08,834 page views in March 2015 alone.

The Wikimedia community is gathering in Odisha's capital Bhubaneswar this June 3 to celebrate Odia Wikipedia becoming a teenager.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/global-voices-may-31-2015-subhashish-panigrahi-odia-wikipedia-set-to-celebrate-13-years-of-volunteer-contributions

What is the Open Data Movement & Why Does it Matter?

sumandro — 2015-06-18T01:12:49Z

I gave a talk at this event organized by Phandeeyar on May 13, 2015 in Yangon. About 25 delegates attended the event.

My presentation focused on talking about the key qualities of open data, the process of opening up data, and its benefits. I mentioned various examples from across the world regarding usages of open data to describe and find patterns in how the various governmental processes function (elections, parliament, judiciary, and media outreach), and different topics related to flows of finance and resources (government budget and expenditure, international aids, financial information about corporates, allotment of oil concessions, and global investments in land). The discussion following the presentation focused on questions of how privacy concerns can be protected while opening up data, how protecting the (human) sources of published data is also important in sensitive situations (especially in the context of reporting incidents of hate speech and religious violence), how the capacity of grassroot organisations to collect, use, and share open data can be increased, and if open data can become a public resource during the upcoming national election later this year. At the end of the event, I was interviewed by a journalist of Myanmar Times on these topics.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/phandeeyar-event-what-is-open-data-movement-and-why-does-it-matter

Wikipedia Campus at Oxford College

subha — 2015-05-27T14:22:44Z

CIS-A2K collaborated with the Oxford College of Engineering, Bommanahalli, Bangalore on April 24, 2015 for introducing Wikimedia projects at their institution. Radhakrishna, a senior Wikimedian from Bangalore provided the crucial introduction and worked closely with the A2K team in conducting all the activities.

Team A2K learnt valuable lessons regarding committing resources and building short term partnerships with higher education institutions. It was noted that the students showed high level of interest but due to the extremely busy academic calendar, activities could not be conducted as per the original plan.

Selected students from Oxford College of Engineering were given hands on training for two weeks (April-May) on various Wikimedia projects and were initiated into Wikisource as an evaluative activity. The diverse group of students presented the A2K team an opportunity to discuss various language projects and prepare a plan for engaging the students after the intensive training comes to an end.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/wikipedia-campus-at-oxford-college

Now you can search Google in Kannada, in your handwriting

praskrishna — 2015-05-09T08:29:52Z

All you need to do is to make changes in settings on your phone or tablet.

The article by Apurva Venkat was published in Bangalore Mirror on April 18, 2015. Dr. U.B.Pavanaja was quoted.

Do you often have trouble searching for those Kannada words on Google? You don't know the English word for it and Google does not seem to understand when you type the Kannada word with English spelling. Well, now you can input your search requests on Google in your own handwriting, and that too in Kannada.

Google has come up with a third way to input your search requests after typing and voice recognition. The latest input methods recognises your handwriting and gives you a result. The new method allows you to input in 82 different languages, one of which is Kannada.

As you write in Kannada, your handwritten words would be converted to text in the search box. To start using the new feature, all you need to do is, go to your Google settings on your phone or tablet and enable handwriting. Then go to the setting and turn off 'use system language'. You will get an option of 82 languages. Choose the language you want to input your search item in. Once you have enabled the option on the lower right of the Google screen on your phone, you will see a handwriting option. Once you click on that, you can start writing what you want to search anywhere on your screen. The Google Handwriting Input can recognise 20 distinct scripts.

Wondering how effectively it will recognise the alphabets and numbers that look similar? The search giant has come up with a solution for that as well. If there is a confusion, it will give you options of the all the similar-looking alphabets and numbers on the bottom of the page. (eg 0 and o). A partial overlap of words is also supported by Google.

The Google Research Team said, "Google Handwriting Input works with both printed and cursive writing input with or without a stylus. Beyond text input, it also provides a fun way to enter hundreds of emojis by drawing them (simply press and hold the 'enter' button to switch modes). Google Handwriting Input works with or without an Internet connection." The feature can be used on any Android phone or tablet that works on 4.0.3.

UB Pavanaja, programme manager in Indian languages, Centre of Internet and Society, Bengaluru, said, "The new method of input is a very good initiative specially introducing it in Indian languages. The input method currently available to use for Indian languages are not very user friendly. It involves long pressing of buttons etc handwriting recognition will make it easier especially for people on the move."

Pavanaja has tried out the new input system and found it good. He said, "However, there are a few lags. For example, Ne is not recognised and a few more alphabets as well. However, with any new technology a small number of bugs are expected. This should be improved when more and more people start using it and giving feedbacks."

Another programmer from the city Thejesh GN feels that the new method will increase the local language communication online. Thejesh, said," All recognition is perfect. The input method is very useful as before one use to use Phonetic keyboard but here anyone and everyone can write in Kannada and take advantage of the new tool."

Google Handwriting Input even predicts your next word in Kannada. Beluru Sudarshan, a blogger from the city, felt that the whole input system is fantastic. When he tried the app, he noticed that the input system also predicts in Kannada, which is very useful. Belluru, said, "Even on a really small screen on my smartphone, it recognised all the Kannada alphabets very well. The input will surely much better on a tab or pen tablet. The errors in handwriting input are also human errors that occur due to human gestures which cannot be avoided. Overall, it works very well."

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/news/bangalore-mirror-apurva-venkat-april-18-2015-now-you-can-search-google-in-kannada-in-your-handwriting

ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷା ପାଇଁ ଡିଜିଟାଲ ଅସୁବିଧା

subha — 2015-05-27T15:22:31Z

This paper was presented at the 2nd National Language Seminar by CIS-A2K Pogramme Officer Subhashish Panigrahi. In the paper, Panigrahi discusses about the hindrances of mass use of Odia language on the internet and how that is impacting in overall contribution of people in the language.

He further elaborates on the major content repositories like Odia Wikipedia that have the potential to drive the bandwagon of an old and rich language like Odia online which is otherwise ceased because of the lack of contribution. Click to download the file.

"ଭାଷାସବୁ ଭାଷାଙ୍କୁ ମାରନ୍ତିନି; ଭାଷାଭାଷୀମାନେ ମାରନ୍ତି' କହିଥିଲେ ଜଣାଶୁଣା ଭାଷାବିଦ ସାଲିକିକ ମୁଫଉଇନ । ଅନେକ ଡରନ୍ତି ଜଗତରେ ଆଜି ଜିଇଁଥିବା ୬,୭୦୦ଭାଷା ମରିମରି ଆଉ ଶହେବର୍ଷ ପରେ ୨୦୦ ହୋଇସାରିଥିବ । ଭାଷା ତଳେ ଭାଷାର ସମାଧି ଲଭିବାର ମୂକସାକ୍ଷୀ ନିକଟ ଅତୀତ । ଅନେକ ଭାଷା ରାଜଭାଷା, ରାଜନୈତିକ ପୃଷ୍ଠପୋଷକତା ପାଇଥିବା ଭାଷାର ମଙ୍ଗ ଧରିଥିବା ମୁଣ୍ଡିଆଳମାନଙ୍କ ଅଦଉତିରେ ମୁଣ୍ଡଟେକି ଭବିଷ୍ୟତର ଆଲୋକ ଦେଖିାରିନାହାନ୍ତି । ତେବେ ଅନେକ ଭାଷା ଅନାଦରରୁ, ରାଜନୀତିକ ଷଡ଼ଯନ୍ତ୍ର ଶିକାର ହୋଇ ଧୀରେ ଧୀରେ ସାଧାରଣ ବ୍ୟବହାରରୁ ହଜି ଯାଆନ୍ତି । ଶାସ୍ତ୍ରୀୟ ମାନ୍ୟତା ପାଇଲାଣି ଯେବେ ଆମକୁ ଆଉ କୂପମଣ୍ଡୁକ ହୋଇ ନିଜ ଦେଶ ଭିତରେ ବାନ୍ଧି ହୋଇ ରହିଲେ ଚଳିବ ନାହିଁ । ଆମ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷାର ସ୍ଥିତି ଏବେ ଜଗତ ପୃଷ୍ଠଭୂମିରେ କେଉଁଠି ତା' ବିଚାରିବା ବେଳ ଆସିଲାଣି । ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷାର ପୁରୁଣାପଣ ଉପରେ ଆଉ କାହାର ସନ୍ଦେହ ନାହିଁ । ତେବେ ସନ୍ଦେହଟି ଆମ ଭାଷାର ବ୍ୟାବହାରିକ ଦିଗ ଉପରେ । ଭାଷାଟି ଲୋକତୁଣ୍ଡରେ ଯେତେ ଅଧିକ କଥିତ ହେବେ ତା' ଖାଦି ସେତେ ବଢ଼ିବ । ପୁଣି ସମାଜର ମୁଣ୍ଡିଆଳମାନେ ଯେବେ ସେ ଭାଷାକୁ ଶାସନ, ବଣିଜ ଆଉ ସବୁଠି ବ୍ୟବହାର କରିବେ ସେ ଭାଷା ସେତେ ବଳୁଆ ହେବ । ଆମ ପାଇଁ ସମାଜର ଉଚ୍ଚ ବର୍ଗର ଲୋକଙ୍କ ଦେଇ ଓଡ଼ିଆ କହାଯିବାଟି ଏକ ବଡ଼ ବାଧକ ହୋଇ ଠିଆ ହୋଇଛି । ଆମ ଚାରିପାଖେ ଅନେକ ଉଞ୍ଚା ଗଛ ହେଲେ ଆମେ ଯେ ଛାଇରେ ଏକଥା କହିବା ବାହୁଲ୍ୟ । ୫୦୦ରୁ ଅଧିକ ବର୍ଷକାଳ ଓଡ଼ିଶା ପରାଧୀନ ହୋଇ ନ ରହନ୍ତା କି ଆମ ଭାଷାର ଯଥେଷ୍ଟ ପରେ ଜନମିଥିବା ନୂଆ ଭାଷାମାନେ ଆମଠୁ ଅଧିକ ବଳୁଆ ହୋଇ ଆମ ଉପରେ ହାକିମାତି ନ ଦେଖାନ୍ତେ । ଏବେ ଓଡ଼ିଶା ଗରିବ ରାଜ୍ୟ ବୋଲି ଯେଉଁ ଅପପ୍ରଚାରଟି କରାଯାଇଛି ଦୀର୍ଘ କେତେ ବର୍ଷ ଧରି ତା' ସକାଶେ ଲୋକଙ୍କ ଭିତରେ ନାହିନଥିବା ହୀନମନ୍ୟତା । ଆଉ ବଲିଉଡ଼ ଭଳି ଅର୍ଥକାରୀ ମିଡ଼ିଆ ପ୍ରଭାବରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ମିଡ଼ିଆର ପ୍ରଭାବ ଜନମାନସରେ ଖୁବ କମ ପଡ଼େ । ଏକ କାଳେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ସିନେମା ଯେଉଁ ବଲିଓଡ଼ ସହିତ ସମତାଳେ ଗତି କରୁଥିଲା ବୋଲି ଆମେ ଆଜି ସିନେମାକୁ ଛି ଛାକର କରୁ ସେ କେବଳ ପ୍ରହେଳିକା । ଯେଉଁମାନେ ହିନ୍ଦୀ ସିନେମା ତିଆରି କରୁଥିଲେ ତା'ର ପ୍ରଭାବ ସିଧାସଳଖ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଓ ବାକି ଭାଷା ଉପରେ ପଡ଼ୁଥିଲା । ଲୁଗା ପିନ୍ଧା ହେଉ କି ସଂଳାପ ସେସବୁରେ ଏକ କୃତ୍ରିମତା ବାରିପଡ଼େ । ତେବେ ଅନେକ ନିଆରା ଚିଜ ସେଥିରେ ଖଞ୍ଜାଥିଲା ଯାହା ଆଜି ଆଉ ନାହିଁ । ଆମ ମିଡ଼ିଆରେ ଏବେ ଖୁବ କମ ଭାଗ ଖାଣ୍ଟି ଓଡ଼ିଆପଣ ଅଛି, ବାକି ସବୁ ହିନ୍ଦୀ ଓ ଅନ୍ୟାନ୍ୟ ମିଡ଼ିଆରୁ ଚୋରାଯାଉଛି । ମିଡ଼ିଆର ବଡ଼ ଦେଖଣାହାରୀ ହେଲେ ଯୁବସମାଜ । ଏଇ କିଛି ବର୍ଷ ଭିତରେ ପ୍ରଚାର ଚାଲିଲା ଯେ ହିନ୍ଦୀ ଭାରତର ରାଷ୍ଟ୍ରଭାଷା ଆଉ ଏହା କହୁଥିବା ଲୋକେ ଆସି ଏବେ ୪୦ ଭାଗରେ ପହଞ୍ଚିଲେଣି । ଏ ମିଛ ପ୍ରହସନ ପାଇଁ ସରକାର କିଛି ପରିମାଣରେ ଦାୟୀ ଆଉ ବାକି ଶ୍ରେୟ ଲାଭଖୋର ବେପାରୀଙ୍କୁ ଯାଏ । ଏମାନେ ହେଲେ ମିଡ଼ିଆକୁ ନେଇ କୋଟି କୋଟି ଟଙ୍କାର ବେପାର କରୁଥିବା ବେପାରିଏ । ଏ ଦେଶେ ଇଂରାଜୀ ଭଳି ଏକ ଆନ୍ତର୍ଜାତୀୟ ସ୍ତରର ଖାଦିଥିବା ଭାଷାକୁ ଆମ ଜାତୀୟତାବାଦର ବିରୋଧୀ, ଉପନିବେଶବାଦର ସ୍ମାରକ କହି କେଇ ଶହ ବର୍ଷ ତଳେ ଆକ୍ରମଣକାରୀ ପାରସିକଙ୍କ ଭାଷାରୁ ତିଆରି ଏକ କୃତ୍ରିମ ଭାଷାକୁ ଲଦିଦିଆଗଲା ଭାରତର ରାଜଭାଷା କରି । ଏହାର ଶିକାର ଉଣାଅଧିକେ ସବୁ ଭାରତୀୟ ଭାଷା ତଥା ଆମ ପଡ଼ୋଶୀ ଦେଶର ଭାଷାଙ୍କ ଉପରେ ପଡ଼ିଛି । ତେଣୁ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ପାଇଁ ପଇସା ଭାଷା ହେବା ଦୂରୁହ ହୋଇପଡ଼ିଛି । ଆମ ଭାଷା ଏବେ କେବଳ ସାହିତ୍ୟ ଭିତରେ ସୀମିତ ବୋଲି ମୋଟାମୋଟି କହିହେବ । ତେବେ ସବୁଠୁ ବଡ଼ ସମସ୍ୟା ଆସି ହେଲାଣି ପିଢ଼ି ଅସମତା, ଆମ ବୁଢ଼ାମାନେ କିଛି ପରିମାଣରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆକୁ ଧରି ରଖିଥିବା ବେଳେ ପିଲାଏ ଫିଙ୍ଗିବା ଆରମ୍ଭିଲେଣି । ଏଥିପାଇଁ ବଡ଼ମାନଙ୍କ ଭୂମିକା ଖୁବ ଅଧିକ । ପିଲାଙ୍କୁ ଇଂରାଜୀ ମିଡ଼ିଅମ ସ୍କୁଲରେ ଛାଡ଼ିଲେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଯେ ଅଛୁଆଁ ଏମିତି ଏକ ଧାରଣା ଦେବା ପ୍ରତି ଅଭିଭାବକ ପାଖେ ଦେଖିବାକୁ ମିଳେ ।

ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ଟାଇପ କରିବା:

ମୋବାଇଲ, କମ୍ପୁଟର ଓ ଟାବଲେଟ ଆଦିରେ ସହଜେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଟାଇପ କରିହେବ । ତେବେ ଗୋଟିଏ କଥା ଜାଣିବାକୁ ପଡ଼ିବ ଯେ ଆକୃତି, ଶ୍ରୀଲିପି, ଲିପ-ଅଫିସ ଆଦି ବ୍ୟବହାର କରି ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଲେଖିଲେ କମ୍ପୁଟରରେ ସେ ଫଣ୍ଟସବୁ ଇନଷ୍ଟଲ ହୋଇଥିଲେ କେବଳ ଜଣେ ପଢ଼ିପାରିବ । ତେବେ ଏସବୁ ପୁରୁ୍ଣାକାଳିଆ ହୋଇଥିବାରୁ ସେଥିରେ ଇମେଲ, ଫେସବୁକ ବା ୱେବସାଇଟ କଲେ ବାକିମାନେ ପଢ଼ିପାରିବେ ନାହିଁ । ଏସବୁ ଫଣ୍ଟରେ ୱେବସାଇଟ କଲେ ଗୁଗୁଲ ସର୍ଚରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଆସିବ ନାହିଁ । ଅନେକ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଲେଖା ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ଆକୃତି, ଶ୍ରୀଲିପି ଓ ସେ ଧରଣର ଲେଖାରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ ହୋଇଥିବାରୁ ସେସବୁ ପାଠକେ ଖୋଜି ପାଉନାହାନ୍ତି । ବାକି ଭାଷାରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ ହେଲେ ମଧ୍ୟ କେବଳ ଏହି କାରଣ ସକାଶେ ଗୁଗୁଲ ଏଯାଏ ତା' ସାଇଟରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ବିଭାଗଟି ଖୋଲିନାହିଁ । ତେଣୁ ଲେଖାଲେଖିକୁ ଅଧିକ ଲୋକଙ୍କ ପାଖେ ପହଞ୍ଚାଇବାର ସବୁଠୁ ବଡ଼ ବାଟ ହେଲା ଇଉନିକୋଡ଼ । ଏହା ଏକ ବିଶ୍ୱସ୍ତରର ମାନକ ଓ ଜଗତର ସବୁ ଭାଷା ଏହି ମାନକ ସକାଶେ ନିଜ ନିଜ ସହ ଯୋଡ଼ା । କମ୍ପୁଟରରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ଟାଇପ କରିବା ସହଜ । Windows XP ସର୍ଭିସ ପ୍ୟାକ ୨ ପରେ ଆସିଥିବା ସବୁ ଅପରେଟିଂ ସିଷ୍ଟମରେ (XP service pack 3, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8 ଆଦି) ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଫଣ୍ଟ ଇନଷ୍ଟଲ ହୋଇ ଆସୁଛି । ତେଣୁ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ପଢ଼ିବାରେ କୌଣସି ଅସୁବିଧା ହେବା କଥା ନୁହେଁ । ଇଉନିକୋଡ଼ ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ଟାଇପ କରିବା ପାଇଁ ମୋଜିଲା ଫାୟାରଫକ୍ସ ବ୍ରାଉଜରରେ http://bitly.com/odiafirefox ଏବଂ ଗୁଗୁଲ କ୍ରୋମ ବ୍ରାଉଜରରେ http://bitly.com/odiachrome ଖୋଲି ସେଠାରେ ଥିବା Addon ଡାଉନଲୋଡ଼ କରିପାରିବେ । ଏସୁବୁକୁ ପ୍ରଥମ ଥର ଇନଷ୍ଟଲ କଲାପରେ ଫେସବୁକ, ମେଲ ଆଦିରେ ଏକ ଫାଙ୍କା ସ୍ଥାନରେ କ୍ଲିକ କଲେ ଛୋଟ କିବୋର୍ଡ଼ ଛବିଟିଏ ଦିଶିବ । ସେ ଛବି ଉପରେ କ୍ଲିକ କରି ପ୍ରଥମେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଓ ପରେ "ଲେଖନୀ" କିମ୍ବା "ଫୋନେଟିକ" ବାଛି ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ଟାଇପ କରିହେବ । ଆମେ ନିଜ ନାଁ ଯେମିତି ଇଂରାଜୀ ଅକ୍ଷରରେ ଲେଖୁଛୁ ଠିକ ସେହିଭଳି ଢଙ୍ଗରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ଟାଇପ କରିହେବ । ଯଥା: "କାମ" ଲେଖିବା ପାଇଁ "kam", "ଆଚାର" ଲେଖିବା ପାଇଁ "achar" ।

ଯଦି ଆଗରୁ ଆକୃତି, ଶ୍ରୀଲିପିରେ କିଛି ଲେଖା ଅଛି ତାକୁ ବ୍ଲଗ, ଇମେଲ, ଫେସବୁକ ଓ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ବାକି ଜାଗାରେ ବ୍ୟବହାର କରିବା ପାଇଁ ଇଉନିକୋଡ଼କୁ ବଦଳାଇବା ବାଟ ଆସିଲାଣି । ଆକୃତି ଲେଖା http://bitly.com/akrutiodia ଓ ଶ୍ରୀଲିପି ଲେଖା http://bitly.com/shreelipi ସାଇଟ ଖୋଲି ଇଉନିକୋଡ଼କୁ ବଦଳାଇ ହେବ । ନିଜ କମ୍ପୁଟରରେ ରାଇଟ କ୍ଲିକ କରି "Save as" ଅପସଙ୍କୁ ଯାଇ ଏ ଦୁଇଟିଯାକ କନଭର୍ଟର ନିଜ କମ୍ପୁଟର ଡେସ୍କଟପରେ ସାଇତିହେବ ଓ ପରେ ବିନା ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ମଧ୍ୟ ବ୍ୟବହାର କରିହେବ ।

ମୋବାଇଲରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଟାଇପ କରିହେବ କି ନାଁ ତା' ଜାଣିବାର ସହଜ ବାଟଟି ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ (or.wikipedia.org) ବା ଆଉ କୌଣସି ଓଡ଼ିଆ ସାଇଟ ଖୋଲି ପରଖିପାରିବେ । ଯଦି ଏକ ମୋବାଇଲରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ପଢ଼ିହେଉଛି ତାହେଲେ ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ଟାଇପ କରିବା ମଧ୍ୟ ସମ୍ଭବ । ଆଣ୍ଡ୍ରଏଡ଼ ପାଇଁ http://bitly.com/indickeyboard ଏବଂ iOS ପାଇଁ http://bitly.com/odiaios ବ୍ୟବହାର କରି ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ଟାଇପ କରିପାରିବେ ଓ ଫେସବୁକ, ଟୁଇଟର, ଇମେଲ ଆଦିରେ ବ୍ୟବହାର କରିପାରିବେ । ତେବେ ଉଇଣ୍ଡୋଜ ଏବଂ ବ୍ଲାକବେରି ଆଦି ମୋବାଇଲରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ଟାଇପିଂ ସୁବିଧା ଏଯାଏ ଆସିନାହିଁ ।

ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ:

ଅନେକେ ଜାଣନ୍ତି ନାହିଁ ଯେ ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆଟିଏ ଅଛି ବୋଲି । ୨୦୦୨ ମସିହାରେ ପ୍ରଥମ ଭାରତୀୟ ଭାଷାର ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ଭାବେ ପଞ୍ଜାବୀ, ଅହମିୟା ଓ ମାଳାୟାଳାମ ସହ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ଆରମ୍ଭ ହୋଇଥିଲା । or.wikipedia.org ରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ୮୬୦୦ରୁ ଅଧିକ ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗରେ ଭରା । ପାଖାପାଖି ୧୫ ଜଣ ସ୍ୱେଚ୍ଛାସେବୀ ସମ୍ପାଦକ ଏଥିରେ ବିଭିନ୍ନ ବିଷୟରେ ଜ୍ଞାନକୋଷ (ଏନସାଇକ୍ଲୋପିଡ଼ିକ) ଲେଖାମାନ ଲେଖୁଛନ୍ତି । ତେବେ ୨୦୦୨ରୁ ଆରମ୍ଭ ହେଲେ ହେଁ ପାଖାପାଖି ୯ ବର୍ଷ ଧରି ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପଟି ସକ୍ରିୟ ସପାଦକଙ୍କ ଅଭାବେ ନିଶ୍ଚଳ ହୋଇ ପଡ଼ିରହିଥିଲା ଏବଂ ୨୦୧୧ ପରେ ଏଥିରେ ସକ୍ରିୟ ସମ୍ପାଦନା ଆରମ୍ଭ ହୋଇଛି । ମଜାର କଥା ହେଲା ଏଥିରେ ସଭିଙ୍କ ପାଇଁ ସମ୍ପାଦନାର ସୁବିଧା ରହିଛି ଓ ଏକ ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗକୁ ବହୁ ସମ୍ପାଦକ ମିଶି ସମ୍ପାଦନା କରିଥାନ୍ତି । ତେବେ ନିଜ ମନଗଢ଼ା ବିଷୟ ନ ଲେଖି ଆଗରୁ ପ୍ରକାଶିତ ବିଭିନ୍ନ ପ୍ରତିଷ୍ଠିତ ଖବରକାଗଜ ଓ ପତ୍ରପତ୍ରିକାରେ ପ୍ରକାଶିତ ପ୍ରବନ୍ଧ ଆଦି ଲେଖା ଆଧାରରେ ଏଥିରେ ଲେଖିବା ନିୟମ । ଏଣୁ ଗପ, କବିତା ଭଳି ସୃଜନାତ୍ମକ ସାହିତ୍ୟ ଏଥିରେ ରହିପାରିବ ନାହିଁ ।

ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପାଠାଗାର: ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ଡିଜିଟାଲ ଲାଇବ୍ରେରି

ପୁରୁଣା ବହିକୁ ଡିଜିଟାଲ ମିଡ଼ିଆରେ ଆଣିବା ପାଇଁ ଏକ ନୂଆ ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପାଠାଗାର । ଏହି ପ୍ରକଳ୍ପଟି or.wikisource.org ରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ । ଏଥିରେ ଆଗରୁ ସ୍କାନ ହୋଇଥିବା ବହିଗୁଡ଼ିକ ଆଥରେ ଇଉନିକୋଡ଼କୁ ରୂପାନ୍ତର କରାଯାଉଛି । ଅନେକେ ସ୍ୱେଚ୍ଛାରେ ଅନେକ ଉପାଦେୟ ପୁରୁଣା ବହିର ଲେଖା ଆଉଥରେ ଟାଇପ କରୁଛନ୍ତି । ଫଳରେ ସେ ବହିର ଲେଖାସବୁ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ଖୋଜିଲେ ମିଳିବ ।

ଏମିତି ଅନେକ କାମ ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ହୋଇସାରିଲାଣି । କିନ୍ତୁ ଆଜି ବି ଆହୁରି ପର୍ବତ ପ୍ରମାଣ କାମ ହେବାକୁ ବାକି । ବ୍ୟକ୍ତିଗତ ମାଲିକାନାରେ ଥିବା ଅନେକ ପୋଥି ଧୀରେ ଧୀରେ ସିନ୍ଦୁରବୋଳା ହୋଇ ଉଇଖିଆ ହୋଇ ଧୀରେ ଧୀରେ ନଷ୍ଟ ହୋଇଯାଉଛନ୍ତି । ଏଭଳି ପୋଥି ପାଠକଙ୍କ ପାଖରେ ଥିଲେ ଲେଖକ ତାହାର ଡିଜିଟାଲ ରୂପ ପାଇଁ ସାହାଯ୍ୟ କରିବାକୁ ଆଗ୍ରହୀ । ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆରେ ଓଡ଼ିଶା ସମ୍ବନ୍ଧିତ ଅନେକ ଲେଖା ପାଠକମାନେ ତିଆରି କରି ଜଗତର କୋଣ ଅନୁକୋଣରେ ଥିବା ଓଡ଼ିଆଙ୍କୁ ବିଭିନ୍ନ ବିଷୟରେ ଅବଗତ କରାଇପାରିବେ । ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପାଠାଗାରରେ ପୁରୁଣା ବହି, ପାଣ୍ଡୁଲିପି ଓ ପୋଥିର ଡିଜିଟାଲ ରୂପ ପାଇଁ ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ଟାଇପ କରିବାରେ ପାଠକେ ଅଳପ ଅଳପ ସାହାଯ୍ୟ କଲେ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରୁ ଅନେକେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ପୁରାତନ ରଚନା ବାବଦରେ ଜାଣିବାକୁ ପାଇବେ । ଅଧିକରୁ ଅଧିକ ଲୋକ ବ୍ଲଗ, ଫେସବୁକ ଆଦିରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ଟାଇପ କରି କିମ୍ବା ଆକୃତି/ଶ୍ରୀଲିପି ଆଦିରେ ଆଗରୁ ଟାଇପ ହୋଇଥିବା ଲେଖା ବିତରଣ କଲେ ଧୀରେ ଧୀରେ ଅଧିକ ଲୋକ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ପଢ଼ିବାକୁ ପାଇବେ । ଧୀରେ ଧୀରେ ଲୋକେ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରୁ ବିଭିନ୍ନ ବିଷୟ ଜାଣୁଥିବାରୁ ଓଡ଼ିଆରେ ଲେଖା ରହିଲେ ଯାଇ ଲୋକେ ପଢ଼ିବେ ଓ ନିଜେ ଲେଖିବେ ।

ଲେଖକ ପରିଚୟ: ଶୁଭାଶିଷ ପାଣିଗ୍ରାହୀ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ତ‌ଥା ଅନ୍ୟାନ୍ୟ ଭାରତୀୟ ଭାଷାର ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟରେ ବ୍ୟବ‌ହାର ଉପରେ କାମକରୁଥିବା ଜଣେ ଶିକ୍ଷା-ଗବେଷକ । ଭାଷାର ବ୍ୟାବହାରିକ ଭୂମିରେ ତାଙ୍କର ବିଚରଣ ଓ ଆଧୁନିକ କାରିଗରି ଦ୍ୱାରା ପୁରାତନ ଭାଷାର ବିକାଶ-ଚାରା ରୋପଣ ତାହାଙ୍କ କାମ । ସେ ଅଧୁନା ବେଙ୍ଗାଳୁରୁର ସେଣ୍ଟର ଫର ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟ ଏଣ୍ଡ ସୋସାଇଟିର ଆକ୍ସେସ ଟୁ ନଲେଜ ପ୍ରୋଗ୍ରାମରେ ଭାରତୀୟ ଭାଷାରେ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆମାନଙ୍କର ବିକାଶ ଲାଗି କାର୍ଯ୍ୟରତ । ଭାଷା ଓ ସଂସ୍କୃତିର ବିକାଶରେ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟର ଭୂମିକା ସମ୍ବନ୍ଧରେ ତାଙ୍କର ପ୍ରବନ୍ଧମାନ ଅନେକ ଖବରକାଗଜ ଓ ବିଶ୍ୱସ୍ତରୀୟ ବ୍ଲଗରେ ପ୍ରକାଶିତ । ସେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ତଥା ଅନେକ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ସମ୍ବନ୍ଧିତ ବିଶ୍ୱସ୍ତରର ସମୂହର ଏବଂ ମୋଜିଲା ଲୋକାଲାଜେସସନର ସଭ୍ୟ, ଗ୍ଲୋବାଲ

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/odia-language-paper-presented-at-second-national-language-seminar

Patterns of Gender Aggression and Harassment in Open Tech and Open Culture Communities Online

rohini — 2015-06-01T02:13:14Z

Report on the talk delivered by me at Adacamp held in Montreal, Canada on April 13-14, 2015.

Link to the original blog post published on Wikimedia blog can be accessed here.

I received a grant from the Wikimedia Foundation to participate in Adacamp. While the talk was pegged on my experience of working on Wikipedia's Gender gap in India, the content is equally relevant for other, open online projects, especially those that value the anonymity of its users. The talk ended with a discussion on how to identify and combat these patterns. It was a collaborative talk delivered along with Gretchen McCulloch who spoke on Wikipedia's Gender gap and Fandom. Credits to session rapporteur and participant Maja Frydrychowicz.

Gender disparity among Wikipedia's editors is well-known and well-documented.[1] [2] A survey conducted by the Wikimedia Foundation in 2011 pegged the number of female contributors to the English-language Wikipedia at 9%.[3] Several outreach, advocacy, and capacity-building efforts have been made to bridge Wikipedia's glaring gender imbalance. In the openness domain, other projects and initiatives have been making similar efforts to bring more women into the fold. To cite an example, the Outreach Program for Women endeavours to recruit more female coders in the world of open source software.

While the narrative of few women being online has changed, more in some parts of the world than in others, the next barriers of making them stay online and establishing an active presence, remain. Wikipedia, like many other open communities, has a high drop-out rate of female contributors. Many female contributors maintain identities that do not give away their gender or practise self-censorship in order to continue to be a part of the community. Several studies conducted in the past few years have attributed the gender gap to numerous reasons -- women have less time left after fulfilling their tasks at home and work; antagonistic exchanges are emotionally draining; in households where there is only one Internet-enabled device, women have access to it for a shorter time; and so on. A blog post by Sue Gardner former executive director of the Wikimedia Foundation, pithily lays out why women don't edit Wikipedia.

One of the ways that outreach and advocacy can work towards retaining more contributors and enabling them to participate more fruitfully is by identifying patterns of aggression and harassment that are directed, subtly or otherwise, at them owing to their gender or sexual orientation.

What are some of the significant patterns that cause a contributor to censor themselves or leave, even if they have just joined?

Hostile environment, antagonistic exchanges: These word clouds[4][5] display name-calling experienced by female users on Wikipedia. Wikipedia's editorial model stands on building consensus and collaboration but the spirit of debate often gives way to slings and arrows, many of which would violate Wikipedia's policy of being civil to other contributors (WP:Civil) and one of the five pillars of the crowdsourced encyclopedia. Facing hostility can be emotionally draining, especially for a new contributor, and reason enough for them to avoid contributing to certain topics, to censor themselves, or to leave the platform. Verbal violence and use of language considered unacceptable as per the community rules, is one form of harassment/ violence that is relatively easy to spot and call out, and is not uncommon.
Mansplaining: is more insidious than outright hostile behaviour. The intent is not constructive criticism but to humiliate the recipient, make them feel that do not belong in the space, or drive them underground. It involves the use of what Wikipedia terms "weasel words", and dismissive and condescending speech. It is difficult to address because it is less perceptible, difficult to differentiate from advise or feedback given in good faith (WP: AssumeGoodFaith), and does not violate the guideline of not attacking newbies but explaining the matter to them (WP:DontBiteTheNewbies).
Deletionism: is the practice of reverting edits or deleting/ nominating for deletion entire pages, projects, or other content out of relatively strict adherence to policies. Deletionism is often difficult to tell apart from very strict adherence to standards. Policies are open to interpretation, and deletionists justify their position by applying certain policies and contexts that favour their stance. In the context of issues pertaining to gender or sexuality, a pattern to look out for is the same user, IP address, or an apparent sockpuppet reverting edits, making edits, and defending them in a way that makes the article less gender-sensitive and disproportionately skewed away or towards a certain gender or orientation.
Subtle Powerplay/ Microaggressions: find their way into discussion boards, mailing lists and other areas of debate and discussion. A study done by the Internet Democracy Project in India documents some of the remarks that leave women feeling they are unwelcome, that do not belong in the space, or that they are an 'imposter'. "People will not be outright abusive towards you, which is a lot I face in my job. When someone does not want you to be a part of their community, they will not abuse you because they get banned for it. They will goad and nudge you in ways to tell and make sure that you are not welcome. So they will ask you, 'Oh, so when did you learn JavaScript?' knowing that you don’t know JavaScript. Just to make you feel that only those who have learnt JavaScript have the right to be there [in the forum].”

One of the factors that inadvertently aids some of these patterns is the kind of sources that are considered reliable on Wikipedia (WP:RS). Newspapers, magazines, websites, books, and journals are considered acceptable references. These sources tend to reflect existing gender biases and structures of power. Studies conducted on the content published by newspapers, for example, have shown that news coverage about men is much higher than that about women.

As most of the attendees of the talk were not very well-acquainted with the intricacies of Wikipedia's Gender gap, I went on to explain some topics that were not explicitly related to the subject of the talk.

Initiatives to improve diversity and encourage new contributors on Wikipedia

Beginner-friendly groups such as The Tea House and the Welcoming Committee
Special Interest Groups (SIGs)
The Gender gap project
Edit-a-thons geared towards increasing gender-sensitive content on Wikipedia and correcting content with gender bias
Wikipedia tries to foster positive feedback through barnstars, Wikilove, and marking a good edit with a “thank you” or a heart icon.

How existing editors can work towards increasing diversity and encouraging new editors

Help get more women mentioned in references or citations in Wikipedia articles.
Add information about women in biographies (e.g. add the mother's name or female spouse's name in a biography article.)
One of the traits of communities that do have many women on them is that a lot of positive interaction happens in response to contributions.
Teachers can obtain support for getting students to edit Wikipedia as part of a class project.

Strategies to recruit more women editors (individuals who self-identify as women, transwomen, genderqueer, genderfluid)

Aim outreach efforts towards women who blog, or already have a presence online.
Persuade existing editors to encourage women in their family and social groups to start contributing. In the case of existing male editors, it works as the two-pronged strategy of sensitising men while empowering women.
Organise outreach events where the organisers and participants are all women/ individuals who largely self-identify as women.
Organise outreach events with gender-sensitive male editors.

Questions-Answers

What is needed to meet Wikipedia's notability criterion?

A: There are different requirements depending on the subject of the article: a book, a work of art, a public figure, an artist, a writer, and so on. There are stricter requirements for biography articles, especially those of living people. Being famous does not necessarily mean being notable in the Wikipedia context. Notability requirements end up being gendered; Wikipedia replicates the biases that are present in the offline world due to its reference structure (WP:RS)

There were several general questions from the attendees about editing Wikipedia, and about Wikipedia policies and best practices. These were answered by McCulloch and me in the last 15 to 20 minutes of the talk.

References

[1]. Define Gender Gap? Look Up Wikipedia's Contributor List, Naom Cohen, January 30, 2011.

[2]. WP:Clubhouse? An Exploration of Wikipedia's Gender Imbalance, Shyong (Tony) K. Lam, Anuradha Uduwage, Zhenhua Dong, Shilad Sen, David R.Musicant, Loren Terveen, John Riedl, 2011

[3]. Women and Wikimedia survey, 2011

[4]. Research: Communicating on Wikipedia while female

[5]. Women and Wikimedia survey, 2011, Name-calling on English Wikipedia

[6]. Women and Online Abuse, Internet Democracy Project, 2013

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/patterns-of-gender-aggression-and-harassment-in-open-tech-and-open-culture-communities-online

NASA International Open Data Challenge 2015

sharath — 2015-04-27T01:08:27Z

As part of the initial NASA Open Government 2.0 plan, the NASA International Open Data challenge brings together the FOSS community, citizen scientists, open data practitioners , open hardware enthusiasts and students for collaborative problem solving with the goal of producing relevant open-source solutions to address global needs applicable to both life on Earth and life in Space.

On April 11 and 12, 2015 2015, the event will be organized by the Centre for Internet and Society in collaboration with mentors from Team Indus, one of India's leading Space Technology Start-Ups. The event will start off with the following keynote and workshops at 9am on Saturday, April 11th, 2015:

Pre-Hackathon Workshop: 9 a.m., Saturday, April 11, 2015

IBM Blue Mix Team + OpenCube Labs

(Big Data Analytics using Cloud Services like Bluemix/Heroku, with node.js implementation and Android APIs)

Keynote: Amar Sharma, 12 p.m., April 11, 2015

Amar is credited as being the youngest and first Indian amateur astronomer to have an Asteroid named after him in 2014 at the age of 29. (380607 Sharma) He will talk about CCD Astro Imaging and his travails and journey as a self-made astronomer and comet hunter.

We will then break off into teams to commence the hackathon that will end on Sunday,April 12, 2015 at 6pm, after which teams will upload and present their solutions for Local and Global Nominations.

Registration is free and you are required to confirm participation at the below link:

https://2015.spaceappschallenge.org/location/bangalore/

Participants are requested to bring their own laptop/computing devices.

Please see last year's event's focus on Open Science and Big data, and the various Open Data solutions developed at CIS, to get an idea of what the event is about:

https://2014.spaceappschallenge.org/location/bangalore/ This year, we will have a workshop on Big Data Analytics conducted by IBM BlueMix Labs followed by Heroku implementation and Android Programming by friends of CIS from OpenCubeLabs, that will follow a very special Keynote speaker who is first amateur astronomer to have an asteroid named after him, to join the likes of Ramanujan and Vikram Sarabhai.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/events/nasa-international-open-data-challenge-2015

Odia waits for Google Translate debut - Nine Indian languages available

praskrishna — 2015-05-08T01:27:21Z

Odia getting the "classical" status last year was certainly a proud moment for the people of the state, but, it is yet to feature among the languages available in Google's popular translation service.

The article by Anwesha Ambaly was published in the Telegraph on April 6, 2015. Subhashish Panigrahi was quoted.

Over 90 languages, including nine from India (Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Marathi, Malayalam, Punjabi, Tamil, and Telugu) are part of the service.

Odia, which is spoken by over 45 million people globally, is yet to debut here.

Techies working in the field attribute the reason to the lack of web presence of the language.

"Google has set parameters on the basis of which translations are available. Only those languages that have a wide use on the Internet and have enough online content are included in the list. The online presence of Odia is quite insignificant," said Subhashish Panigrahi, programme officer at Centre for Internet and Society and a regular contributor to Odia Wikipedia.

Among the limited data in Odia available online, Odia Wikipedia and Odia Wikisource have emerged as important reference sources for all kinds of information.

The Odia Wikipedia serves as an online encyclopaedia that was initiated in 2002 and hosts over 8,000 articles in Odia. The Odia Wikisource was launched in the state last year and is run by volunteers and communities. It is a sister concern of Odia Wikipedia that makes rare Odia books available on the Internet.

However, a Google spokesperson said: "We value all Indic languages and search and Gmail are available in 16 Indian languages with more languages to follow"

Recently, the entire Odia Bhagbata by Jagannath Das was made available on Wikisource. Also, Bhubaneswar-based organisation Srujanika, in collaboration with NIT, Rourkela, has digitized over 750 books. But these apart, there are no major online portals available in Odia.

Panigrahi and his contributor friends are presently working at promoting the Google Translate community, which is a platform for language enthusiasts and volunteers interested in improving translation quality for their language or help Google add it to translate.

"To ensure more availability of online content, people should be encouraged to share information on the web. More Odia content on the web will get a wider reach," said the techie.

"We are quite hopeful that the translator would be available in Odia soon."

The universal web-compatible Unicode font for Odia language was developed in 2000. Despite the Unicode standard having been made available over a decade ago, Odia language is not used actively on the Internet.

"We are still stuck to using outdated fonts such as Akruti and Sreelipi for typing text in Odia and most of these are not compatible for using on the Internet. There are thousands of book and articles available in these fonts. Most of the important content available on the government portals also uses the older fonts. Unless content is available in Unicode, it will not be searchable, sharable and reusable on the Internet," said Panigrahi.

One of the earliest websites in Odia was developed by Ganesh Mishra in 1999 for a popular Odia daily. But the website was shut down after six years when the concept of e-paper came into being.

"These days, most of the publishers of Odia newspapers and magazines have come up with e-papers which are nothing but the scanned images of the original pages. But an online search won't display them as results. Online content in Unicode is accessible through search engines," said the website developer.

He said that people have so many alternatives on the Internet that the absence of Odia language is not felt. "Customers often initiate commercial websites in Odia but soon request us to change it to English because it was inconvenient for users," said Mishra.

Some youngsters in the state are coming up with online portals to promote Odia literature. Jyoti Prasad Patnaik, a doctor by profession, has been running an online Odia literary magazine since 2006.

"The Internet is the most powerful medium of communication these days and there could be no better way to popularise our language other than this. When I started out, there were hardly any readers. Today my website has around 5,000 visitors every month. The number is growing slowly and I hope it will increase in the future," said Patnaik.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/news/the-telepgrah-april-6-2015-anwesha-ambaly-odia-waits-for-google-translate-debut-nine-indian-languages-available

2nd National Language Conference, Bhubaneswar

subha — 2015-04-10T15:23:02Z

Institute of Odia Studies and Research organised 2nd National Language Conference beginning on Monday, March 30, 2015 and ending on April 2, 2015 at the Institute of Physics, Bhubaneswar. This conference was organised in collaboration with the Department of Tourism and Culture. I presented a paper in Odia language in this conference as part of a panel discussion related to Odia language computing.

I spoke briefly about the issues with Odia being used massively on the Internet and gaining popular with Odia speaking netizens. Odia Wikimedia community and CIS-A2K's efforts has resulted growth in online Odia content. I also shared the potential projects that people could get involved and how collective effort will yield more diversification of the language and its use by today's generation.

The talk is available on Wikimedia Commons under a Creative Commons Share-Alike 4.0 license.

Video

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/second-national-language-conference-bhubaneswar

Bangla Wiki turns 10

praskrishna — 2015-04-04T16:10:12Z

The 10th anniversary of Bengali Wikipedia was marked with a a gathering of Wikipedians of vernacular languages from across the country and beyond at Jadavpur University. Bengali is one of 20 Indian languages to have a Wikipedia presence. The event also celebrated 14 years of the mother edition in English of the open-access, crowd-sourced online encyclopaedia.

Contributed by Sudeshna Banerjee, Showli Chakraborty and Abhinanda Datta the story published in the Telegraph on March 29, 2015 quotes T. Vishnu Vardhan.

"We hear of digital divide all the time. Here it is about digital inclusiveness. The University Grants Commission talks of four factors to make a good university - access, equity, quality and employability. What a teacher cannot give in class, he can offer on the world wide web. The question of quality in Wikipedia can be addressed through workshops like this," said Calcutta University registrar Basab Chaudhuri.

Wikimedia Foundation trustee Bishakha Datta spoke of the uneasy relationship between Wikipedia and academia, especially over authenticity.

"Yes, we do not use original research. So our articles are not admissible as primary sources. At the same time, every piece of information in a Wikipedia article has to be cited and annotated. It is great that an institution like JU has come forward to host us," said Datta, thanking the university's School of Languages and Linguistics.

Joint registrar Sanjay Gopal Sarkar argued in favour of the existence of Wikipedia articles in the vernacular. "It is a part of the empowerment of my mother tongue."

Quantity was a problem, he said. "It is not enough to have 33,000 articles (the English version has 4.7 million). Workshops need to be held in Bengal and Assam on how to write articles. If Wikipedia and the universities join hands, a battalion of writers and editors can be created."

The Bangladeshi delegates revealed how Wikipedia's mission of making knowledge free was getting a technological boost back home. "Grameenphone and Bangla Link, two of our biggest mobile service providers, have made Facebook and Wikipedia free. Subscribers just have to log on to specific domains (0.facebook.com and zero.wikipedia.org) to see picture-less texts," said Ankan Ghosh Dastidar, a Class XI student from Dhaka.

Vishnu Vardhan from the Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore, urged for more institutional tie-ups so that instead of stopping students from going to Wikipedia, teachers would integrate their contributions to Wikipedia in the course. "Andhra Loyola College is the largest contributor to Telegu Wikipedia," he said. Hindi, he added, has the maximum articles among Indian languages, followed by Tamil and Telugu. "But Malayalam has the most active Wikipedians - around 100."

A workshop was held to teach how to type in Bengali and edit the Bengali Wikipedia. Techno India student Ayan Chaudhury addressed queries on downloading the Avro font and typing tricky conjoined letters in Bengali, as also how to create cross references and highlight terms. "Ask yourself two questions when you want to add any information: Is it relevant? Can it be verified? Also do not blindly turn on Google Translate. The quality of its translation is such that a word like 'swipe' becomes ' dhum dhadakka'."

A group editing session took place on the second day with 15 volunteers translating articles from the English Wikipedia and adding new articles in Bengali. Some also worked on Wiktionary, an online dictionary, and others on Wikisource, typing out pages of seminal texts outside copyright.

Crafts for a cause

Artisans from Bengal and Bangladesh joined hands to participate in a handcrafted jewellery and handloom exhibition organised by WIIN (Women and Infants in Need) at Shree Art Gallery in Ballygunge on March 25 and 26.

"The proceeds will be donated to Paripurnata, a home for women with mental disabilities (off EM Bypass). We emphasise on mental health awareness programmes and try and create job opportunities for the residents at Paripurnata. This helps in building their confidence and creates a sense of social acceptance," said Nilanjana Mukherjee, the general secretary of WIIN and Paripurnata.

The exhibition was inaugurated by actress Sonali Gupta, who plays Satyabati to Dhritiman Chaterji's Byomkesh Bakshi in Sajarur Kanta. "This cause is close to my heart. We must come together to help women and infants in need," said Gupta.

The exhibition showcased a collection of saris and jewellery from the Rajshahi district in Bangladesh, quirky handbags, hand-painted mugs, kurtas and dupattas.

Trilingual road trip

An independent film - or indie - by two graduates of the Satyajit Ray Film and Television Institute (SRFTI) has hit theatres this Friday. Titled Yahan Sabki Lagi Hai (Everybody Gets Screwed Here), the 100-minute trilingual (English, Hindi and Bengali) black comedy is directed by Calcutta girl Tina A. Bose and Mumbai boy Cyrus R. Khambata.

Produced by Vibrant Works, the film revolves around Kesang and Bharat, who are on their way to a birthday party but their road trip soon turns into a disaster as they find themselves in the middle of a jungle, robbed of all their belongings.

Road trip gone wrong has been done before, but according to the young film-makers, "while most of them have been horror or slasher films, ours travels the philosophical path and focuses on the issues we face in life."

The lead actress is a Tibetan girl, Eden Shyodhi. "We wanted to cast a girl from a minority community. We needed someone who was weird and interesting as the character of Kesang is very unusual. And when we met Eden, she had flaming red hair, just like how we had envisioned Kesang!" said Tina, who has studied in Lady Brabourne College and Jadavpur University. The cast also includes stand-up comedian Varun Thakur and Bengali actor Heerok Das, previously seen in Egaro.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/news/the-telegraph-march-29-2015-bangla-wiki-turns-ten

India backs open source software for e-governance projects

praskrishna — 2015-04-04T16:00:49Z

India has said it will use open source software in all e-governance projects, though it did not rule out the use of proprietary software to meet specialized requirements.

The blog post originally published by IDG News Service was mirrored on the website of CIO and PC World on March 29, 2015. Sunil Abraham is quoted.

A policy document released by the federal government over the weekend makes it mandatory for all new e-governance projects and upgrades of existing legacy systems by federal agencies and participating states to first consider free and open source software (OSS) alternatives.

Federal and state agencies must make it mandatory for suppliers to give OSS a preference over proprietary or closed source software while responding to requests for proposals. ”Suppliers shall provide justification for exclusion of OSS in their response,” according to the policy statement posted to the website of the Ministry for Communication & Information Technology.

The Indian government has outlined its Digital India program that aims to make government services accessible online to citizens in their localities. The need to expand these services quickly at a low cost has likely prompted the decision in favor of open source in the country.

The government has also cited “strategic control” over its e-governance applications and systems from a long-term perspective as one of the reasons it was backing open source.

“It is a well drafted policy though policy researchers will always have possible improvements,” said Sunil Abraham, executive director of the Centre for Internet and Society, a research organization in Bangalore. Instead of coming up with a new definition for free and open source software, the policy should have used the definitions available at the Free Software Foundation and Open Source Initiative websites and adopted licenses approved by these organizations, he added.

The policy should also require that the software be made available on a public code repository except in cases where there are some security concerns, Abraham said.

The federal government had previously declined to take a stand in favor of open source, leaving the choice to its agencies, but the National Policy on Information Technology, 2012 had mentioned the promotion of “open source and open technologies” as one of its objectives.

Some states have backed open source software on ideological grounds or to cut costs. Kerala, for example, had decided to promote free and open-source software in education as way back as 2006.

The government in its new policy has, however, provided for exemptions in certain specialized domains for which OSS may not be available, or if there isn’t expertise in the particular area in open source. The requirement for OSS may also be waived if the deployment is strategic and urgent.

Google, which has shown interest in collaborating with the government in its e-governance projects, said it did not have a comment on the policy. Microsoft, which targets the government market, including with its cloud services, did not immediately comment. In a bid to woo Indian government customers, the company offered in September to host cloud services including Azure and Office 365 in the country.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/news/idg-news-service-march-29-2015-john-riberio-india-backs-open-source-software-for-e-governance-projects

Hindustani Language: We Are Wikipedia

syed — 2015-04-10T16:20:07Z

In 2014, the Centre for Internet and Society's Access to Knowledge team (CIS-A2K) embarked on a new social media-based initiative - WeAreWikipedia. The aim of the project was "One Wikimedian every week to tell untold community stories on Twitter".

Read the original published on Wikipedia page here.

Although CIS-A2K has the mandate of promoting Wikimedia Projects only in India, by virtue of the inherent power of Twitter and Internet, the project was able to attract Wikipedians from virtually all parts of the world - India, Cambodia, Israel, USA, and a number of other countries for curating WeAreWikipedia account on Twitter. The enriching outcome was these Wikipedians' expression of community views and as well as their own editing and Wiki World experiences in the form of short and succinct tweets. These messages give a more clear pictures of happenings than tons of blogposts, videos and lengthy articles which we find today scattered over the internet.

In February 2015, I attended the first Hindi Wiki Sammelan Meet in Delhi. This event was also supported by CIS-A2K. It was attended by 15 people, including three administrators of the Hindi Wikipedia: Ashish Bhatnagar, Aniruddha Kumar and Sanjeev Kumar. Also present were two reviewers: Piyush Maurya and my humble self. During the meet, one of the participants, Manish Panday, demonstrated the massive reach and impact of "Twittercasting" the event proceedings. This drew a keen interest from the Hindi Wikipedians with the Hindi Wikipedia admin Ashish Bhatnagar taking the lead in curating the "WeAreWikipedia" shortly after the meet. As his one week of curation came to end, he asked as to who would curate next. I volunteered to be part of this exercise. My CIS ex-colleague Subhashish Panigrahi informed about allocating the week March 2-9 for me, which I agreed.

As a Wikimedian, I made it a point to first showcase the developments within Hindi Wikipedia such as the notable articles written during the week, the discussions on the Hindi transliteration of non-Hindi names/ titles, village pump discussions, etc.I also shared suggestions with some of the Hindi Wikipedians on editing aspects.

A remarkable development during the week was publication of my report on Hindi Wiki Sammelan Meet in Delhi and its Hindi translation by Ashish Bhatnagar on Wikimedia Foundation Blog. I was delighted to post the information of both these developments on Twitter. In fact, Ashish Bhatnagar favorited my Twitterpost about the Hindi translation. . In addition to Hindi Wikipedia, I was also vocal on the developments at the language front such as Kavita Path Pratiyogita (Poetry Competition) by HindiUSA, Unicode converters, Hindi blogs, developments in Urdu and other Indian languages. I also highlighted some of the projects such as Speedydeletion Wikia, Manypedia, blogpost/ online forum discussions on Wikipedia as well as the rise of mobile edits on Indian Wiki projects.

Since March 8 or Women's Day happened during the week, I made many tweets during the week about the commemorative Wikipedia Editathons both in India and abroad, including those in places like Latin America. I also tweeted about important events such GLAM-WIKI 2015 conference, Erasmus Prize 2015 for Wikipedia, Howard University's efforts to fill in Wikipedia’s gaps in Black History, etc.

I was glad to highlight many important issues during my week as a curator. This included the special media attention abroad given to people who edit Wikipedia or Wikimedia projects such as the featured interview of Bryan Henderson in the The Independent. I suggested that there is a need for such an encouraging gesture to the contributors of Wikimedia projects. I remember some of the Wikipedians favoriting this message as they concurred with me. I also stressed on the need to reinforce fresh lease of life in projects such as Devanagari Wikis Monitoring Team as an active team will benefit not just Hindi but all Wiki Projects in Devanagari-based languages.

The most pleasing aspect of my curator experience were the proactive discussions, retweets, favoriting, of many of my messages. I witnessed an instant response when I mentioned how beautifully the bot-assisted Twitter account "PakistanEdits" posts about anonymous edits from Pakistan on English Wikipedia and the need for a similar tool for India. One Wikipedian promised to work on finding a similar solution to this idea. Similarly, my Twitterpost on the time-barred "Hindi Wiki Sammelan" message notification on every page of Bhojpuri Wikipedia was removed instantly. A still surprising reaction was seen only a few days back when a gentleman enquired about how he can contribute to fill the need for Sanskrit text in the online Vietnamese Wikipedia guestbook page - this response comes after a fortnight of my tweet, and two persons had curated the Twitter account during this period.

Thus, I believe that my messages were well received and my interactions with other Twitter-users were friendly, informative and extremely fruitful. A summary of my curator experience is as follows:

Description of Tweets	Number
No of Unique Tweets	148
My Tweets Retweeted	53
My Tweets Favorited	63
My Discussed Tweets	12
Others Tweets I Retweeted	27
Followers+	34
Following+	17
Image Uploads	5

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/hindustani-language-we-are-wikipedia

GoI body National Mission for Manuscripts has digitised 3 million manuscripts

praskrishna — 2015-04-05T03:20:06Z

Twelve-year-old government body National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM) has digitised over thirty lakh manuscripts and 185,88,390 pages in all as of 31 December 2014, Mahesh Sharma, Union Minister of State for Culture, Tourism & Civil Aviation said in the Rajya Sabha this week. He added that the National Archives of India (NAI) is set to digitise another 1,100,000 historic records. The government has spent over Rs 25 lakhs on digitisation as of January 2015 as compared to ~ Rs 36 lakhs in 2012-13.

The blog post by Sneha Johari was published by Medianama on March 13, 2015.

The NAI has digitised 41 non-priced NAI publications and 484 manuscripts which consist of 106,974 pages, 42 newspapers and printed books (10,346 pages) and 187,878 documents made of 613,413 pages of NAI’s oriental and public records collection.

Digital conservation over micro-film

Sharma said that the government is looking at strengthening the Public Records Act. He added that digitisation would be the preferred form of conservation since it had many advantages over micro-film processing and would provide better access to archives electronically which could be used by scholars, historians and academicians.

The NAI operates two schemes for funding the preservation of documentary heritage. These schemes include funding for preservation and conservation of rare books, old and rare documents, government libraries and museums among others.

The NMM is an organisation under GOI’s Ministry of Culture set up to create a national manuscript resource to enhance access, awareness and use for educational use. It offers courses, workshops and fellowships on Manuscriptology and Palaeography. Sharma said that the Ministry had some proposals to collaborate with foreign countries for digitisation of Indian documents but had not taken those up due to issues of national importance. Some of NMM’s challenges arise from the scale of manuscripts found in India (claimed at ~5 million), languages which cannot be read, in a poor and neglected condition and the lack of scholars who can study these manuscripts.

The NMM has 31 Manuscript Conservation Centres (MCCs) across the country under the NMM. The MCCs include organisations like Manuscript Library, University of Calcutta, Kolkata, Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute (BORI), Pune, Karnataka State Archives, Bangalore and INTACH Orissa Art Conservation Centre, Bhubaneswar.

The New Indian Express featured a report where Jayadhir Tirumalrao, Professor at the Centre for Dalit and Adivasi Studies and Translation, Hyderabad was among others who developed a script for the tribal language Gondi. The report claims that Gondi language was the only tribal language in India to have its own literature.

Previous digitisation initiatives:

In November 2014, around 55 books written by the Indian author and activist Niranjana in Kannada would be digitized and made available on Kannada Wikisource, allowing Kannada speakers to access these books easily.
In October 2014, the Ministry of Culture launched a national portal for museums. Collections in all museums under its control and those under the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) will be digitized and presented on this portal.

In July 2014, the Department of Biotechnology and Department of Science and Technology (DST), under the Ministry of Science and Technology released the draft of Open Access Policy. The objective of this policy is to provide unrestricted access to research work funded by the departments. The draft states that since all funds disbursed by DBT and DST are public funds, it is important that the information and knowledge generated through the use of these funds are made publicly available as soon as possible.
In September 2013, Goa University entered into a 3 year MoU with the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) for building the Konkani Wikipedia.
In June 2013, Tata Communications Media Services planned to digitize documents of historical and cultural significance such as films and documentaries from the archives of Doordarshan and Films Division of India which go back to 1947 including speeches of India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and other leaders.
In May 2013, Punjabi Sahitya Akademi Reference Lab scanned and saved around 1,000 manuscripts, stone-printed scripts, poetry books on computer hard discs, adding that the digitized editions will be available across the globe through the internet.

The Indian Government spent Rs 4.5 crores in 2010-11 for digitization and modernization of public libraries.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/news/medianama-march-13-2015-sneha-johari-goi-body-national-mission-for-manuscripts-has-digitised-3-million-manuscripts