The Centre for Internet and Society
https://cis-india.org
These are the search results for the query, showing results 141 to 155.
Wikipedia edit-a-thon in Mangalore to bring Tulu Wikipedia live
https://cis-india.org/openness/wikipedia-edit-a-thon-in-mangalore-to-bring-tulu-wikipedia-live
<b>A Wikipedia edit-a-thon was organised in Mangalore, Karnataka this 14th to encourage more Tulu-language speakers to contribute to Tulu Wikipedia. Tulu Wikipedia is is currently in the Incubator but the enthusiastic editor community is putting their best effort to bring it live out of Incubator. This edit-a-thon is one of the many activities the Tulu Wikimedia community has organised.</b>
<p>30 Wikipedia editors participated and created about 89 new articles. Interestingly, 12 of these 30 participants crossed more than 10 edits. Some of the new participants faced problems with using the<a href="https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Extension:UniversalLanguageSelector/Input_methods#Kannada"> input methods</a> and the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:Wiki_markup">Wiki-markup</a>. It is important to note that because of the lack of addition of Tulu-alphabet code points in the Unicode chart, and the speakers being well conversant in Kannada, they are using Kannada script for Tulu Wikipedia Incubator project. There is a plan to organise a monthly meetup and/or edit-a-thon to continue the momentum these editors have brought in. <a href="http://www.tuluacademy.org/en/">Tulu Sahitya Academy</a> has kindly supported the event.</p>
More details in the <a class="external-link" href="https://incubator.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wp/tcy/ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯ:ಕಜ್ಜಕೊಟ್ಯ-5">event page</a> (in Tulu).
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/openness/wikipedia-edit-a-thon-in-mangalore-to-bring-tulu-wikipedia-live'>https://cis-india.org/openness/wikipedia-edit-a-thon-in-mangalore-to-bring-tulu-wikipedia-live</a>
</p>
No publisherpavanajaWikimediaWikipediaWorkshopOpennessTulu Wikipedia2015-09-15T09:07:24ZBlog EntryTalamaddale on August 23
https://cis-india.org/openness/news/the-hindu-august-23-2015-talamaddale-on-august-23
<b>A talamaddale ‘Karna Chedana’ and ‘Shalya Nirgamana’ will be organised at Abhisheka mandira on the premises of Manjunatha temple at Kadri on August 23 at 2.30 p.m. Yakshagana playback singers Balipa Narayana Bhagawatha and Puttige Raghurama Holla will take part.</b>
<h2>Workshop</h2>
<p class="body" style="text-align: justify; ">A three-day workshop on writing for Tulu Wikipedia began at Ramakrishna Pre-University College and Ramakrishna College here on Friday. Speaking on the occasion U.B. Pavanaja, Programme Officer, Centre for Internet and Society, Bengaluru, and a Wikipedia representative said that if a language was to sustain it should in use continuously and all information should be available in that language. Tulu also should be kept alive using modern tools of technology.</p>
<hr />
<p class="body" style="text-align: justify; ">Read the original coverage published by the Hindu on August 16, 2015 <a class="external-link" href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Mangalore/talamaddale-on-august-23/article7545909.ece?utm_source=RSS_Feed&utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=RSS_Syndication">here</a>.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/openness/news/the-hindu-august-23-2015-talamaddale-on-august-23'>https://cis-india.org/openness/news/the-hindu-august-23-2015-talamaddale-on-august-23</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpennessWikipediaAccess to Knowledge2015-09-20T15:57:16ZNews Itemಬೆಳ್ತಂಗಡಿ:ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಕಾಲಕ್ಕೂ ಲಭ್ಯ ಇರುವ ಸ್ವತಂತ್ರ ಹಾಗೂ ಮುಕ್ತ ವಿಶ್ವಕೋಶ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯಾ-ಪವನಜ
https://cis-india.org/openness/news/sahil-online-august-14-2015
<b>The Centre for Internet & Society (CIS-A2K) has ongoing partnership with SDM College, Ujire. Students of Masters in Communication and Journalism will be writing articles in Kannada Wikipedia. This academic year’s programme was inaugurated on August 12. It was followed by hands-on workshop. SahilOnline has reported this on August 14, 2015.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Read the online entry published by <a class="external-link" href="http://www.sahilonline.in/dakshana-kannada/%E0%B2%AC%E0%B3%86%E0%B2%B3%E0%B3%8D%E0%B2%A4%E0%B2%82%E0%B2%97%E0%B2%A1%E0%B2%BF%E0%B2%8E%E0%B2%B2%E0%B3%8D%E0%B2%B2%E0%B2%BE-%E0%B2%95%E0%B2%BE%E0%B2%B2%E0%B2%95%E0%B3%8D%E0%B2%95%E0%B3%82/#.VewsF318hQp">SahilOnline</a> on August 14, 2015.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">ಬೆಳ್ತಂಗಡಿ: ವಿಕಿಪಿಡಿಯಾ ಎಲ್ಲರಿಗೂ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಕಾಲಕ್ಕೂ ಲಭ್ಯ ಇರುವ ಸ್ವತಂತ್ರ ಹಾಗೂ ಮುಕ್ತ ವಿಶ್ವಕೋಶವಾಗಿದೆ. ಉಪಯುಕ್ತ ಬರವಣಿಗೆಗಳ ಕೋಶವನ್ನು ಹೊಂದಿದ ಇದನ್ನು ಯಾರು ಬೇಕಾದರೂ ಮುಕ್ತವಾಗಿ ಬಳಸಬಹುದು ಎಂದು ಪತ್ರಿಕಾ ಅಂಕಣಕಾರ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನ ಡಾ. ಯು. ಬಿ. ಪವನಜ ಹೇಳಿದರು.<br />ಅವರು ಗುರುವಾರ ಉಜಿರೆ ಎಸ್.ಡಿ.ಎಮ್. ಸ್ವಾಯತ್ತ ಕಾಲೇಜಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಪತ್ರಿಕೋದ್ಯಮ ವಿಭಾಗದ ವಿದ್ಯಾರ್ಥಿಗಳಿಗೆ ವಿಕಿಪಿಡಿಯಾ ಬರವಣಿಗೆ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ಮಾಹಿತಿ ನೀಡಿ ಮಾತನಾಡಿದರು.<br /><br />2001ರಲ್ಲಿ ಅಮೇರಿಕಾದಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರಾರಂಭಗೊಂಡ ವಿಕಿಪಿಡಿಯಾ ಪ್ರಪಂಚದ 290 ಭಾಷೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಲಭ್ಯ ಇದೆ. ದೇಶದ 20 ಭಾಷೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಲೇಖನಗಳನ್ನು ಒಳಗೊಂಡಿದೆ. 2003ರಲ್ಲಿ ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿಯೂ ವಿಕಿಪಿಡಿಯಾ ಬರವಣಿಗೆ ಪ್ರಾರಂಭವಾಗಿದೆ. ಕೇವಲ 20 ಸಾವಿರ ಲೇಖನಗಳು ಇದೆ. ಬೇರೆ ಭಾಷೆಗಳಿಗೆ ಹೋಲಿಸಿದರೆ ಕಡಿಮೆ ಅನ್ನಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲಿ ಪ್ರಬುದ್ಧತೆಯ ಬರವಣಿಗೆ ಶೈಲಿಯನ್ನು ಸುಧಾರಿಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಲು ಇದೊಂದು ಸುಲಭದ ಮಾಧ್ಯಮ. ವಿದ್ಯಾರ್ಥಿಗಳು ಸಂಶೋಧನಾ ಪ್ರವೃತ್ತಿ ಮತ್ತು ಕೌಶಲ ಬೆಳೆಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಬೇಕು ಎಂದರು.<br /><br />ವಿಕಿಪಿಡಿಯಾ ಬಳಕೆಯಿಂದ ನಮ್ಮ ಭಾಷೆ ಮತ್ತು ಶೈಲಿ ಸುಧಾರಣೆಯಾಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಮಾಹಿತಿ ಸಂಗ್ರಹದೊಂದಿಗೆ ಕ್ರೋಢೀಕರಣ ಮತ್ತು ಉಲ್ಲೇಖವೂ ಅಗತ್ಯ. ಗೂಗಲ್ನಲ್ಲಿ ಯಾವುದೇ ಮಾಹಿತಿ ಇರುವುದಿಲ್ಲ. ಮಾಹಿತಿ ಎಲ್ಲಿ ಸಿಗುತ್ತದೆ ಎಂದು ಮಾತ್ರ ಅದು ಸೂಚಿಸುತ್ತದೆ. ಯಾವುದೇ ಪ್ರಕರಣ ಘಟಿಸಿದ ತಕ್ಷಣ ವಿಕಿಪಿಡಿಯಾದಲ್ಲಿ ಅದು ನವೀಕರಣ ಆಗುತ್ತದೆ. ಪತ್ರಕರ್ತರು ನಿರಂತರ ಅಧ್ಯಯನಶೀಲರಾಗಿ ಮಾಹಿತಿ ಸಂಗ್ರಹಿಸಬೇಕು. ಭಾಷೆ ಬಳಸಿದಾಗ ಅದು ಬೆಳೆಯುತ್ತದೆ ಹಾಗೂ ನಮ್ಮ ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿ ಉಳಿಯುತ್ತದೆ ಎಂದರು.<br /><br />ಕಾಲೇಜಿನ ಪತ್ರಿಕೋದ್ಯಮ ವಿಭಾಗದ ಮುಖ್ಯಸ್ಥ ಪ್ರೊ. ಭಾಸ್ಕರ ಹೆಗ್ಡೆ ಉಪಸ್ಥಿತರಿದ್ದರು. ವಿದ್ಯಾರ್ಥಿಗಳಾದ ಅರಹಂತ ಸ್ವಾಗತಿಸಿ, ಚೇತನ್ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮ ನಿರ್ವಹಿಸಿದರು.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/openness/news/sahil-online-august-14-2015'>https://cis-india.org/openness/news/sahil-online-august-14-2015</a>
</p>
No publisherpavanajaAccess to KnowledgeWikimediaWikipediaOpennessKannada Wikipedia2015-09-06T12:09:51ZNews ItemInternational Open Data Charter, Consultation Meeting, Bengaluru, July 28, 5:30 pm
https://cis-india.org/openness/international-open-data-charter-consultation-bengaluru-28072015
<b></b>
<p> </p>
<p>This is to invite you to a consultation meeting on the first public draft of the International Open Data Charter organised by CIS with <a href="http://www.datakind.org/howitworks/datachapters/datakind-blr/" target="_blank">DataKind</a> and <a href="http://datameet.org/" target="_blank">DataMeet</a> at the CIS office in Bengaluru, on Tuesday, July 28, 2015, at 5:30 pm.</p>
<p>The Charter is being developed by the Open Data Working Group of the Open Government Partnership in consultation with a number of international organisations. Meant for approval and implementation by national governments, the Charter has five key principles:</p>
<ul>
<li>Open by Default;</li>
<li>Quality and Quantity;</li>
<li>Useable by All;</li>
<li>Engagement and Empowerment of Citizens; and</li>
<li>Collaboration for Development and Innovation.</li></ul>
<p>The first public draft of the International Open Data Charter was published in end of May 2015 at the International Open Data Conference in
Ottawa, and can be accessed here: <a href="http://opendatacharter.net/charter/" target="_blank">http://opendatacharter.net/charter/</a>.</p>
<p>Organisations and individuals are invited to submit comments directly on the Charter page, before July 31.</p>
<p>We are organising this meeting to discuss the context, the drafting process, and the objectives of this document, and to encourage the participants to comment on the existing text of the Charter.</p>
<p>We keenly look forward to your participation in the consultation meeting on Tuesday.</p>
<p>The CIS office address is Number 194, 2nd 'C' Cross, Domlur, 2nd Stage, Bangalore 560071 (opposite Domlur Club and near the TERI building).</p>
<p>Please share this invitation with all relevant individuals, organisations, and networks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/openness/international-open-data-charter-consultation-bengaluru-28072015'>https://cis-india.org/openness/international-open-data-charter-consultation-bengaluru-28072015</a>
</p>
No publishersumandroOpen DataInternational Open Data CharterOpenness2015-08-21T05:45:53ZEventInternational Open Data Charter, Consultation Meeting, Delhi, July 09, 5:30 pm
https://cis-india.org/openness/international-open-data-charter-consultation-delhi-09072015
<b></b>
<p> </p>
<p>This is to invite you to a consultation meeting on the first public draft of the International Open Data Charter, at the CIS office in Delhi, on Thursday, July 09, 2015, at 5:30 pm.</p>
<p>The Charter is being developed by the Open Data Working Group of the Open Government Partnership in consultation with a number of international organisations. Meant for approval and implementation by national governments, the Charter has five key principles:</p>
<ul>
<li>Open by Default;</li>
<li>Quality and Quantity;</li>
<li>Useable by All;</li>
<li>Engagement and Empowerment of Citizens; and</li>
<li>Collaboration for Development and Innovation.</li></ul>
<p>The first public draft of the International Open Data Charter was published in end of May 2015 at the International Open Data Conference in
Ottawa, and can be accessed here: <a href="http://opendatacharter.net/charter/" target="_blank">http://opendatacharter.net/charter/</a>.</p>
<p>Organisations and individuals are invited to submit comments directly on the Charter page, before July 31.</p>
<p>CIS, acting as a general steward of the Charter and a consultation lead, is organising this meeting to discuss the context, the drafting process, and the objectives of this document, and to encourage the participants to comment on the existing text of the Charter.</p>
<p>We keenly look forward to your participation in the consultation meeting on Thursday.</p>
<p>The CIS office address is G 15, Top floor, behind Hauz Khas G Block Market, Hauz Khas, New Delhi 110016.</p>
<p>If you are coming down Aurobindo Marg from AIIMS and towards IIT, then take the left turn into Chaudhary Dalip Singh Marg and come towards the Hauz Khas Police Station, stop when you see a Southy outlet on your right, and enter through the gate on your left (opposite Southy). The CIS office is on the top floor of the first house on your left. <a href="https://goo.gl/maps/kcJoq" target="_blank">Location on Google Map</a>.</p>
<p>Please share this invitation with all relevant individuals, organisations, and networks.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/openness/international-open-data-charter-consultation-delhi-09072015'>https://cis-india.org/openness/international-open-data-charter-consultation-delhi-09072015</a>
</p>
No publishersumandroOpen DataOpen Government DataInternational Open Data CharterOpenness2015-07-07T12:12:50ZEventUpload More Kannada Articles on Wikipedia
https://cis-india.org/openness/news/indian-express-july-5-2015-upload-more-kannada-articles-on-wikipedia
<b>Uploading information in Wikipedia helps to develop language, said Indian Languages Programme Manager U B Pavanaja here on Saturday. The article was published in Indian Express (Mangaluru edition) on July 5, 2015.</b>
<table class="grid listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/UploadKannada.png" alt="Upload Kannada" class="image-inline" title="Upload Kannada" /></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Above: A scanned version of the article that appeared in Indian Express on July 5, 2015.</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/openness/news/indian-express-july-5-2015-upload-more-kannada-articles-on-wikipedia'>https://cis-india.org/openness/news/indian-express-july-5-2015-upload-more-kannada-articles-on-wikipedia</a>
</p>
No publisherpavanajaOpennessKannada WikipediaAccess to Knowledge2015-09-13T06:09:34ZNews ItemKannada Wikipedia Workshop in Mangaluru (Coverage in Udayavani)
https://cis-india.org/openness/news/kannada-wikipedia-workshop-july-4-2015-coverage-in-udayavani
<b>As part of its ongoing partnership with St Aloysius College Mangaluru, CIS-A2K co-organized a workshop with the Kannada wikipedia community on Kannada Wikipedia. Udayavani covered this in their edition on July 5.</b>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/UdayavaniMangaluruJuly052015.png" alt="Udayavani" class="image-inline" title="Udayavani" /></th>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/openness/news/kannada-wikipedia-workshop-july-4-2015-coverage-in-udayavani'>https://cis-india.org/openness/news/kannada-wikipedia-workshop-july-4-2015-coverage-in-udayavani</a>
</p>
No publisherpavanajaOpennessKannada WikipediaAccess to Knowledge2015-09-13T06:17:49ZNews ItemNot many contributors for Kannada-centric Wiki page
https://cis-india.org/openness/news/the-times-of-india-july-5-2015-not-many-contributors-for-kannada-centric-wiki-page
<b>Wikipedia, which has over 60,000 contributing editors in India, has only 33 Kannadigas contributing to the Kannada section, said Pavanaja U B, programme manager, The Centre for Internet and Society, Bengaluru.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The article was published in the <a class="external-link" href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mangaluru/Not-many-contributors-for-Kannada-centric-Wiki-page/articleshow/47945412.cms">Times of India (Mangaluru edition)</a> on July 5, 2015.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; "><span id="advenueINTEXT" style="float:left; ">At the inaugural of the two-day workshop on 'Kannada Wikipedia' organized for students by the department of Kannada at St Aloysius College on Saturday, he said, "Wikipedia, which has over three crore articles, has 18 lakh editors spread across the world. While there are 33 editors for Kannada, only eight are involved actively," he said, adding that Wikipedia at present has about 20,500 articles in Kannada. <br /><br /> On the objectives of the workshop, Pavanaja said, "We have plans to train 25 Kannada students from St Aloysius College in uploading and updating Kannada articles in Wikipedia. Those 25 students will train 500 more Kannada students in the college and thereby increase the number of articles uploaded to Kannada Wikipedia. It will be a part of their academic assignment." <br /><br /> Pavanaja told students to cross-check each article before uploading to Wikipedia. "Students should adopt a research methodology to prepare articles for Wikipedia. One must study the subject in detail and then upload it to Wikipedia. It does not require scholarly knowledge," he added. <br /><br /> Wikipedia, which is a collaborative encyclopedia, has 23 Indian languages including Kannada and Tulu, he said. "Though Tulu articles were being published from 2007, there were only 135 articles uploaded to Wikipedia. Later, after 2013, many volunteered to upload articles and at present there are more than 800 articles in it. We have plans to increase the number of Tulu articles," he added. <br /><br /> "It is very easy for one to become a Wikipedia editor. Those who want to become the Kannada Wikipedia editor may create a login after opening kn.wikipedia.org and go through the tutorial files. Writing suitable articles for Wikipedia will neither fetch you money, nor name in it. It is selfless social service and necessary for the protection of language," Pavanaja said.</span></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/openness/news/the-times-of-india-july-5-2015-not-many-contributors-for-kannada-centric-wiki-page'>https://cis-india.org/openness/news/the-times-of-india-july-5-2015-not-many-contributors-for-kannada-centric-wiki-page</a>
</p>
No publisherpavanajaOpennessKannada WikipediaAccess to Knowledge2015-09-13T05:42:46ZNews ItemOdia Wikipedia meets Google Developer Group
https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/odia-wikipedia-meets-google-developer-group
<b>This is a guest post by Wikimedian Sailesh Patnaik who has been a ardent contributor in Odia-language Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects and has led outreach and partnership building initiatives to grow the Wikimedia projects in Odia and other Indian languages. In this post Sailesh shares his personal experience from his interaction at the Google Extended I/O organised by Google Developer Group in Bhubaneswar, Odisha. All the views are author’s personal views.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">On this June 14 Google Developer Group Bhubaneswar organised an extended I/O at Bhubaneswar. To my surprise I found that there were more than 60 participants attending the conference. Basanta Kumar Maharana. TELL WHO HE IS, was the speaker in the event. Basanta shared his memories from Google I/O 2015, San Francisco and demonstrated about the new launch and updates of Google. It was quite interesting for me to learn about various Google apps (?) kike Google cardboard, Android M, etc.</p>
<p>In an informal interaction with the host Sanjib Parida, he proposed me to speak about Odia Wikipedia there who came to know about the project while attending <a href="http://or.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:ORWP13">Odia Wikipedia's 13th anniversary</a>.</p>
<p>I started my talk by asking four questions to the audience:</p>
<ol>
<li>How many of the audience know about Wikipedia? (Everyone raised hands.)</li>
<li>Who have copied content from Wikipedia for assignments? (People giggled about it, 50-60% of the participants nodded saying yes!)</li>
<li>Who knows that anyone can “edit” Wikipedia? (the count reduced to about 10-20%)</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Who knows about Odia Wikipedia and contributes in creating and editing articles? (Only 4-5 people said yes, I found 2-3 of them being contributors to Odia Wikipedia)</li>
</ol>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">I started my talk with a brief introduction to the history of Odia Wikipedia and how it was started in 2002 as one of the first four Indic language Wikipedia projects along with Assamese, Malayalam and Punjabi.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Odia Wikipedia was in dormant for the next eight years which was intervened when Wikimedians like Subhashish Panigrahi, Ashutosh Kar, Anshuman Giri, Mrutyunjaya Kar and others started building a community to improve and increase the content of Odia Wikipedia. Now we have grown as a community consisting about 17 active editors and the project has more than 8800 articles. The monthly page view of Odia Wikipedia has grown to more than 800,000 from merely 200,000 in 2011. We have three active Odia-language Wikimedia projects; Odia Wikipedia, the largest Odia online encyclopedia, online library Odia Wikisource, and multilingual online dictionary Odia Wiktionary. Odia Wikipedia community has not limited their work only in editing articles, rather has expanded into many other aspects of Odia computing. On the day of Odia Wikipedia’s 13th anniversary it has launched a converter that can convert many non-Unicode encodings into Unicode. We have been supported by CIS-A2K for many activities to grow our community and the Odia Wikimedia projects. Like Odia Wikipedia we have 20 more Wikipedia projects in other Indic languages and in over 288 languages globally. Hindi Wikipedia among all the Indic Wikipedia projects has the highest number of articles whereas Malayalam Wikipedia has the highest number of quality articles.</p>
<table class="plain">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/copy_of_OdiaW1.png" alt="Odia Wiki1" class="image-inline" title="Odia Wiki1" /></th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>Pictured above: Participants at the conference organized by the Google Developer Group at Bhubaneswar</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Some of the state governments have been quite open and positive in bringing Wikipedia into academics. The Government of Kerala has introduced Wikipedia contribution in its curriculum for BA and MA students and The Government of Tamilnadu has introduced Tamil Wikipedia to participants at the International Tamil Conference which helped the Tamil Wikimedia community in expanding the community. Awareness and community building are two major challenges for us at this moment. I invited the participants there to take part in the Wikimedia movement.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">I touched upon the Odia input for the audience. While it was quite difficult a few years back for Odia input it is no longer a challenge. With the help of the Android app “Indic Keyboard” we can also edit Odia Wikipedia from mobile phones. I myself have used it for editing Wikipedia, for tweeting and posting Facebook status in Odia. After the talk I was asked a few questions. There are two important ones I would like to share here. To the question “how can I contribute in Odia Wikipedia? Do I have to install any keyboard for it?” I elaborated how anyone can edit and expand articles or create new Wikipedia articles in Odia just by creating a new account and logging in to https://or.wikipedia.org, and how the Wikimedia projects like Wikipedia have an input tool called Universal Language Selector (ULS) enabled in them and one does not need to install any additional input method. I was asked by one from the here is no support from the government at this moment but we are constant effort to collaborate audience about the Government of Odisha helping to grow Odia Wikipedia.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Many participants came and personally greeted me after the event was over. I was really excited to share the news about our (Odia Wikimedia community's plans for creating Bhubaneswar Wiki Group/WikiTungi with two active communities in engineering colleges like CET and KIIT. It was a wonderful experience at Google I/O and I hope to grow our Wikimedia community by collaborating with more like minded communities.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/odia-wikipedia-meets-google-developer-group'>https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/odia-wikipedia-meets-google-developer-group</a>
</p>
No publisherSailesh PatnaikOpennessOdia WikipediaAccess to Knowledge2015-07-16T13:17:07ZBlog EntryMagic words in Wikipedia
https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/magic-words
<b>The struggle of finding solutions for replacing and retrieving content /words/facts and figures, in this day and age of machines that seem to know everything should ideally be a non-issue. Yet, for many of us who write reports based on the data available at that moment, it is nothing less than a nightmare to come to know that there has been a significant change in the data with which our reports have been written.
</b>
<p style="text-align: justify;">How does one mediate between the ever changing nature of data in general and more specifically understand the way a publicly curated knowledge ecology operates (Wikipedia can be taken as an example). It is made clear to us by the various earlier reports<sup>1</sup> that the amount of data exchange and content generation can be astonishingly high when one takes into acount Open Knowledge repositiries such as Wikipedia in the major languages of the world, commons.wikimedia project and other Wikimedia projects.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Our understanding of the available data can often lead us to erroneous conclusions, if one does not account for the constant updating nature of such data. The bigger risk is for a reader/researcher/user to assume that the data quoted in news reports/research or reports as static data (as against the dynamic data discussed here) and form conclusions based on the same. Another catastrophic possibility is to use the data procured in such fashion for planning and evaluation purposes. If one does not acknowledge the possibilty of change of data and plans only with the available data and does not account for the changes under contingency measures the entire planning might be off the mark and might not be successful when executed. Even for the purpose of evaluation, the constant change in data has to be tracked and monitored to appreciate the work/critical evaluation of the nature of the work.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">How do we bell the Cat (read as the changing data) if not on the traditional print and digital platforms atleast in the Wikimedia universe? To do this manually is a task that is supremely tasking and prone to high error possibilities. If there is one thing researchers accross subject domains agree it is that no data is always better than wrong data. One must also think of the precious resources that would be spent on this data mining activity, the human hours, the time resources, the physical and infrastructural resources that are consumed in this process of keeping the data feed accurate and updated. I do notdeny the efficacy of systems where data mining is done manually. It is the digital researcher in me who would like to introduce to the readers a tool called 'Magic Words' <a href="https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Magic_words">https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Help:Magic_words</a> used in the Wikimedia universe to plug this problem and offer researchers fewer nightmares regarding the validity of the data.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Magic words offer a one stop solution towards resolving the issues of sourcing, securing and updating our data fields. With this one can be sure that the data fields do not become obsolete and might yield to erronoeus and in worse case contradictory interpretations. If there is a research report which seeks to compare page numbers of Kannada Wikipedia with another Wikimedia project. The traditional way to do this would be to aggregate the number of articles/redirects and publish the same. The reader ends up with a number that is static in nature. Does this mean that this number is permanent, the answer is an easy no because Kannada Wikipedia is by nature and definition a live project that will be changed and added to constantly.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">An ordinary reader who does not have the bandwidth to follow the researcher's footsteps in finding out the total number of articles on Kannada Wikipedia will have to be content with the same static number provided even when he knows that the number is no longer accurate. By using the magic word {{NUMBEROFARTICLES}} in a report that is written on Meta, the researcher allows the data to update automatically and changes the nature of data from static to dynamic. A classic example for the static data and the dynamic nature of the data using Magic words can be seen at <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wikipedias">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wikipedias</a> (dynamic data represented) <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wikipedias">https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/List_of_Wikipedias</a> (static data that needs to be updated manually). The change in the nature of presentation of data also implies that the facts and figures available are not just numbers but indicate factors that have driven the nature of data and influenced the formation of number of pages. Dynamic data allows us to ask interesting questions such as 'what factors contributed to the spike/decline in the number of articles' and learn from these numbers.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">It becomes an essential responsibility for the researchers working with digital resources and in digital domains to broaden the scope of their research and also extend its validity to a longer course that would be difficult for quantitative research done with traditional resources and hosted on traditional platforms. Given below is a table of key magic words and its function.</p>
<table style="text-align: justify;" class="grid listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<td>
<p>Si. No</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>Magic Word</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>Used for</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>Used in Wikimedia Projects and Local Wiki Projects</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p>1</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>{{NUMBEROFFILES}}</p>
</td>
<td>
<p><a name="NUMBEROFFILES"></a>Number of uploaded files.</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>Metrics and Government Databases</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p>2</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>{{NUMBEROFEDITS}}</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>Number of wiki edits.</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>Metrics and Student Evaluation</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p>3</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>{{REVISIONDAY}}</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>Day edit was made</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>Metrics and Student Evaluation</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p>4</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>{{REVISIONSIZE}}</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>The size (bytes of wikitext) of the current revision of this page</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>Metrics and Data inflow</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p>5</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>{{NUMBEROFVIEWS}}</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>Number of page views.</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>Metrics and Website Traffic</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p>6</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>{{REVISIONUSER}}</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>The username of the user who made the most recent edit to the page, or the current user when previewing an edit.</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>Metrics and Collaboratively written documents</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p>7</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>{{NUMBEROFADMINS}}</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>Number of users in the <em>sysop</em> <a href="https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Manual:User_rights">group</a>.</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>Metrics and Focus group</p>
</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>
<p>8</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>{{PAGENAME}}</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>Full page title (including all subpage levels) without the namespace.</p>
</td>
<td>
<p>Metrics and Info websites</p>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Magic words facility can be employed in many and diverse ways (as of now these are fully operational in the Wikimedia universe) if the Mediawiki software is used to build applications. For eg: Websites, evaluation programmes, databases and other applications.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Reference:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">1. https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CIS-A2K/Indic_Languages#State_of_Indic_Language_Projects<br />2. <a href="https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Magic_words">https://www.mediawiki.org/wiki/Manual:Magic_words</a></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/magic-words'>https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/magic-words</a>
</p>
No publishertanvirOpennessWikipediaWikimedia2015-09-14T08:37:56ZBlog EntryTrain the Trainer: Running effective outreach activities in India
https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/train-the-trainer-running-effective-outreach-activities-in-india
<b>It is heartening to report that many Wikimedia projects in Indian languages have sustained, and even experienced an upward trend in, editor engagement. However, in terms of content creation, the majority of these projects are still facing grave challenges that put their very existence at risk.</b>
<table class="invisible">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th>
<p style="text-align: center; "><img src="https://cis-india.org/home-images/Wiki.png" alt="Wiki" class="image-inline" title="Wiki" /></p>
</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><i><small>February’s Train the Trainer program—which aims to increase the number of new editors and ‘ambassadors’ for the movement at large—proved a rewarding experience for attendees. <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CIS-A2K_TTT_2015_167.jpg" title="commons:File:CIS-A2K TTT 2015 167.jpg">Photo</a> by <a href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/User:Pavanaja" title="commons:User:Pavanaja">U.B. Pavanaja</a>, freely licensed under <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en">CC-BY-SA 4.0</a>.</small></i></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Pageview statistics for Indian-language Wikipedias are pleasantly surprising. Almost all exceed one million unique views every month—but despite these positive readership figures, very few of these readers become actively involved in the project’s communities. There is almost no increase in the number of active and very active editors on a month-to-month basis.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">These statistics are alarming. They suggest a very real possibility of volunteer burnout, a dearth of second-generation editors who might continue established work, and, perhaps most importantly, the projects losing their reputation as frequently-updated and reliable encyclopedias.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The most realistic way of dealing with this problem is to bring in new volunteers who will be guided by more experienced users. They would, eventually, fill the shoes of senior Wikimedians and continue to fight for free and open knowledge.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge" title="India Access To Knowledge">The Centre for Internet and Society – Access to Knowledge</a> (CIS-A2K)—a campaign to promote the fundamental principles of justice, freedom, and economic development—realised as part of its needs-assessment program that although outreach activities are being conducted to attract more volunteers to Wikipedia, they had not been as successful as expected.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">To address this problem, CIS-A2K came up with the ‘<a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CIS-A2K/Events/Train_the_Trainer_Program" title="CIS-A2K/Events/Train the Trainer Program">Train the Trainer’ program</a> (TTT). The program is designed to teach volunteers essential skills and abilities to, in turn, train the general public on all things Wikipedia.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">These volunteers, or “trainers,” develop key competencies that will allow them to conduct a successful outreach workshop, such as public speaking, presentation skills, peer-to-peer learning, effective communication, reporting, and followup strategies.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">To take part in the TTT program, it is imperative that participants be active Wikipedians. CIS-A2K is angling TTT as both a skill-building initiative amongst Indian-language Wikimedians, as well as a platform where Indian-language Wikipedians can meet and greet each other in-person. This allows participants to interact with Wikimedians from many different communities, to understand their nature of engagement, and share the challenges they have faced and overcome.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The contextual learning and exchange of ideas at these events, similar to <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Edit-a-thon" title="en:Wikipedia:Edit-a-thon">editathons</a>, are very special. They help participants feel like they are a part of both their linguistic community and a greater Indian-language community, opening up new opportunities of collaboration, project development, and friendship.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">TTT intends to train Indian-language Wikimedians into effective ambassadors of the movement—keen and able to spread the goals and mission of the open knowledge movement. The program also strives to combine best practices from all over the world, taking cues from various chapters, user groups, and thematic organisations. It builds bridges between communities in terms of communication, encouraging partnerships and collaborations that can result in long term rewards.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Link to the original entry on <a class="external-link" href="https://blog.wikimedia.org/2015/06/24/outreach-activities-in-india/"><b>Wikimedia Blog</b></a></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/train-the-trainer-running-effective-outreach-activities-in-india'>https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/train-the-trainer-running-effective-outreach-activities-in-india</a>
</p>
No publishertanvirOpennessWikipediaAccess to Knowledge2015-07-30T15:20:46ZBlog EntryOpen Data Intermediaries in Developing Countries - A Synthesis Report
https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/open-data-intermediaries-in-developing-countries
<b>The roles of intermediaries in open data is insufficiently explored; open data intermediaries are often presented as
single and simple linkages between open data supply and use. This synthesis research paper offers a more
socially nuanced approach to open data intermediaries using the theoretical framework of Bourdieu’s social model, in particular, his concept of species of capital as informing social interaction... Because no single
intermediary necessarily has all the capital available to link effectively to all sources of power in a field, multiple
intermediaries with complementary configurations of capital are more likely to connect between power
nexuses. This study concludes that consideration needs to be given to the presence of multiple intermediaries in an open data ecosystem, each of whom may possess different forms of capital to enable the use and unlock the
potential impact of open data.</b>
<p> </p>
<p>This synthesis report is prepared by François van Schalkwyk, Michael Caňares, Sumandro Chattapadhyay, and Alexander Andrason, based on the analysis of a sample of cases from the <a href="http://opendataresearch.org/" target="_blank">Exploring the Emerging Impacts of Open Data in Developing Countries</a> (ODDC) research network managed by the World Wide Web Foundation and supported by the International Development Research Centre, Canada. Data on intermediaries were extracted from the ODDC reports according to a working definition of an open data intermediary presented in this paper, and with a focus on how intermediaries link actors in an open data supply chain.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Below is an excerpt from the report. The full report can be accessed from <a href="http://figshare.com/articles/Open_Data_Intermediaries_in_Developing_Countries/1449222" target="_blank">Figshare</a> or from <a href="https://github.com/ajantriks/docs/raw/master/ODDC_2_Open_Data_Intermediaries_15_June_2015_FINAL.pdf" target="_blank">Github</a>.</p>
<p> </p>
<h2>Implications for Policy</h2>
<p> </p>
<p>The practical implications of the findings presented here are not insignificant. Given that most of the open data intermediaries in this study were found to rely on donor in order to execute their open data-related social benefit activities, it is perhaps funders who should take heed of the findings presented here when making grants. For example, where a single agency is awarded a funding grant to improve the lives of citizens using open data, questions need to be asked whether the grantee possesses all the types of capital required not only to re-use open data but to connect open data to specific user groups in order to
ensure the use and impact of open data. Questions to be asked of grantees could include: “Who are the specific user groups or communities that you expect to use the data, information or product you are making available?”; “Does your organisation have existing links to these user groups or communities?”; and “What types of channels are in place for you to communicate with these user groups or communities?”. Alternatively donor funders may rethink awarding funding to single agencies in favour of funding partnerships or collaborations in which there is a greater spread of types of capital across multiple actors thereby
increasing the likelihood of effectively linking the supply and use of open data. Such an approach would be more in line with an ecosystems approach to multiple actors being participants in the data supply and (re)use of open data, and the importance of keystone species and positive feedback loops to ensure a healthy system.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>In addition to highlighting the importance of social capital in developing-country innovations systems, Intarakummerd and Chaoroenporn (2013) point to the importance of government initiating and coordinating the activities of both public and private intermediaries. Our findings indicate that should governments adopt such a co-ordinating role in the case of open data intermediaries, they would do well to engage with a broad spectrum of intermediaries, and not simply focus on intermediaries who possess only the technical capital required to interpret and repackage open government data. To be sure, this will be a challenging role for government to assume as conflicting vested interests are likely to surface. Although speculative, it is possible that such a coordinating role is likely to work best when there is a strong pact between all actors involved. And this, in turn, will require a common vision of the value and benefits of open data – something that cannot be taken for granted.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Should there be agreement on the value and benefits of open data, our findings show that most of the
intermediaries in our study are NGOs that rely on donor funding. This should raise serious questions about the sustainability of open data initiatives that are civic-minded in conjunction with questions about what incentives other than that of donor funding could ensure the supply and use of open data beyond project funding. Funders and supporters of open data initiatives may have to think not only about the value and benefits or funding projects, but of the sustainability and the impacts of the products produced by the projects they fund.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/open-data-intermediaries-in-developing-countries'>https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/open-data-intermediaries-in-developing-countries</a>
</p>
No publishersumandroData SystemsOpen DataFeaturedOpen Data CommunityOpenness2015-06-16T09:40:58ZBlog EntryIndian government includes open source in RFPs
https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/open-source-subhashish-panigrahi-june-8-2015-indian-govt-includes-open-source-in-rfps
<b>The Government of India has implemented a remarkable new policy-level change for open source software (OSS) deployment.</b>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The Ministry of Communication and Information Technology has asked that open source software-based applications be included in Requests for Proposals (RFPs) for all new procurements. Note there is not a plan at this time to replace existing proprietary systems with open source software.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">As <a href="http://deity.gov.in/sites/upload_files/dit/files/policy_on_adoption_of_oss.pdf" target="_blank">stated</a>, the policy will "adopt open standards and promote open source and open technologies" in order "to prepare India for a knowledge based transformation into a digitally empowered society and a knowledge economy."</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Three major objectives of the new policy for OSS:</p>
<ul style="text-align: justify;">
<li>To provide a policy framework for rapid and effective adoption of OSS</li>
<li>To ensure strategic control in e-Governance applications and systems from a long-term perspective</li>
<li>To reduce the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) of projects</li></ul>
<p style="text-align: justify;">In addition to adopting open source and open standards, the Indian Government is also emphasizing on opening up the source code without any royalty for the community to use, modify and redistribute the original/modified software. This is compliant with the Creative Commons (CC) licenses.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Proprietary software (labeled as "closed source software" and "CSS" in the policy document) would only be permitted for demonstrated urgent/strategic need or lack of expertise or non-availability of open source software. The suppliers then are not bound to use open source software, though it is preferred over proprietary per this policy change. The policy document also mentions government collaborating with local and international open source communities for software development</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/open-source-subhashish-panigrahi-june-8-2015-indian-govt-includes-open-source-in-rfps'>https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/open-source-subhashish-panigrahi-june-8-2015-indian-govt-includes-open-source-in-rfps</a>
</p>
No publishersubhaOpennessOpen Source2016-06-18T18:18:54ZBlog EntryFOSS for Public Use: Free and Open Source Software for Digital India
https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/foss-for-public-use-free-and-open-source-software-for-digital-india
<b>I attended a round-table meeting on May 29, 2015 at the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. The meeting was organized by SFLC in collaboration with the International Centre for Free and Open Source Software, and the Centre for Internet & Society.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The meeting commenced with welcome address by Ms.Mishi Choudhary, Executive Director, SFLC.in. She elaborated on the idea of the round table conference and explained how sharing of knowledge and experience of the stakeholders will help and assist the people responsible for framing this policy. She then introduced the various dignitaries who participated in this endeavour.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The first session was on the topic, The Open Source Policy - Enabling Digital India, with Mishi Chaoudhary being the moderator. She explained about the “Policy on Adoption of Open Source Software for Government of India” that was launched in March 2015 by the Government of India.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The second session was opened by Satish Babu, who emphasized on the Policy’s stand that the ecosystem is more important than the code and stated that this ecosystem comprises of several stakeholders.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">Delegates who spoke at the event included Dr. Nagarjuna G, Cmdr. L. R. Prakash, Dr. Andrew M Lynn, Prof. Arun Mehta, Vikram Vincent, Venkatesh Hariharan,Kishore Bhargava, Prabir Purkayastha, Ashok T. Ukrani, Ganapathy Narayanan, Anivar Aravind, Satish Babu, Srinivasan Ramakrishnan, Rahul De, Mishi Choudhary, and Anubha Sinha.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;">The meeting of the minutes can be <a href="https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/meeting-notes-on-foss-roundtable.pdf" class="external-link">downloaded here</a>.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/foss-for-public-use-free-and-open-source-software-for-digital-india'>https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/foss-for-public-use-free-and-open-source-software-for-digital-india</a>
</p>
No publishersinhaOpennessFOSS2016-06-18T18:20:35ZBlog Entry International Open Data Charter: First Public Draft
https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/international-open-data-charter-first-public-draft
<b>The first public draft of the International Open Data Charter was released at the International Open Data Conference in Ottawa, Canada, May 28-29, 2015. It is being developed by a range of organisations led by the Open Government Partnership (OGP) Open Data Working Group (co-chaired by Government of Canada and the Web Foundation), the Government of Mexico, the Open Data for Development (OD4D) Network, and Omidyar Network. CIS has contributed comments to a previous version of the draft, and also took part in the pre-release meeting of potential stewards of the Charter on May 26 in Ottawa. Here is the text of the draft Charter. Please visit opendatacharter.net/charter/ to submit your comments.</b>
<p> </p>
<h2>Consultation Draft, May 2015</h2>
<p> </p>
<h3>Preamble</h3>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>1)</strong> The world is witnessing the growth of a global movement facilitated by technology and digital media and fuelled by information – one that contains enormous potential to create more accountable, efficient, responsive, and effective governments and businesses, and to spur economic growth.</p>
<p>Open data sit at the heart of this global movement.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>2)</strong> Building a more democratic, just, and prosperous society requires transparent, accountable governments that engage regularly and meaningfully with citizens. Accordingly, there is an ongoing effort to enable collaboration around key social challenges, to provide effective oversight of government activities, to support economic development through innovation, and to develop effective, efficient public policies and programmes.</p>
<p>Open data is essential to meeting these challenges.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>3)</strong> Effective access to data allows individuals and organisations to develop new insights and innovations that can generate social and economic benefits to improve the lives of people around the world, and help to improve the flow of information within and between countries. While governments collect a wide range of data, they do not always share these data in ways that are easily discoverable, useable, or understandable by the public.</p>
<p>This is a missed opportunity.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>4)</strong> Today, many people expect to be able to access high quality information and services, including government data, when and how they want. Others see the opportunity presented by government data as one which can provide innovative policy solutions and support economic and social benefits for all members of society. We have arrived at a point at which people can use open data to generate value, insights, ideas, and services to create a better world for all.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>5)</strong> Open data can increase transparency around what government is doing. Open data can also increase awareness about how countries’ natural resources are used, how extractives revenues are spent, and how land is transacted and managed – all of which promotes accountability and good governance, enhances public debate, and helps to combat corruption.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>6)</strong> Providing access to government data can drive sustainable and inclusive growth by empowering citizens, the media, civil society, and the private sector to identify gaps, and work toward better outcomes for public services in areas such as health, education, public safety, environmental protection, and governance. Open data can do this by:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">showing how and where public money is spent, which provides strong incentives for governments to demonstrate that they are using public money effectively;</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">supporting citizens, civil society organisations, governments and the private sector to collaborate on the design of policies and the delivery of better public services;</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">supporting assessments of the impact of public programs, which in turn allows governments, civil society organisations, and the private sector to respond more effectively to the particular needs of local communities; and</li>
<li>enabling citizens to make better informed choices about the services they receive and the service standards they should expect.</li></ul>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>7)</strong> Open government data can be used in innovative ways to create useful tools and products that help to navigate modern life more easily. Used in this way, open data are a catalyst for innovation in the private sector, supporting the creation of new markets, businesses, and jobs. These benefits can multiply as more private sector and civil society organisations adopt open data practices modelled by government and share their own data with the public.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>8)</strong> We, the adherents to the International Open Data Charter, agree that open data are an under-used resource with huge potential to encourage the building of stronger, more interconnected societies that better meet the needs of our citizens and allow innovation and prosperity to flourish.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>9)</strong> We therefore agree to follow a set of principles that will be the foundation for access to, and the release and use of, open government data. These principles are:</p>
<ul>
<li>Open Data by Default;</li>
<li>Quality and Quantity;</li>
<li>Accessible and Useable by All;</li>
<li>Engagement and Empowerment of Citizens;</li>
<li>Collaboration for Development and Innovation;</li></ul>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>10)</strong> We will develop an action plan in support of the implementation of the Charter and its Technical Annexes, and will update and renew the action plan at a minimum of every two years. We agree to commit the necessary resources to work within our political and legal frameworks to implement these principles in accordance with the technical best practices and timeframes set out in our action plan.</p>
<p> </p>
<h3>Principle 1: Open Data by Default</h3>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>11)</strong> We recognise that free access to, and the subsequent use of, government data are of significant value to society and the economy, and that government data should, therefore, be open by default.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>12)</strong> We acknowledge the need to promote the global development and adoption of tools and policies for the creation, use, and exchange of open data and information.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>13)</strong> We recognise that the term ‘government data’ is meant in the widest sense possible. This could apply to data held by national, federal, and local governments, international government bodies, and other types of institutions in the wider public sector. This could also apply to data created for governments by external organisations, and data of significant benefit to the public which is held by external organisations and related to government programmes and services (e.g. data on extractives entities, data on transportation infrastructure, etc).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>14)</strong> We recognise that there is domestic and international legislation, in particular pertaining to security, privacy, confidentiality, intellectual property, and personally-identifiable and other sensitive information, which must be observed and/or updated where necessary.</p>
<p><strong>15)</strong> We will:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">develop and adopt policies and practices to ensure that all government data is made open by default, as outlined in this Charter, while recognising that there are legitimate reasons why some data cannot be released;</li>
<li>provide clear justifications as to why certain data cannot be released;</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">establish a culture of openness, not only through legislative or policy measures, but also with the help of training and awareness programs, tools, and guidelines designed to make government, civil society, and private sector representatives aware of the benefits of open data; and</li>
<li>develop the leadership, management, oversight, and internal communication policies necessary to enable this transition to a culture of openness.</li></ul>
<p> </p>
<h3>Principle 2: Quality and Quantity</h3>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>16)</strong> We recognise that governments and other public sector organisations hold vast amounts of information that may be of interest to citizens, and that it may take time to identify data for release or publication.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>17)</strong> We also recognise the importance of consulting with citizens, other governments, non-governmental organisations, and other open data users, to identify which data to prioritise for release and/or improvement.</p>
<p><strong>18)</strong> We agree, however, that governments’ primary responsibility should be to release data in a timely manner, without undue delay.</p>
<p><strong>19)</strong> We will:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">create, maintain, and share public, comprehensive lists of data holdings to set the stage for meaningful public discussions around data prioritisation and release;</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">release high-quality open data that are timely, comprehensive, and accurate in accordance with prioritisation that is informed by public requests. To the extent possible, data will be released in their original, unmodified form and at the finest level of granularity available, and will also be linked to any visualisations or analyses created based on the data, as well as any relevant guidance or documentation;</li>
<li>ensure that accompanying documentation is written in clear, plain language, so that it can be easily understood by all;</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">make sure that data are fully described, and that data users have sufficient information to understand their source, strengths, weaknesses, and any analytical limitations;</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">ensure that open datasets include consistent core metadata, and are made available in human- and machine-readable formats under an open and unrestrictive licence;</li>
<li>allow users to provide feedback, and continue to make revisions to ensure the quality of the data is improved as needed; and</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">apply consistent information lifecycle management practices, and ensure historical copies of datasets are preserved, archived, and kept accessible as long as they retain value.</li></ul>
<p> </p>
<h3>Principle 3: Accessible and Usable by All</h3>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>20)</strong> We recognise that opening up data enables citizens, governments, civil society organisations, and the private sector to make better informed decisions.</p>
<p><strong>21)</strong> We recognise that open data should be made available free of charge in order to encourage their widest possible use.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>22)</strong> We recognise that when open data are released, they should be made available without bureaucratic or administrative barriers, such as mandatory user registration, which can deter people from accessing the data.</p>
<p><strong>23)</strong> We will:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">release data in open formats and free of charge to ensure that the data are available to the widest range of users to find, access, and use them. In many cases, this will include providing data in multiple formats, so that they can be processed by computers and used by people; and</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">ensure data can be accessed and used effectively by the widest range of users. This may require the creation of initiatives to raise awareness of open data, promote data literacy, and build capacity for effective use of open data.</li></ul>
<p> </p>
<h3>Principle 4: Engagement and Empowerment of Citizens</h3>
<p> </p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>24)</strong> We recognise that the release of open data strengthens our public and democratic institutions, encourages better development, implementation, and assessment of policies to meet the needs of our citizens, and enables more meaningful, better informed engagement between governments and citizens.</p>
<p><strong>25)</strong> We will:</p>
<ul>
<li>implement oversight and review processes to report regularly on the progress and impact of our open data initiatives;</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">engage with community and civil society representatives working in the domain of transparency and accountability to determine what data they need to effectively hold governments to account;encourage the use of open data to develop innovative, evidence-based policy solutions that benefit all members of society, as well as empower marginalised groups; and</li>
<li>be transparent about our own data collection, standards, and publishing processes, by documenting all of these related processes online.</li></ul>
<p> </p>
<h3>Principle 5: Collaboration for Development and Innovation</h3>
<p> </p>
<p><strong>26)</strong> We recognise the importance of diversity in stimulating creativity and innovation. The more citizens, governments, civil society, and the private sector use open data, the greater the social and economic benefits that will be generated. This is true for government, commercial, and non-commercial uses.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><strong>27)</strong> We recognise that the potential value of our open data is greatly increased when it can be used in combination with open data from other governments, the private sector, academic, media, civil society, and other non-governmental organisations.</p>
<p><strong>28)</strong> We will:</p>
<ul>
<li style="text-align: justify;">create or explore potential partnerships to support the release of open data and maximise their impact through effective use. This may include local, regional, and global partnerships between governments, civil society, and the private sector;</li>
<li>engage with civil society, the private sector, and academic representatives to determine what data they need to generate social and economic value;</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">provide training programs, tools, and guidelines designed to ensure government employees are capable of using open data effectively in policy development processes;</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">encourage non-governmental organisations to open up data created and collected by them in order to move toward a richer open data ecosystem with multiple sources of open data;</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">share technical expertise and experience with other governments and international organisations around the world, so that everyone can reap the benefits of open data; and</li>
<li style="text-align: justify;">empower a future generation of data innovators inside and outside of government by supporting an environment optimised for increasing open data literacy and encouraging developers, civil society organisations, academics, media representatives, government employees, and other open data users, to unlock the value of open data.</li></ul>
<p style="text-align: justify;"><em>Crossposted from <a href="http://opendatacharter.net/charter/" target="_blank">http://opendatacharter.net/charter/</a>.</em></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/international-open-data-charter-first-public-draft'>https://cis-india.org/openness/blog-old/international-open-data-charter-first-public-draft</a>
</p>
No publishersumandroOpen DataHomepageOpenness2015-06-02T15:51:12ZBlog Entry