Dear all,
Here is the A2K newsletter for the month of May, 2013. Apologies for the delay.
Wikimedia Foundation, beginning from September 1, 2012, awarded the Centre for
Internet & Society (CIS) a two-year grant of INR 26,000,000 to support and
develop free knowledge in India. Consequently, Wikimedia Foundation’s India
Program became the Access to Knowledge (A2K) program of CIS. In this
newsletter, we are pleased to bring you updates about the recently concluded
exhibition organised in our offices in Bangalore and Delhi and share with you
the feedback to the Access to Knowledge work plan from the wikipedia community.
The A2K team consists of three members based in Bangalore: T. Vishnu Vardhan,
Dr. U.B. Pavanaja and Subhashish Panigrahi and one member Nitika Tandon in
Delhi. Noopur Raval, Programme Officer left the organisation on April 24, 2013.
Archives of our newsletters arehere.
Wikipedians from various communities can request for outreach programs,
technical bugs, logistics-merchandize and media, public relations and
communications at http://bit.ly/TOcXId.
Celebrating 5 Years of CIS
CIS is now 5 years old and we recently celebrated this by holding an open
exhibition in our offices in Bangalore and Delhi from May 20 to 23, showcasing
our work and accomplishments over the five year period. We had about 170
visitors coming in to our office. Renowned artists like Tara Kelton, Kiran
Subbaiah, Navin Thomas, Abhishek Hazra and Sharath Chandra Ram exhibited their
work. The four-day event attracted press coverage: Bangalore Mirror (May 18,
2013), DNA (May 19, 2013), Hindu (May 22, 2013), Prajavani (May 23, 2013),
Udayavani (May 25, 2013) and Bangalore Mirror (May 31, 2013). Download all the
posters that were part of the exhibition here.
# Announcements
Access to Knowledge Work Plan (April 2013 - June 2014): CIS has announced its
detailed plan with projection of outcomes and expected impact of the A2K
programme activities. The document has been made in consultation with various
stakeholders and keeping in mind the objectives, opportunities and challenges
faced by each of the Indian language Wikimedia projects. Feel free to share any
feedback.
WMF-A2K Revised Budget (draft) and Utilization (September 2012 - February
2013): In our effort to increase transparency with the working of CIS-A2K
programme, we aresharing with you the A2K Programme Budget along with the
utilization for the above period. The proposed revisions to the budget along
with some notes are here.
CIS Signs MOU with TISS, Mumbai: has signed a MoU with TISS as part of which we
will collaboratively work towards building Digital Knowledge Partnerships with
select higher education institutions.
India Access to Knowledge IRC can be accessed here: May 13, 2013 (All Language
Discussion) and May 26, 2013 (Odia Language Discussion).
# Blog Entries
Odia Wikipedia: Needs Assessment (by Subhashish Panigrahi, May 11, 2013).
Access to Knowledge Work Plan: Synopsis of Feedback by Wikipedians (by Nitika
Tandon, May 20, 2013).
Wikipedia Introductory Session organized for Data and India portal consultants
(by Subhashish Panigrahi, May 30, 2013).
My First Wikipedia Training Workshop – Theatre Outreach Unit, University of
Hyderabad (by T. Vishnu Vardhan, June 19, 2013).
# Event Organised
Kannada Wikipedia Workshop (April 29, 2013, Govinda Pai Research Centre, MGM
College Udupi). Dr. U.B. Pavanaja led the workshop and gave a talk on Kannada
Wikipedia
# Event Participated
Kannada IRC Meet (organised by the Wikipedia Community, May 7, 2013). Dr.
U.B.Pavanaja participated in this.
# Upcoming Event
Digital Humanities for Indian Higher Education (co-organised in collaboration
with HEIRA-CSCS, Tumkur University, CILHE-TISS and CCS (IISc), Indian Institute
of Science, Bangalore, July 13, 2013).
# Press Coverage
Report on CIS 5 Years Celebration (Prajavani, May 23, 2013). Prajavani
published a report of Dr. U.B. Pavanja’s talk “From Palm Leaf to Tablet –
Journey of Kannada”.
Report on CIS 5 Years Celebration (Udayavani, May 25, 2013). Udayavani
published a report of the evening programme hosted as part of the Centre for
Internet and Society's 5 year celebrations in its Bangalore edition.
A Feature on Wikipedia and Telegu Wikipedians (HMTV, May 30 – 31, 2013). T.
Vishnu Vardhan is quoted in this half an hour feature on Wikipedia and Telugu
Wikipedians.
Wikipedia Live Phone-in Programme (HMTV, June 1, 2013). T. Vishnu Vardhan
speaks about Telegu Wikipedia in the discussion that was telecasted live.
*About CIS*
CIS was registered as a society in Bangalore in 2008. As an independent,
non-profit research organisation, it runs different policy research programmes
such as Accessibility, Access to Knowledge, Openness, Internet Governance, and
Telecom. The policy research programmes have resulted in outputs such as the
e-Accessibility Policy Handbook for Persons with Disabilities with ITU and
G3ict, and Digital Alternatives with a Cause?, Thinkathon Position Papers and
the Digital Natives with a Cause? Report with Hivos, etc. We have conducted
policy research for the Ministry of Communications & Information Technology,
Ministry of Human Resource Development, Ministry of Personnel, Public
Grievances and Pensions, Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment, etc., on
WIPO Treaties, Copyright Bill, NIA Bill, etc.
CIS is accredited as an observer at WIPO. CIS staff participates in the
Standing Committee for Copyright and Related Rights (SCCR) meetings regularly
held in Geneva, and participate in the discussions and comments on them from a
public interest perspective. Our Policy Director, Nirmita Narasimhan won the
National Award for Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities from the Government
of India and also received the NIVH Excellence Award.
*Follow us elsewhere*
Get short, timely messages from us on Twitter
Join the CIS group on Facebook
Visit us at http://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
[email protected] or Nishant Shah, Director – Research, at
[email protected]
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.
Thanks
Nitika Tandon
Program Manager
Access to Knowledge
The Centre for Internet & Society
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