Re: [Wikimedia-l] Fwd: [Wikimedia Announcements] [PRESS RELEASE] Wikimedia community in Iraq partners with Asiacell to bring Wikipedia to nearly 12 million subscribers free of mobile data charges

[James Heilman]

This is wonderful news. Expecially the fact that they can edit for free.
Congrats to all involved :-)

James

On Tue, Feb 28, 2017 at 11:28 AM, Pine W  wrote:

> Forwarding.
>
> Pine
>
>
> -- Forwarded message --
> From: Samantha Lien 
> Date: Tue, Feb 28, 2017 at 3:28 AM
> Subject: [Wikimedia Announcements] [PRESS RELEASE] Wikimedia community in
> Iraq partners with Asiacell to bring Wikipedia to nearly 12 million
> subscribers free of mobile data charges
> To: press-rele...@lists.wikimedia.org
>
>
> This press release is also available online here:
>
> https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/
> Wikimedia_community_in_Iraq_partners_with_Asiacell_to_
> bring_Wikipedia_to_nearly_12_million_subscribers_free_of_
> mobile_data_charges
>
> *Wikimedia community in Iraq partners with Asiacell to bring Wikipedia to
> nearly 12 million subscribers free of mobile data charges*
>
> *Mobile data fees waived for Asiacell customers in Iraq to access
> Wikipedia, a free collection of knowledge available in nearly 300
> languages*
>
> (Barcelona, Spain) February 28th, 2017 -- Today, Wikimedia community
> members in Iraq, the Wikimedia Foundation, and Asiacell, one of Iraq’s
> largest mobile operators, announced a new partnership to provide access to
> Wikipedia free of mobile data charges to Asiacell’s nearly 12 million
> subscribers in Iraq. The partnership was announced today at a press event
> hosted by Ooredoo during Mobile World Congress 2017.
>
> The partnership, developed in large part by Iraqi volunteer editor and
> Asiacell employee, Sarmad Saeed Yaseen, marks the first Wikipedia Zero
> program in Iraq. The program, overseen by the nonprofit Wikimedia
> Foundation, addresses one of the greatest barriers to internet access
> globally: affordability. In a recent phone survey in Iraq led by the
> Wikimedia Foundation, roughly 80% of surveyed participants reported that
> mobile data costs limited their use of the internet. About 33% of
> participants also reported rarely or never being able to find online
> content in their preferred language.
>
> Through the Wikipedia Zero
>  program, mobile data
> fees are waived for subscribers of participating mobile operators so that
> they may read and edit Wikipedia without using any of their mobile data.
>
> Sarmad, who is part of a community of local volunteer Wikipedia editors in
> Iraq, started the partnership to extend access to knowledge in his home
> country of Iraq. Together, he and his wife, Ravan Jaafar Altaie, have been
> active editors (or Wikipedians) since 2008.
>
> “I've always believed that it is better to light a candle than curse the
> darkness, so I decided to volunteer in Wikipedia to provide knowledge for
> free to my people in their own language,” said Sarmad Saeed Yaseen. “When I
> was first introduced to Wikipedia Zero, I felt right away that this could
> be the best thing ever to share free knowledge in my country and encourage
> the people of Iraq to contribute knowledge and share this with the world on
> Wikipedia.”
>
> Wikipedia is an online collection of knowledge written by volunteer editors
> from every corner of the globe. Available in nearly 300 languages,
> Wikipedia is a place to learn about virtually any topic -- from ancient
> history to science to the arts -- in your local language, for free, and
> without advertising. Wikipedia editors use reliable sources to support
> information that is included in Wikipedia articles, so readers can explore
> the sources that verify the facts. Wikipedia is completely non-profit,
> independent, and maintained by everyday people around the world.
>
> Wikipedia in Iraq is supported by a local community of volunteer editors in
> almost every major city of the country. In 2015, Sarmad and Ravan organized
> the first series of workshops in Erbil to teach Iraqi people how to edit
> Wikipedia. The workshops led to 600 new articles and more than 12,000 edits
> primarily to Arabic and Kurdish Wikipedia. In October 2015, this community
> launched the first formalized Wikimedia group from Iraq, the Iraqi
> Wikimedians user group 
> (a formalized Wikimedia affiliate group that has been recognized by the
> global Wikimedia community of editors). Today, the majority of unique
> device visits to Wikipedia in Iraq come from mobile devices.
>
> Worldwide, Wikipedia is recognized as an important learning resource, but
> it also offers a platform to share knowledge with the world. Edits from any
> country contribute to the world’s common knowledge repository, seen by
> hundreds of millions of people every month. This allows many to learn from
> what just a few people might otherwise know. As more voices contribute to
> Wikipedia, it becomes a better representation of the diverse cultures,
> history, people, viewpoints, and perspectives of our world.
>

[Wikimedia-l] Fwd: [Wikimedia Announcements] [PRESS RELEASE] Wikimedia community in Iraq partners with Asiacell to bring Wikipedia to nearly 12 million subscribers free of mobile data charges

[Pine W]

Forwarding.

Pine


-- Forwarded message --
From: Samantha Lien 
Date: Tue, Feb 28, 2017 at 3:28 AM
Subject: [Wikimedia Announcements] [PRESS RELEASE] Wikimedia community in
Iraq partners with Asiacell to bring Wikipedia to nearly 12 million
subscribers free of mobile data charges
To: press-rele...@lists.wikimedia.org


This press release is also available online here:

https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/
Wikimedia_community_in_Iraq_partners_with_Asiacell_to_
bring_Wikipedia_to_nearly_12_million_subscribers_free_of_mobile_data_charges

*Wikimedia community in Iraq partners with Asiacell to bring Wikipedia to
nearly 12 million subscribers free of mobile data charges*

*Mobile data fees waived for Asiacell customers in Iraq to access
Wikipedia, a free collection of knowledge available in nearly 300 languages*

(Barcelona, Spain) February 28th, 2017 -- Today, Wikimedia community
members in Iraq, the Wikimedia Foundation, and Asiacell, one of Iraq’s
largest mobile operators, announced a new partnership to provide access to
Wikipedia free of mobile data charges to Asiacell’s nearly 12 million
subscribers in Iraq. The partnership was announced today at a press event
hosted by Ooredoo during Mobile World Congress 2017.

The partnership, developed in large part by Iraqi volunteer editor and
Asiacell employee, Sarmad Saeed Yaseen, marks the first Wikipedia Zero
program in Iraq. The program, overseen by the nonprofit Wikimedia
Foundation, addresses one of the greatest barriers to internet access
globally: affordability. In a recent phone survey in Iraq led by the
Wikimedia Foundation, roughly 80% of surveyed participants reported that
mobile data costs limited their use of the internet. About 33% of
participants also reported rarely or never being able to find online
content in their preferred language.

Through the Wikipedia Zero
 program, mobile data
fees are waived for subscribers of participating mobile operators so that
they may read and edit Wikipedia without using any of their mobile data.

Sarmad, who is part of a community of local volunteer Wikipedia editors in
Iraq, started the partnership to extend access to knowledge in his home
country of Iraq. Together, he and his wife, Ravan Jaafar Altaie, have been
active editors (or Wikipedians) since 2008.

“I've always believed that it is better to light a candle than curse the
darkness, so I decided to volunteer in Wikipedia to provide knowledge for
free to my people in their own language,” said Sarmad Saeed Yaseen. “When I
was first introduced to Wikipedia Zero, I felt right away that this could
be the best thing ever to share free knowledge in my country and encourage
the people of Iraq to contribute knowledge and share this with the world on
Wikipedia.”

Wikipedia is an online collection of knowledge written by volunteer editors
from every corner of the globe. Available in nearly 300 languages,
Wikipedia is a place to learn about virtually any topic -- from ancient
history to science to the arts -- in your local language, for free, and
without advertising. Wikipedia editors use reliable sources to support
information that is included in Wikipedia articles, so readers can explore
the sources that verify the facts. Wikipedia is completely non-profit,
independent, and maintained by everyday people around the world.

Wikipedia in Iraq is supported by a local community of volunteer editors in
almost every major city of the country. In 2015, Sarmad and Ravan organized
the first series of workshops in Erbil to teach Iraqi people how to edit
Wikipedia. The workshops led to 600 new articles and more than 12,000 edits
primarily to Arabic and Kurdish Wikipedia. In October 2015, this community
launched the first formalized Wikimedia group from Iraq, the Iraqi
Wikimedians user group 
(a formalized Wikimedia affiliate group that has been recognized by the
global Wikimedia community of editors). Today, the majority of unique
device visits to Wikipedia in Iraq come from mobile devices.

Worldwide, Wikipedia is recognized as an important learning resource, but
it also offers a platform to share knowledge with the world. Edits from any
country contribute to the world’s common knowledge repository, seen by
hundreds of millions of people every month. This allows many to learn from
what just a few people might otherwise know. As more voices contribute to
Wikipedia, it becomes a better representation of the diverse cultures,
history, people, viewpoints, and perspectives of our world.

“Asiacell believes that sharing knowledge is a way to enforce the
interaction among human beings. We strongly believe in contributing in the
global project of Wikipedia. Beside all the modern technologies that we
offer, this partnership with the Wikimedia Foundation is one of the
achievements that we are proud of. We will enable our 12 million 

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Fwd: [Wikimedia Announcements] (press release)

[ENWP Pine]

Hi LiAnna, who wrote the FAQ for the press release? I have some concerns.
Thanks,
Pine


 Date: Wed, 12 Feb 2014 13:19:42 -0800
 From: LiAnna Davis lda...@wikimedia.org
 To: Wikimedia Mailing List wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org
 Subject: [Wikimedia-l] Fwd: [Wikimedia Announcements] (press release)
   Frank Schulenburg named executive director of new Wiki Education
   Foundation
 Message-ID:
   caejbvqzsiesxhw8hjrv51cile5tldu3b86t1xkgpo4dotu9...@mail.gmail.com
 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1
 
 Forwarding on for those of you not on the Wikimedia Announcements list.
 
 -- Forwarded message --
 From: Jay Walsh jwa...@wikimedia.org
 Date: Wed, Feb 12, 2014 at 1:16 PM
 Subject: [Wikimedia Announcements] (press release) Frank Schulenburg named
 executive director of new Wiki Education Foundation
 To: wikimediaannounc...@lists.wikimedia.org 
 wikimediaannounc...@lists.wikimedia.org
 
 
 Passing along for your information. This release is posted on the WMF wiki
 at
 https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Frank_Schulenburg_named_executive_director_of_new_WEF
 
 An accompanying QA can also be found here:
 https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/QA_Frank_Schulenburg_announcement_February_2014
 
 ---
 
 Frank Schulenburg named executive director of new Wiki Education Foundation
 
 (San Francisco, California) 12 February 2014 -- The Wiki Education
 Foundation, a new nonprofit organization that supports the Wikipedia
 Education Program in the United States and Canada, has named Frank
 Schulenburg as its inaugural executive director. Schulenburg, formerly
 senior director of programs at the Wikimedia Foundation, will begin
 his new role February 18, 2014.
 
 I look forward to leading the Wiki Education Foundation, said
 Schulenburg. We are off to a great start, and will build on the
 strong success of the Wikimedia Foundation's Wikipedia Education
 Program to further engage educators, researchers and students to
 provide more high-quality content for Wikipedia's readers.
 
 Started by the Wikimedia Foundation in 2010, the Wikipedia Education
 Program encourages students to contribute content to Wikipedia
 articles on course-related subjects as part of classroom assignments
 developed by their faculty and instructors. Over the past four years,
 more than 6,000 students in the United States and Canada have
 contributed content to Wikipedia as part of the Wikipedia Education
 Program, adding the equivalent of 36,600 printed pages of content to
 Wikipedia and significantly increasing the amount of high-quality
 content that Wikipedia offers its half-billion readers.
 
 In response to that success and to give the program more focused and
 specialized support, in 2012 the Wikimedia Foundation began a process
 to spin off the United States and Canada work into its own,
 independent nonprofit organization. The resulting Wiki Education
 Foundation was created in late 2013, and Schulenburg will be its first
 executive director. The Wiki Education Foundation will continue to
 support the Wikipedia Education Program in the United States and
 Canada, and will develop additional programs to promote academic
 research and teaching that engage with Wikipedia.
 
 I am delighted that Frank has agreed to lead the Wiki Education
 Foundation as executive director, said Dr. Diana Strassmann, Carolyn
 and Fred McManis Distinguished Professor in the Practice at Rice
 University and chair of the board of the Wiki Education Foundation,
 who began using Wikipedia as a teaching tool in her classes in 2007.
 Under Frank's leadership, the Wiki Education Foundation will continue
 to expand engagement among educators, students, and Wikipedia, and
 will continue to diversify the community of Wikipedians, while
 improving the quality and depth of Wikipedia.
 
 Frank is the perfect person to lead the Wiki Education Foundation,
 said Wikimedia Foundation Executive Director Sue Gardner. Frank's a
 very experienced Wikipedia contributor with a long track record of
 inventing and leading successful programs that make Wikipedia better
 and more useful for its readers. I am sorry we will lose him from the
 Wikimedia Foundation, but I look forward to seeing the Wiki Education
 Foundation thrive and succeed under his leadership.
 
 A longtime Wikipedian and an employee of the Wikimedia Foundation
 since 2008, Schulenburg has focused on broadening participation and
 developing the public understanding of Wikipedia, especially among
 subject matter experts. He has spoken globally about efforts to
 increase the relevance of Wikipedia in academia. In 2006, he founded
 Wikipedia Academy, an event aimed at cultivating dialogue between
 Wikipedia contributors and academics. In 2009, he initiated the
 Bookshelf Project, which created the first educational materials for
 new Wikipedia contributors. In 2010 he designed and implemented the
 Wikipedia Education Program. From 2012 on he was a member of the
 executive

Re: [Wikimedia-l] Fwd: [Wikimedia Announcements] (press release) Frank Schulenburg named executive director of new Wiki Education Foundation

[Federico Leva (Nemo)]

WEF is a spin-off from WMF, with direct management continuity. Good or 
not, it's standard for spin-offs to have a special treat from their 
parent organisation. A number of things can be said and done about this 
of course but it's hardly surprising.


Nemo

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[Wikimedia-l] Fwd: [Wikimedia Announcements] (press release) Frank Schulenburg named executive director of new Wiki Education Foundation

[LiAnna Davis]

Forwarding on for those of you not on the Wikimedia Announcements list.

-- Forwarded message --
From: Jay Walsh jwa...@wikimedia.org
Date: Wed, Feb 12, 2014 at 1:16 PM
Subject: [Wikimedia Announcements] (press release) Frank Schulenburg named
executive director of new Wiki Education Foundation
To: wikimediaannounc...@lists.wikimedia.org 
wikimediaannounc...@lists.wikimedia.org


Passing along for your information. This release is posted on the WMF wiki
at
https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/Frank_Schulenburg_named_executive_director_of_new_WEF

An accompanying QA can also be found here:
https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/QA_Frank_Schulenburg_announcement_February_2014

---

Frank Schulenburg named executive director of new Wiki Education Foundation

(San Francisco, California) 12 February 2014 -- The Wiki Education
Foundation, a new nonprofit organization that supports the Wikipedia
Education Program in the United States and Canada, has named Frank
Schulenburg as its inaugural executive director. Schulenburg, formerly
senior director of programs at the Wikimedia Foundation, will begin
his new role February 18, 2014.

I look forward to leading the Wiki Education Foundation, said
Schulenburg. We are off to a great start, and will build on the
strong success of the Wikimedia Foundation's Wikipedia Education
Program to further engage educators, researchers and students to
provide more high-quality content for Wikipedia's readers.

Started by the Wikimedia Foundation in 2010, the Wikipedia Education
Program encourages students to contribute content to Wikipedia
articles on course-related subjects as part of classroom assignments
developed by their faculty and instructors. Over the past four years,
more than 6,000 students in the United States and Canada have
contributed content to Wikipedia as part of the Wikipedia Education
Program, adding the equivalent of 36,600 printed pages of content to
Wikipedia and significantly increasing the amount of high-quality
content that Wikipedia offers its half-billion readers.

In response to that success and to give the program more focused and
specialized support, in 2012 the Wikimedia Foundation began a process
to spin off the United States and Canada work into its own,
independent nonprofit organization. The resulting Wiki Education
Foundation was created in late 2013, and Schulenburg will be its first
executive director. The Wiki Education Foundation will continue to
support the Wikipedia Education Program in the United States and
Canada, and will develop additional programs to promote academic
research and teaching that engage with Wikipedia.

I am delighted that Frank has agreed to lead the Wiki Education
Foundation as executive director, said Dr. Diana Strassmann, Carolyn
and Fred McManis Distinguished Professor in the Practice at Rice
University and chair of the board of the Wiki Education Foundation,
who began using Wikipedia as a teaching tool in her classes in 2007.
Under Frank's leadership, the Wiki Education Foundation will continue
to expand engagement among educators, students, and Wikipedia, and
will continue to diversify the community of Wikipedians, while
improving the quality and depth of Wikipedia.

Frank is the perfect person to lead the Wiki Education Foundation,
said Wikimedia Foundation Executive Director Sue Gardner. Frank's a
very experienced Wikipedia contributor with a long track record of
inventing and leading successful programs that make Wikipedia better
and more useful for its readers. I am sorry we will lose him from the
Wikimedia Foundation, but I look forward to seeing the Wiki Education
Foundation thrive and succeed under his leadership.

A longtime Wikipedian and an employee of the Wikimedia Foundation
since 2008, Schulenburg has focused on broadening participation and
developing the public understanding of Wikipedia, especially among
subject matter experts. He has spoken globally about efforts to
increase the relevance of Wikipedia in academia. In 2006, he founded
Wikipedia Academy, an event aimed at cultivating dialogue between
Wikipedia contributors and academics. In 2009, he initiated the
Bookshelf Project, which created the first educational materials for
new Wikipedia contributors. In 2010 he designed and implemented the
Wikipedia Education Program. From 2012 on he was a member of the
executive management team of the Wikimedia Foundation, overseeing the
Wikipedia Education Program, Wikipedia Zero, and a new initiative to
evaluate the impact of programmatic activities across countries.
Schulenburg has been involved with Wikipedia since 2005, both as an
author and as a photographer.

The Wiki Education Foundation board conducted an extensive search for
an executive director before selecting Schulenburg. The board includes
educators from a variety of backgrounds, Wikipedia volunteers, and
other key stakeholders. The Wiki Education Foundation is currently
supporting university instructors in the