Centre for Internet and Society

Tech-savvy students given tips to enter IT field

praskrishna — 2014-02-02T16:48:47Z

Students from any academic background, but having computer knowledge and common sense, can land a job in the IT sector, said U B Pavanaja, programme officer (Indian languages) at Centre for Internet and Society (Bangalore).

The article published by the Times of India on January 31, 2014, quotes Dr. U.B. Pavanaja.

Conducting a session on 'How to get placed in IT sector' organized by Centre for Proficiency Development and Placement services (CPDPS) here on Thursday, he said: "Students of any stream can be an expert in the IT sector. But (s)he must be well aware about IT sector and should stay updated to sustain there," he said, adding: "The ever-growing IT sector offers many opportunities. Around 90 lakh job opportunities are created every year. The sector's contribution to the nation's economy stands at 7.5%."

Speaking on the pre-requisites to land jobs, Pavanaja said: "One need not necessarily have high technical skills for that. All they need is an ability to work on the required skills."

"IT is being applied in almost all fields. Graduates and PU or diploma holders can also land jobs in IT. Those having writing skills, and also having minimum computer knowledge, can also be hired as content writers," he said, citing examples.

Speaking on mobile technology and its applications, he said, "Nearly 70% of 'likes' on a popular video-sharing website are done through cellphones. Mobile technology is a fast developing sector. Numerous applications are being developed and added on a regular basis. Compared to software, mobile apps are ease and less expensive to develop. With good knowledge, mobile apps can be developed even at home."

CPDPS director Niranajana Vanalli said the talk was organized to help IT job aspirants be industry-ready.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/the-times-of-india-january-31-2014-tech-savvy-students-given-tips-to-enter-it-field

Odia Wikipedia: Three Years of Active Contributions Gives Life to a Ten Year Old Project

subha — 2014-02-04T08:56:35Z

Odia Wikipedia has carved its mark as the largest online encyclopedia in Odia language that is edited by a volunteer editor community.

This was published by HASTAC on January 31, 2014.

By 29th of January this year it is 10 year old and 5000 articles rich. Though this was started as one of the first four Indic language Wikipedias. In 2011 there were only 550 articles with practically no contributors. The initial Wikipedians struggled to reach out to more people. Luckily, with more people coming on the Internet – primarily on social media platforms, collaboration became easier. Odia Wikipedia’s facebook page and group became the social gateway to get used to working within the Odia language. This is one of the languages which has very little online presence when it comes to having content as Unicode text. Many people still struggle with the outdated pirated operating systems installed in their computers which added more hurdles in the way of all the community led Wikipedia outreach programs. There has been more developments in recent days in language input and online contribution in Odia. More people started searching for online content using Odia in Unicode. This is where Odia Wikipedia played a crucial role in promoting a massive growth in content which is reflected in the readership. Monthly page views which remained consistently low over the years started growing from less than 1000 to more than 400,000 and at times hitting the 500,000 mark. This is the highest among all the websites that have Odia content. With a variety of new projects and more contributors than ever, Wikipedia Odia happily celebrated its its 10th anniversary over two days. Odia Wikipedians gathered in two different educational institutes; Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences in Bhubaneswar on the 28th of January and Indian Institute of Mass Communication in Dhenkanal on the 29th.

Day 1

First day of Odia Wikipedia 10 began with the traditional Chhena poda by noted linguist Padmashree Dr. Debiprasanna Patnaik. Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) has recently collaborated with The Centre for Internet and Society for the resource gathering, documentation and archival of 62 tribal communities of Odisha and neighboring eastern Indian states and initiating Wikipedia projects in the indigenous tribal languages. The first few phase of the workshop brought about 15 students pursuing their masters in Arts, Science and Commerce disciplines and 10 faculty members.

This project also will also dovetail into the Mother Tongue based Multilingual Lab that has been set up in the institute to foster educational materials in tribal languages. Dr. Patnaik spoke to these contributors about the native languages and the importance of documenting language and cultural heritage online. Subrat Prusty, General Secretary of Janasammilani and founding member of Odia Biswabidyalaya gave a talk on the factors that have diminished the native languages and how collaborative efforts could revive dying languages through a 5000 word free-license dictionary in Odia. With the audio recording of Dr. Patnaik introducing himself, Odia Wikipedians inaugurated the Voice intro project as the first Indic language project. Odia Wikipedians interacted with the students and teachers at KISS to get their inputs on the kind of knowledge imparted by introducing Wikipedia editing. Later these will streamline the process of writing to the linguistic team for pledging for the classical language status of Odia.

Day 2

The second day of Odia Wikipedia 10 was celebrated in the Indian Institute of Mass Communication (IIMC) Dhenkanal campus . Students who had participated in the series of Odia Wikipedia workshops earlier in the year took part in this event. Sampad Mohapatra, a TV and print media journalist inaugurated the event by lighting Dipa and cutting a birthday Chenapoda. Mohapatra shared his experiences on how the entire media industry relies on Wikipedia for collecting information and how contribution in regional languages will benefit the students through more job availability in the regional media. Professor Dr. Mrinal Chatterjee who heads the institution shared the way accessing knowledge is slowly moving to internet based search. He discussed strategies of how bringing more online content in regional languages will help the academia and the students. Usha Padhee, Secretary of Mass Education Department, Odisha Government distributed awards to the top Wikipedia contributors. She later presented on the role of media in educating society and Open Educational Resources in new tools of imparting knowledge.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/hastac-january-31-2014-subhashish-panigrahi-odia-wikipedia

Odia Wikipedia (Coverage in Sanchar)

praskrishna — 2014-02-04T07:38:30Z

Sanchar published about Odia Wikipedia in their edition on January 31. Subhashish Panigrahi is quoted.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/odia-wikipedia-coverage-in-sanchar

Access to Knowledge Bulletin — January 2014

praskrishna — 2014-07-04T05:55:18Z

The Access to Knowledge (Wikipedia) newsletter for the month of January 2014:

We from the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS-A2K) thank you all for your support and collaboration and wish you a very Happy New Year. We bring you the details of our work for the month of January 2014:

CIS-A2K, KIIT University and Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences sign MoUs
KIIT University, Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences and the Centre for Internet and Society's Access to Knowledge team (CIS-A2K) have entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoUs) for furthering Odia Wikipedia. Dr.Achyuta Samanta, Founder-Chairman of KIIT and KISS inaugurated both the collaborations formally. Dr. Sasmitarani Samanta, Registrar, KIIT and Surjya Kanta Mohanty, Chief Operating Officer, KISS signed the MoUs of KIIT and KISS respectively whereas T. Vishnuvardhan, Programme Director, CIS-A2K was there to sign in both the MoUs on behalf of CIS along with Subhashish Panigrahi, Programme Officer, CIS-A2K: http://bit.ly/1j1qtFv.

Article

Odia Wikipedia: Three Years of Active Contributions Gives Life to a Ten Year Old Project (by Subhashish Panigrahi, HASTAC, January 31, 2014): http://bit.ly/1jvxD8r.
WikiSangamotsavam 2013 brings Indian Wikimedians together (by Netha Hussain and Subhashish Panigrahi, DNA, January 14, 2014). The article was edited by Rohini Lakshane: http://bit.ly/1jvynKP.

Blog Entries

Wikipedia Editing as Assessment Tool in the Indian Higher Education Classroom (by Dr. Tejaswini Niranjana, Ashwin Kumar A.P. and T. Vishnu Vardhan, January 30, 2014): http://bit.ly/1m5QHMD.
Wikipedia at Forefront in Christ University (by Syed Muzamiluddin, January 29, 2014): http://bit.ly/LTFA8E.

Events Organised

Odia WikiMeetup (Bhubaneswar, January 11, 2014): http://bit.ly/NBkFJi.
Introductory talk about "Wikipedia in Academics" (KIIT School of Technology, Bhubaneswar, January 12, 2014): http://bit.ly/1j1yv1f.
Wikipedia Editing Demonstration at NIE (Nirmala Institue of Education, Goa, January 15, 2014): http://bit.ly/1fmYkKK
Odia Wikipedia's 10th anniversary @ KISS (Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences, Bhubaneswar, January 28, 2014): http://bit.ly/1gsqkJC.
Odia Wikipedia 10th anniversary (Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Dhenkanal, January 29, 2014): http://bit.ly/1dGRBoy.

Event Participated In

The Dynamics of Education to Employment Journey: Opportunities and Challenges (organized by KIIT School of Management, KIIT University, Bhubaneswar, February 21-22, 2014). T. Vishnu Vardhan gave a talk: http://bit.ly/1ePwqHc.

Media Coverage

CIS gave its inputs for the following media coverage:

Digitising contest to preserve rare books in Malayalam (The Hindu, January 4, 2014): http://bit.ly/NBtVgz.
‘With Internet in every pocket, power to the people’ (by Shubhadeep Chaudhury, The Tribune, January 12, 2014): http://bit.ly/1ojb1IZ. Shubhadeep interviews T. Vishnu Vardhan on internet and social media.
ଆଦିବାସୀ ଭାଷାର ଉନ୍ନତିକଳ୍ପେ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ (Odishan.com, January 12, 2014): http://bit.ly/1kAWJmG.
KIIT University to lead building free knowledge repository initiative (India Education Diary.com, January 20, 2014): http://bit.ly/1j1Rzwk.
Odisha: KISS to create tribal languages and heritage repository (Odisha Diary Bureau, January 20, 2014): http://bit.ly/1bLBhmB.
FDC recognition for the Centre for the Internet and Society (Wikimedia Foundation, January 30, 2014): http://bit.ly/1fYdxOz. Wikimedia Foundation published a resolution declaring CIS eligible for funding through the Annual Plan Grants program.
Tech-savvy students given tips to enter IT field (The Times of India, January 31, 2014): http://bit.ly/1j1QvIX.
Odia Wikipedia (Sanchar, January 31, 2014): http://bit.ly/1ePwAON.

Wikimedia Foundation has funded A2K to anchor the growth of Wikimedia movement in India. The A2K team consists of six members, four based in Bangalore: T. Vishnu Vardhan, Dr. U.B. Pavanaja, Subhashish Panigrahi and Muzammiluddin Syed, one member Nitika Tandon in Delhi and one Advisor Dr. Tejaswini Niranjana. Archives of our newsletters can be accessed here (http://cis-india.org/about/newsletters). Wikipedians from various communities can request for outreach programs, technical bugs, logistics-merchandize and media, public relations and communications at http://bit.ly/TOcXId.

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.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/CISA2K
CIS group on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/cis.india
Visit us at: https://cis-india.org

Support Us
Please help us defend consumer / citizen rights on the Internet! Write a cheque in favour of ‘The Centre for Internet and Society’ and mail it to us at No. 194, 2nd ‘C’ Cross, Domlur, 2nd Stage, Bengaluru – 5600 71.

Request for Collaboration:
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, at sunil@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 donors, Wikimedia Foundation, Ford Foundation, Privacy International, UK, Hans Foundation and the Kusuma Trust which was founded by Anurag Dikshit and Soma Pujari, philanthropists of Indian origin, for its core funding and support for most of its projects.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/about/newsletters/access-to-knowledge-bulletin-january-2014

Odia Wikipedia 10th anniversary at Indian Institute of Mass Communication, Dhenkanal

praskrishna — 2014-01-30T12:06:21Z

The Centre for Internet and Society's Access to Knowledge team along with the Odia Wikipedia community invite you to the 10th anniversary of Odia Wikipedia at the Indian Institute of Mass Communication in Dhenkanal on January 29, 2014 from 10.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m.

ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ, ଅନଲାଇନରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷାର ସର୍ବବୃହତ ମୁକ୍ତ ଜ୍ଞାନକୋଷର ୧୦ମ ବାର୍ଷିକ ଜନ୍ମତିଥି ୨୯ ଜାନୁଆରୀରେ ଢେଙ୍କାନାଳର ଭାରତୀୟ ଜନସଂଚାର ସଂସ୍ଥାନରେ ପୂର୍ବାହ୍ଣ ୧୧ ଘଟିକା ସମୟରେ ଅନୁଷ୍ଠିତ ହେବାକୁ ଯାଉଛି । ଏହି ଅବସରରେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ପରିବାର ଆପଣମାନଙ୍କୁ ଏହି କାର୍ଯ୍ୟକ୍ରମରେ ଭାଗ ନେଇ ଏହାକୁ ସାଫଲ୍ୟମଣ୍ଡିତ କରିବାକୁ ଅନୁରୋଧ କରୁଛି ।

ଏଥିରେ ଆମେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆର ଉପଯୋଗୀତା, ଏହାର ବ୍ୟବହାର ଓ ଆପଣ କିପରି ଏଥିରେ ଭାଗ ନେଇପାରିବେ ଓ ଜ୍ଞାନ ବିତରଣର ଏହି ମହାପ୍ରବାହରେ ସାମିଲ ହୋଇପାରିବେ ସେ ବାବଦରେ ଜାଣିପାରିବେ ।

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/events/odia-wikipedia-tenth-anniversary-indian-institute-of-mass-communication-dhenkanal

Odia Wikipedia's 10th anniversary at Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), Bhubaneswar

praskrishna — 2014-01-30T12:01:22Z

The Centre for Internet and Society's Access to Knowledge along with the Odia Wikipedia community invite you to the tenth anniversary celebrations of Odia Wikipedia t Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences, Bhubaneswar on January 28, 2014 from 10.00 a.m. to 4.00 p.m.

କିଛି ଦିନ ତଳେ କଳିଙ୍ଗ ଇନଷ୍ଟିଚ୍ୟୁଟ ଅଫ ସୋସିଆଲ ସାଇନ୍ସେସଠାରେ କର୍ମଶାଳା ଓ ସ‌ହବନ୍ଧନ ପରେ ସେଠାର କର୍ତ୍ତୃପକ୍ଷ ଓ ଶିକ୍ଷକ ତ‌ଥା ଛାତ୍ରମାନେ ଆମ ସମସ୍ତଙ୍କୁ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆର ୧୦ମ ଜନ୍ମତିଥି ଅନୁଷ୍ଠାନ ପରିସରରେ କରିବା ପାଇଁ ଅନୁରୋଧ କରିଛନ୍ତି । ମୁଁ ଏଥିରେ କେତେଜଣ ବରିଷ୍ଠ ଭାଷା ଗବେଷକ ଓ ଭାଷାବିଦମାନଙ୍କୁ ଅନୁରୋଧ କରିଥିଲି । ଏଯାବତ ସେଣ୍ଟ୍ରାଲ ଇନଷ୍ଟିଚ୍ୟୁଟ ଅଫ ଇଣ୍ଡିଆନ ଲାଙ୍ଗୁଏଜେସ (CIIL), ମହୀଶୂରର ପ୍ରତିଷ୍ଠାତା ଓ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷାବିଦ ପଦ୍ମଶ୍ରୀ ଦେବୀପ୍ରସନ୍ନ ପଟୃନାୟକ, ଓଡ଼ିଆ ସାହିତ୍ୟ ଏକାଡେମୀର ଅବାହକ ଓ ଭାଷାବିଦ ଡ. ଗୌରହରି ଦାସ ତ‌ଥା ଭାଷା ଗବେଷକ ସୁବ୍ରତ ପୃଷ୍ଟି ସମ୍ମତି ପ୍ରଦାନ କରିଛନ୍ତି । ଦୟାକରି ସମସ୍ତେ ନିଜ ତରଫରୁ ମଧ୍ୟ ଅଧିକ ବରିଷ୍ଠ ଗବେହକମାନଙ୍କୁ ଅନୁରୋଧ କରିବା ସ‌ହିତ ଏଥିରେ ଅଂଶଗ୍ରହଣ କରି ଏହି ସାମୁହିକ ଉଦ୍ୟମକୁ ଫଳବତୀ କରାଇବାରେ ସ‌ହ‌ଯୋଗ କରିବେ ।

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/events/odia-wikipedia-tenth-anniversary-kalinga-institute-of-social-sciences-bhubaneswar

FDC recognition for the Centre for the Internet and Society

praskrishna — 2014-01-30T07:38:33Z

The Wikimedia Foundation Board has published a resolution declaring the Centre for Internet and Society as eligible for funding through the Annual Plan Grants program.

Click for the original published on the Wikimedia Foundation's website

The resolution was approved at the Board's November 2013 meeting.

Whereas, the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) and the Centre for the Internet and Society (CIS) have engaged in a working relationship in support of the mission goals of the Wikimedia movement in India since September 1, 2012;

Whereas, the Board would like to ensure that the activities and initiatives of CIS and its grants and payments received from WMF in support of the mission goals of the Wikimedia movement are subject to the review and recommendations of the Funds Dissemination Committee (FDC) to ensure the best consideration and use of donor monies;

Whereas, the Board recognizes that the work of CIS is comparable to that of other Wikimedia-affiliated entities in support of the mission goals of the Wikimedia movement;

Resolved, that, for purposes of eligibility to submit funding requests to the FDC, the FDC should treat the CIS as it would treat an eligible Wikimedia-affiliated entity for the limited term of CIS’ agreement with WMF.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/fdc-recognition-to-cis

Wikipedia Editing as Assessment Tool in the Indian Higher Education Classroom

Dr. Tejaswini Niranjana, Ashwin Kumar A.P. and T. Vishnu Vardhan — 2014-01-30T10:06:40Z

Getting students to create and edit Wikipedia entries in English and Indian languages can be a comprehensive assessment tool at the Bachelor’s and Master’s levels. Both levels of higher education require the demonstration of the ability to present knowledge in encyclopaedic form, which can be done by a good review of relevant literature and the showcasing of key arguments in the field.

Using the Dublin competency level descriptors,[*] we can put down what sorts of higher education skills Wikipedia editing can help evaluate. The most commonly accepted descriptors internationally are:

Demonstration of Knowledge and understanding
Applying knowledge and understanding
Making judgements
Communication abilities
Learning skills relevant to higher education

Wikipedia allows for assessing the ‘depth’ of an article which is the measure of the quality of an entry. The depth is a function of several parameters like the number of edits an article has seen, the length of discussion in the talk pages, the number of footnotes, references, hyperlinks and editors active on that page. In addition to this, providing Wiki-interlinks to key concepts within an article and categorization of articles exposes the students to a "semantic web" of interconnections between various fields of knowledge. Although, it may not be a complete substitute for the more formal modes of assessment, it provides a more rounded form of evaluation for student assessment. The ‘depth’ indicator also shows the relative significance of an article for the larger community of users, thereby providing a better model for student assessment in the long run.

Bachelor's Level

By getting students to edit on Wikipedia at the Bachelor’s Level, you can test the following, and appropriate weightage can be given to each aspect of the work:

Comprehension of the theory, concepts and processes pertaining to a field or fields of learning
Demonstration of knowledge, supported by the use of advanced textbooks and other reading materials, of one or more specialised areas
Ability to apply this knowledge and comprehension in a manner that indicates a thorough and informed approach to the work, and have competences typically demonstrated through devising and sustaining arguments
Ability to gather and interpret relevant data to inform independent judgements which include reflection on relevant social, scientific or ethical issues
Ability to communicate information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialist and non-specialist audiences [in the case of Wikipedia, the audience would usually be a non-specialist one]

Master's Level

By getting students to edit on Wikipedia at the Master’s Level, you can test the following, and appropriate weightage can be given to each aspect of the work:

Demonstration of knowledge and comprehension that is founded upon, extends and enhances that associated with the Bachelor’s level and is at the forefront of a field of learning
Critical awareness of current problems and new insights, new tools and new processes within their field of learning (ability to do a good literature review, which can be seen through the citations provided for a Wikipedia entry)
Ability to apply their knowledge, comprehension, and critical awareness in broader or multidisciplinary areas related to their fields of study
Ability to integrate knowledge and handle complexity, to formulate judgements with incomplete or limited information, with an awareness of the social and ethical responsibilities linked to the application of their knowledge and judgements
Ability to communicate their conclusions, and knowledge, rationale and processes underpinning these, to specialist and non-specialist audiences clearly and unambiguously
Ability to reflect on one’s own writing by engaging with feedback received from a collaborative network.
Ability to form peer knowledge networks through collaboration and interaction with other contributors

Risks and Mitigation

It is helpful to be aware of the typical risks a faculty may face in using Wikipedia entries as an assessment tool.

New article creation: Wikipedias, especially the English Wikipedia, are closely monitored by thousands of volunteers from across the world. Often, articles created by new users come under a lot of scrutiny. It is advisable to first encourage the students to edit and improve the existing articles before creating a new article all by themselves. Also taking the help of an experienced Wikipedian will go a long way in mentoring the students on the nuances of the Wikipedia platform and the volunteer community that strives in good faith to preserve the quality of entries.
Copyright violation: Ctrl+c and Ctrl+v (i.e., plagiarism) is a major challenge for the higher education sector across the world. Often the students find that copy-pasting the content from various sources is an easy way of doing an assignment. On Wikipedia, plagiarism is taken very seriously and a student editor can get banned from further contribution to Wikipedia, which may de-motivate the entire class. It’s useful for the faculty to give a detailed orientation on this aspect before encouraging the students to take up writing a Wikipedia entry as an assignment. There are numerous resources (text and videos) made available by Wikimedians across the world explaining the problem of plagiarism. These could be used by the faculty.
If you are encouraging students to write an entry in an Indian language Wikipedia, special attention and support needs to be planned to train the students in typing in that particular Indian language script. Wikipedias have a useful tool called Universal Language Selector (ULS) which makes it very easy for the student to start typing in any script using the transliteration method. There is increasing support for Indian language scripts, however. You could check whether your University computer lab has Unicode compliant computers/systems. This will help the students to work offline on their assignment, if required.
One of the biggest challenges for a teacher is to get the student to see the value of taking up a Wikipedia entry as an assignment. Some of the students may see this as an additional task or extra-curricular activity and may not put in a committed effort, which could affect the goals you have set for your course. Faculties are encouraged to find various means of integrating/dovetailing the Wikipedia assignment into the curriculum or course.
Faculty may also feel this as an additional burden on them, especially in terms of evaluation of the assignment. There are various tools available to measure most of the assessment parameters set out above, which will not take much time. It is in fact possible to save faculty time if the evaluation is planned meticulously.
A pragmatic challenge for the faculty would be to deal with a scenario where the entire class submits the assignments on Wikipedia on the last day. This will not only increase burden on the faculty but can also result in a lot of plagiarism. An effective way to address this challenge is to make the Wikipedia entry assignment part of a formative assessment, whereby the student develops the entry over a period of time (e.g. one month or during the course). There are various tools through which you can track the students’ contribution continuously and share feedback with them periodically.

[*].Available at http://www.tcd.ie/teaching-learning/academic-development/assets/pdf/dublin_descriptors.pdf

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/wikipedia-as-assessment-tool-in-indian-higher-education-classroom

Wikipedia at Forefront in Christ University

syed — 2014-02-04T05:08:41Z

Wikipedia has entered Indian undergraduate language classroom in Christ University, Bangalore. Recently the Access to Knowledge team from the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS-A2K) organized a series of events in Christ University. This blog post provides a brief analysis of the outcome.

Every year, universities worldwide and in India recognise the need to revise their curriculum to provide up-to-date knowledge for their students. Fresh topics are identified and prescribed replacing the ones which have become obsolete. As technology advances, the need for redesigning the syllabus is not just restricted to the theoretical elements of the academic programme, as the need for a paradigm shift in emphasising the practical implications of the acquired knowledge is recognised universally.

In line with this, universities and colleges across the world have introduced innovative ways of making their curriculum more contemporary than traditional and more pragmatic than academic. One of the leading examples of such initiatives was the "WikiProject Medicine" started by the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine (UCSF School of Medicine) which aimed at making quality article writing on medical subjects a quintessential part of the syllabus completion. The result of this exercise was startling — 25,825 articles produced under the project received 189,908,947 hits — a record achievement for any Wikipedia project (Source: http://bitly.com/wikiprojmed).

Universities and colleges in India also realise that internet is a boon for educational system. Students often refer to informative websites for their projects and assignments, with Wikipedia articles topping the list of the reference resources that are easily accessible. Although English Wikipedia is more viewed and referred by the students, of late there has been an increase in both readership and voluntary editorial contributions to the Indic language Wikipedias such as Hindi, Tamil, Kannada and other language versions of Wikipedia.

Keeping in view these developments, CIS entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Christ University, Bangalore to make article writing on Wikipedia a core exercise for their continuous internal assessment of its 1600 undergraduate students. The state-of-the-art university which also has a recording studio agreed to host the first of its kind Wikipedia video tutorials in two languages — Hindi and Kannada.

During the month of December 2013, 10 videos each were recorded in both Hindi and Kannada for the respective language Wikipedia editing. While the video scripts were prepared by CIS, the students of the Christ University played an active role for the introductory videos and rendered their voices for the other video tutorials which featured various Wikipedia editing screenshots. These videos have been uploaded on the Moodle Learning platform of the Christ University website, Wikimedia Commons and the "Access to Knowledge (CIS-A2K)" Channel on YouTube.

In order to help the students assess their grasp of the knowledge disseminated in each video, each uploaded video on the Christ University website ends with a set of objective questions. Students were also given the right answers along with their scores. The questions were designed by CIS staff in consultation with Christ University professors.

During December 2013 and January 2014 separate campus ambassadors’ orientation programmes were organized by CIS for Hindi and Kannada second language students at Christ University. A training programme was also held for Urdu students. An orientation programme for Tamil students was organized by CIS at Christ University with support from noted Tamil Wikipedian Bala Sundara Raman. Similarly, an orientation programme for Sanskrit students was organized by CIS at Christ University with the support from Shubha of Sanskrit Bharati.

Beginning from January 23 to the first week of February, 2014 is the timeline for Christ University students to finish their assignments. With the video tutorial, training and orientation programmes, constant monitoring by CIS, and with support from Christ University, it is hoped that students will contribute significantly to the five different language Wikipedias — Hindi, Kannada, Sanskrit, Tamil and Urdu.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/wikipedia-at-forefront-in-christ-university

KIIT University to lead building free knowledge repository initiative

praskrishna — 2014-02-03T09:57:50Z

The blog post was published by India Education Diary.com on January 20, 2014.

Its Access To Knowledge program is funded by the Wikimedia Foundation and works in fostering the volunteer Wikimedia community that contributes in enhancing Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects. Its primary mandate is upbringing Wikipedia editors by outreach, creating primary resources for sources of reference in multiple ways that lead to enrich Wikipedia.

From a technical institution, Kalinga Institute of Industrial Technology has grown to a multidisciplinary world class University. KIIT University is a world class university spread over 25 sq. km. of land accommodating 20 sprawling wi-fi campuses with 10 million sq.ft. built up area. The university has 25 constituent schools offering more than 100 programmes. Being accredited by NAAC of UGC and NBA of AICTE, KIIT has 20,000 students pursuing under graduate and post graduate studies in the fields of Engineering, Computer Application, Management, Rural Management, Law, Biotechnology, MBBS, M.D., BDS, Nursing, Fashion Technology, Cinema & Media Studies and Languages. KIIT stands out as one of the finest universities in India declared under section 3 of the UGC Act of 1956. KIIT educational conglomerate is unique in offering a wide spectrum of academic programmes from kindergarten to postgraduate level, earning it a place in the Limca Book of Records.

Wikipedia has a critical stand in academia when it comes to peer academic research. But on the other side students ofter access and use Wikipedia for their assignment work despite of the non acceptance of Wikipedia content by the teacher community. The primary reason of Wikipedia's factual errors in many Indic related articles being Wikipedia's low contribution from the global south needs more contribution. Academicians and subject experts who are in charge of building the infrastructure of providing free knowledge to everyone often were stuck because of this setback.

This led to an conjugation of subject experts and Wikimedia contributor communities to set up a system called Wikipedia Education Program (WEP) where editing, correcting and enhancing Wikipedia articles become part of the curriculum.

To begin with the students in different schools at KIIT University the local Wikipedia community with the support from CIS-A2K is going to conduct classroom Wikipedia workshops to pilot Wikipedia contribution. KIIT University would be one of world's few universities to pilot student Wikipedia contribution as part oftheir curricula in any regional language.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/india-education-diary-january-20-2014-kiit-university-to-lead-building-free-knowledge-repository-initiative

Odisha: KISS to create tribal languages and heritage repository

praskrishna — 2014-02-03T08:33:08Z

World' largest tribal residential institute Kalinga Institute of Social Studies (KISS) is going to initiate a project in collaboration with Centre for Internet and Society's Access To Knowledge program (CIS-A2K) to gather academic and research resources on tribal languages and diverse cultural heritage.

The report by Odisha Diary Bureau was published on January 20, 2014.

Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) is the largest tribal residential institution in the world. It is home to over 20,000 tribal students from 64 tribes living in Eastern and North-Eastern parts of India that not only provide them accommodation, food, and free education from kindergarten to post graduation but also provide them 24/7 health care in the in-house hospital and many vocational trainings to empower them as able citizens of this nation ensuring their successful future. UNICEF in association with KISS has established a Children Development Resource Centre (CDRC) as part of the larger UNICEF-KIIT University joint initiative for the Centre for Children Studies (CCS) that aims in promoting evidence-based policy making by building a knowledge base thorough research and other development programmes on children's issues focusing on the state of Odisha.

KISS in collaboration with Bernard van Leer Foundation is currently devising education systems in native tribal languages that even do not have scripts. With over 17 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)s and many more in process. KISS is bringing up a new stream of sustainable growth for tribals below poverty line by educating them and imparting knowledge in their own languages.

UNICEF, UNESCO, UNFPA, College of Charleson (USA), Bernard van Leer Foundation, Vedanta Foundation, NALCO Foundation, English Access Micro-Scholarship Program (Federal Govt.), Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Oracle Educational Foundation, Intel Technology, CPU Joint Volunteers (South Korea) are some of the organisations that KISS is working in tandem with to take the Indian tribal cultural diversity and heritage to the outside world by giving the aboriginal natives their space in this world.

Centre for Internet and Society is a Bangalore based Non profit organization which works primarily in the broader domains ofinternet and policy research, accessibility, open knowledge and open education. Its Access To Knowledge program is funded by the Wikimedia Foundation and works in fostering the volunteer Wikimedia community that contributes in enhancing Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects. Its primary mandate is upbringing Wikipedia editors by outreach, creating primary resources for sources of reference in multiple ways that lead to enrich Wikipedia.

This collaboration will bring detailed research and multilingual documentation about several aspects of tribals of India and would work as an Open Education Resources (OER) for academicians and researchers. This event is organized on 11th January 2014 atKalinga Institute of Social Studies premises at 11 am. KIITUniversity's Founder-Chairman Dr. Achyuta Samanta is going to inaugurate this project formally on this occasion.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/orissa-diary-january-20-2014-kiss-to-create-tribal-languages-and-heritage-repository

WikiSangamotsavam 2013 brings Indian Wikimedians together

Netha Hussain and Subhashish Panigrahi — 2014-02-03T06:57:04Z

WikiSangamotsavam, the annual conference of Malayalam Wikimedians, took place in Alappuzha, Kerala from December 21 to 23, 2013. The conference brought together around 200 Wikimedians and well-wishers from all over India.

The blog post originally published on Wikimedia Foundation's website was copy edited by Rohini Lakshane and published as an article in DNA on January 14, 2014.

The host town, Alappuzha is popularly known as the Venice of the East owing to its picturesque backwaters and canals. Alappuzha was chosen as the location for the conference in an attempt to draw attention to the region's diversity and touristic appeal, thereby increasing the town's representation on Wikipedia. A few pre-conference events including a bicycle rally, a meetup for young Wikimedians and several edit-a-thons were held.

Day 1
The first day of WikiSangamotsavam started with Wiki-Vidyarthi-Sangamam, a meetup of student Wikimedians. The digitisation of "Sri-Mahabharatham", a seven volume Malayalam epic was flagged off during the Wiki-Vidyarthi-Sangamam. Around 100 students from all over Kerala interacted with each other and learnt about Wikimedia projects in Malayalam. A Wikipedia workshop was conducted for physically impaired delegates. They were introduced to various means of accessibility by the DAISY Consortium. This session helped them learn about self-education tools, accessing knowledge platforms such as Wikipedia, and contributing in Malayalam online.

During a panel discussion on "Malayalam and Wikipedia" language and computing experts discussed the role of Wikipedia in the growth of the Malayalam language. Talks and presentations about topics relevant to Wikimedia were held in three parallel sessions.

The first day of the event also marked the Malayalam Wikipedia’s eleventh anniversary. The occasion was celebrated by cutting a cake. At the end of the day, Wikimedians entertained themselves by singing Malayalam folk songs.

Day 2
The second day started with the inaugural session. The event was inaugurated by Sashi Kumar, a media analyst and founder of India’s first regional satellite television channel.

Dr. Thomas Isaac, a former minister in Kerala, was the chief guest at the function. Mementos were given away to active Wikimedians who organised various Wikimedia events throughout 2013.

The QRpedia project was launched by Dr. Thomas Isaac at the Alappuzha lighthouse. QRpedia aims to make QR codes for tourist locations, which link to Wikipedia articles pertaining to the locations and monuments. By the start of the next year, all historical monuments and tourist destinations are set to be marked with QR codes. If successfully completed, Alappuzha would be the first town in India to be fully digitised with QR codes.

A Non-Malayalam Indic Wikimedia meetup was held for Wikimedians who contribute to Wikimedia projects in other Indic languages and English. There was a track to discuss how various collaborative projects could be built to have content creation drives for enriching Wikipedia.

Day 3
The third and final day of WikiSangamotsavam was devoted to taking Wikimedians on a boat trip amidst the flora of the Vembanad lake to experience its unique biodiversity. Experienced Wikimedians who have done extensive research on the region's biodiversity provided a guided tour onboard the boat.

The 126 acres of reclaimed wetland around the lake and its rare plant species serves as the location for a rich discussion and collaboration among bio-enthusiasts on Wikipedia. Wikimedians also discussed how to go about protecting the biodiversity of the R. Block of Vembanad lake.

The three-day long WikiSangamotsavam brought together many of the Malayalam Wikimedians under one roof and enabled them to share their best practices, ideas and visions for the future.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/dna-january-14-2014-netha-hussain-subhashish-panigrahi-wikisangamotsavam-2013-brings-indian-wikimedians-together

Introductory talk about "Wikipedia in Academics"

praskrishna — 2014-02-03T06:48:40Z

Subhashish Panigrahi gave a talk on Wikipedia in Academics. Subhashish spoke about the use the Wikipedia in academics, students' role as contributors to Wikipedia to keep the facts correct and editing Wikipedia articles in Indic languages.

Prof.Parthosen Gupta, Professor-KIIT School of Management and Sucheta Priyabadini, Joint Registrar, KIIT were present during the event to talk about the KIIT - CIS-A2K partnership and forthcoming collaboration projects.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/events/talk-on-wikipedia-in-academics

ଆଦିବାସୀ ଭାଷାର ଉନ୍ନତିକଳ୍ପେ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ

praskrishna — 2014-02-03T10:43:58Z

Subhashish Panigrahi is quoted in this article published by Odishan.com on January 12, 2014.

ଗତକାଲି ଭୁବନେଶ୍ବରସ୍ଥିତ କଳିଙ୍ଗ ଇନଷ୍ଟିଚ୍ୟୁଟ ଅଫ ସୋସିଆଲ ସାଇନ୍ସେସ (କିସ) ପରିସରରେ କିଟ ବିଶ୍ବବିଦ୍ୟାଳୟ ସହିତ ବେଙ୍ଗାଳୁରୁର ସେଣ୍ଟର ଅଫ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟ ଏଣ୍ଡ ସୋସାଇଟି-ଆକ୍ସେସ ଟୁ ନଲେଜ ପ୍ରୋଗ୍ରାମ ଏକ ମେମୋରାଣ୍ଡମ ଅଫ ଅଣ୍ଡରଷ୍ଟାଣ୍ଡିଂ (ଏମ ଓ ୟୁ)ରେ ଦସ୍ତଖତ କରିଛନ୍ତି । କିସଠାରେ ଆଦିବାସୀ ପିଲା ଓ ଅଧ୍ୟାପକମାନଙ୍କୁ ନେଇ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆକୁ ସମୃଦ୍ଧି କରିବା ତଥା ଆଦିବାସୀ ଭାଷାରେ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆର ବିକାଶ ନିମନ୍ତେ ନୂଆ କାର୍ଯ୍ୟକ୍ରମମାନ ଆରମ୍ଭ କରାଯିବ । ଆଦିବାସୀମାନଙ୍କର ଭାଷା, ସଂସ୍କୃତି, କଳା ଓ ଜନଜୀବନର ଅନେକ ଉପାଦେୟ ବିଷୟ ଆଜି ବି ଜନସାଧାରଣଙ୍କ ଅଗୋଚରରେ ରହିଛି ।

ଏହି ବିବିଧ ବିଷୟରେ ବୁଦ୍ଧିଜୀବୀ, ଗବେଷକ ଓ ମାନବବିଦମାନେ ଅଧିକ ଗବେଷଣା ପାଇଁ ଏହି ମିଳିତ ପ୍ରଚେଷ୍ଟା ବିଶ୍ବର ଏକ ନୂଆ ଯୁଗର ଆରମ୍ଭ କରିବ ବୋଲି ଏହାକୁ ଉଦଘାଟନ କରି କିସ ଓ କିଟର ପ୍ରତିଷ୍ଠାତା ଡଃ ଅଚ୍ୟୁତ ସାମନ୍ତ କହିଛନ୍ତି । ଏଥିରେ ଯୋଗଦେଇ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟ ଏଣ୍ଡ ସୋସାଇଟି-ଆକ୍ସେସ ଟୁ ନଲେଜ ପ୍ରୋଗ୍ରାମର ପ୍ରୋଗ୍ରାମ ଅଫିସର ତଥା ଏହି ଦୀର୍ଘସୂଚୀ କାର୍ଯ୍ୟକ୍ରମକୁ କାର୍ଯ୍ୟକାରୀ କରୁଥିବା ଶୁଭାଶିଷ ପାଣିଗ୍ରାହୀ ଏହା ଆଦିବାସୀଙ୍କର ଜୀବନକୁ ବିଶ୍ବସ୍ତରରେ ପରିଚିତ କରାଇବ ତଥା ଆଦିବାସୀ ଭାଷାସମୂହର ନଥିକରଣରେ ସହାୟକ ହେବ ବୋଲି ମତବ୍ୟକ୍ତ କରିଛନ୍ତି । ଏହି ଉତ୍ସବରେ କିଟ ତରଫରୁ ରେଜିଷ୍ଟ୍ରାର ଡଃ ସସ୍ମିତା ସାମନ୍ତ, କିସ ତରଫରୁ ସୂର୍ଯ୍ୟକାନ୍ତ ମହାନ୍ତି ଓ ସେଣ୍ଟର ଅଫ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟ ଏଣ୍ଡ ସୋସାଇଟି ତରଫରୁ ଟି ବିଷ୍ଣୁବର୍ଦ୍ଧନ ଏହି ମିଳିତ ଏମ ଓ ୟୁରେ ଔପଚାରିକ ଭାବେ ଦସ୍ତଖତ କରିଥିଲେ ।

ଆଗାମୀ ପାଞ୍ଚ ବର୍ଷ ନିମନ୍ତେ କିଟ ଓ କିସରେ ବହୁବିଧ କର୍ମଶାଳା ଓ ସଚେତନାମୂଳକ ଆଲୋଚନାଚକ୍ର ମାଧ୍ୟମରେ ଶିକ୍ଷକ ଓ ଛାତ୍ରମାନଙ୍କୁ ଇଣ୍ଟରନେଟ ମାଧ୍ୟମରେ ଗବେଷଣାତ୍ମକ ନଥିକରଣ ଓ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ଭଳି ମୁକ୍ତ ଜ୍ଞାନକୋଷରେ ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗମାନ ଲେଖି ଓ ସମ୍ପାଦନା କରି ନିଜ ଜ୍ଞାନର ବିକାଶ କରିବା ସଙ୍ଗେସଙ୍ଗେ ଅନ୍ୟମାନଙ୍କ ନିମନ୍ତେ ମଧ୍ୟ ମୁକ୍ତଜ୍ଞାନ ବିତରଣ କରିପାରିବେ । ଏଥିସହିତ ବିଶ୍ବର ବାକି ଦେଶମାନଙ୍କରେ ଥିବା ଅନେକ ଛାତ୍ରଛାତ୍ରୀ ଓ ଗବେଷକମାନଙ୍କ ସହ ଭାଗନେଇ ନୂତନ ଦିଗନ୍ତମାନ ଉନ୍ମୋଚନ କରିପାରିବେ ।

ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ଯାହା ୨୦୧୧ ମସିହା ପରଠାରୁ ଅନେକ ସମ୍ପାଦକଙ୍କ ଦ୍ବାରା ସମ୍ପାଦନା ହେବାକୁ ଲାଗିଲା, ଏବେ ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷାରେ ଉପଲବ୍ଧ ବିଶାଳତମ ଅନଲାଇନ ଜ୍ଞାନକୋଷ ଓ or.wikipedia ରେ ସମସ୍ତେ ଏହାକୁ ପଢ଼ିପାରିବେ ତଥା ଏଥିରେ ଅଧିକ ତଥ୍ୟ ଯୋଡ଼ି ଏଥିରେ ଥିବା ପ୍ରସଙ୍ଗସବୁକୁ ଅଧିକ ତଥ୍ୟପୂର୍ଣ୍ଣ କରିପାରିବେ । ଏଠାରେ ଥିବା ଆଦିବାସୀ ପିଲାମାନେ ନିଜେ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆ ଭଳି ଏକ ବିଶ୍ବସ୍ତରୀୟ ଜ୍ଞାନକୋଷରେ ଜ୍ଞାନଦାନ ଓ ଗ୍ରହଣ କରି ବାକିମାନଙ୍କ ପାଇଁ ଅନେକ ସହଜ ଶିକ୍ଷଣ ତିଆରି କରିପାରିବେ ବୋଲି ବିଶ୍ବାସ ରଖନ୍ତି ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆର ସକ୍ରିୟତମ ସଦସ୍ୟ ଶିତିକଣ୍ଠ ଦାଶ । ବୃତ୍ତିରେ ଇଞ୍ଜିନିୟର ହୋଇ ଯଦି ନିଜେ ଅନ୍ୟମାନଙ୍କ ପାଇଁ ପାଠପଢ଼ାର ସାଧନକ୍ଷେତ୍ର ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆକୁ କିଟର ଛାତ୍ରମାନେ ଉନ୍ନତ କରିପାରିବେ ବୋଲି କହନ୍ତି ଉଇକିପିଡ଼ିଆର ଆଉଜଣେ ସ୍ବେଚ୍ଛାସେବୀ ସଦସ୍ୟ ଜ୍ଞାନରଞ୍ଜନ ସାହୁ ।

ଆଗାମୀ କିଛିମାସ ଭିତରେ କିସଠାରେ ଅନେକ ପୁସ୍ତକ, ଜର୍ଣ୍ଣାଲ, ଅନଲାଇନ ଗବେଷଣା ନଥିଆଦି ଅଣାଯାଇ ଏକ ଭିତ୍ତିଭୂମିର ବିକାଶ କରାଯିବ । ଏହା ଛାତ୍ରଛାତ୍ରୀ ତଥା ଶିକ୍ଷକମାନଙ୍କୁ ଅଧିକ ଜ୍ଞାନ ଆହରଣର ସୁବିଧା ଯୋଗାଇବ । ଏହି ପରୋକ୍ଷରେ ଅଧିକ ଛାତ୍ରଙ୍କୁ ପରୋକ୍ଷରେ ସ୍ବାଭାଲମ୍ବୀ କରାଇବା ସଙ୍ଗେସଙ୍ଗେ ସେମାନଙ୍କୁ କମ୍ପ୍ୟୁଟର ମାଧ୍ୟମରେ ଜଗତସାରା ଲୁକ୍କାୟିତ ଜ୍ଞାନର ବିତରଣରେ ସହାୟକ ହେବ । ଏହି ତୃଣମୂଳ ସ୍ତରର ପରଖ କିଟ ତଥା ଅନେକ ଅନ୍ୟାନ୍ୟ ଶିକ୍ଷାନୁଷ୍ଠାନରେ ଏହିପରି ବିଭିନ୍ନ କାର୍ଯ୍ୟକ୍ରମ ପାଇଁ ବାଟ କଢ଼ାଇବ ।

Click to read the original published by Odishan.com here

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/odishan-january-12-2014-coverage-on-odia-wikipedia

‘With Internet in every pocket, power to the people’

praskrishna — 2014-02-03T06:05:48Z

Social media is set to grow in India in a big way with Google and Facebook gearing up to tap the regional languages market.

The interview was published in the Tribune on January 12, 2014.

The programme director of Access to Knowledge at the Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore, T Vishnu Vardhan is leading the growth of Wikipedia and Wikimedia projects in Indian languages as part of grant from the Wikimedia Foundation. His experience spans across academics, industry (media) and not-for-profit sectors. He talks about the spread of the Internet and social media in India and their impact on the traditional media. Excerpts:

How powerful are the Internet and social media today?

One way to answer the question is to throw some data. There is 83 per cent of mobile connectivity, so and so per cent of Internet connectivity over computer in India, and so on. The data is important to understand the extent of penetration of digital technology in India, particularly through the mobile telephone rather than the PC-based or laptop-based access to the Internet.

When you say mobile phones, are you talking about smartphones?

These could be smartphones or feature-phones also. So many feature-phones are available in the market now. These phones do not cost much. Hardware, therefore, is not going to be anymore a deterrent for access to Internet. I have seen the elderly also getting accustomed to using computers so they can keep in touch with their children who live abroad.

What about social media and its power in India?

It is very powerful. At least it is believed to be powerful because right from political parties and politicians to small vendors, all are trying to leverage it. During the last five years, there has been a tectonic shift in this regard. It will be very interesting to see how the story unfolds in India.

What is unique about India?

Social media is set to become bigger and bigger in India with companies like Google and Facebook gearing up to tap the regional languages market.

Is English increasingly becoming strong and all pervasive in India?

I would believe it and get worried on that score. But the Internet is bringing in a lot of changes. Font problem has been solved too. The ramification of what takes place when this new regional language enabled market comes on board in social media platforms is still not very clear. But it is certainly going to be huge.

Whatever is happening in India now must be an old story in developed countries?

In the US and Europe, Internet penetration took place in the PC age. But we have bypassed the PC. Internet access in India through phone is growing rapidly. India is taking a completely new path for this.

Some social media websites are also trying to get into the news domain. Have you come across instances where news has been first broken in the social media?

There are many such instances. One of the Wikipedians, Kartik Naga, took some pictures of the Mumbai terror attack and posted on commons. These were available to the world much before the traditional journalists could capture images of the incident. Real-time information about tsunami also came from people.

In the West, some print publications — newspapers and magazines — have closed down because people have apparently switched over to the Internet.

The real issue here is whether traditional media wants to stick to a particular technology or it is ready to embrace a new technology for the production and dissemination of news, which is its core activity. If traditional media is averse to embracing the new technology, there will be all kinds of problems like the paper will shut down or some completely new random players will come and corner an old veteran and so on. But if the new technology is embraced, there will be new ways and means of benefiting from it. It depends on how a traditional media entity is looking at Internet and social media. In the last two or three years, we have also seen so many news stories that got made by social media. There is a buzz about social media, and traditional media picks it up and makes it even a bigger story. I do not agree with this drawing of lines between social and traditional media. I think it is a mixed media.

You mean to say there is no threat to traditional media from social media in the long run?

There is no threat. At the end of the day, production of news is not the business of people active on social media portals. Traditional media could actually thrive by the clever use of Internet and social media.

What about news that breaks in social media and is imaginary or based on rumours. What happens then?

These things do happen. People are working on finding out ways to verify news contents on social media. There are already people whose mission in life is to prevent rumour mongering on the Internet.

For more details visit https://cis-india.org/news/the-tribune-january-12-2014-shubhadeep-chaudhary-with-internet-in-every-pocket-power-to-the-people