Wow! This is such an interesting and cool project and I wish you all the best with it! It would be truly wonderful if Wikipedia finally could get a better coverage about Africa!
John Andersson Wikimedia Sweden > From: adrienne.a...@wikimedia.fr > Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2012 22:47:14 +0200 > To: wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Subject: [Wikimedia-l] Afripedia, a project to help the development of > Wikipedia in French-speaking Africa > > Hello, > > Wikimedia France is very happy to announce a great new project : > > A partnership has been formalized on last Friday between Wikimédia France, > the Institut Français > <http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Institut_fran%C3%A7ais>(the network of > the french cultural institutes in the world) and the Agence > Universitaire de la > Francophonie<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agence_universitaire_de_la_Francophonie>(Association > of Universities of the Francophonie) to support a common > program about the development of Wikipedia in French-speaking Africa: this > project is called "Afripedia". > > Afripedia is a project to support the "digital development" of Africa. > While the most part of the contributions and contributors on Wikipedia are > from the North, we want to make easier the offline reading of Wikipedia and > the production of content about Africa and made by African contributors. > The project entails projected workshops to help use the encyclopedia and > produce content on the Wikimedia projects. > > Based on the offline technologies developped by > Kiwix<http://www.kiwix.org/index.php/Main_Page/en>(and helped by > Kiwix), the project will involve several phases: > > 1/ software development to produce offline versions of Wikipedia (and > probably other Wikimedia projects like Wiktionary) regularly and easily, > and then a download solution to get these offline versions easier, with no > technical ability needed. > > 2/ Installation of these offline versions on flash drives, plugged on > little computers extremely energy-efficient, without screen or keyboard. > The computer spreads the content of the flash drive (=Wikipedia) with a > wireless connection without internet (the content of the flash drive is > available just by connecting to this wifi) [see [[Plug > computer<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plug_computer> > ]] > > 3/ Installation of the computers and flash drives and training of students > and professors on the "Digital campus of Francophonie", a network of > digital points supported by the Association of Universities of the > Francophonie, to support the dissemination of Wikipedia content without the > issues of irregular access to internet. One plug (with or without repeater) > can provide Wikipedia for dozens of students ! > > 4/ Training in contribution on Wikipedia (in French and local languages) > > 5/ After a first implementation (autumn 2012) in 20 points in 15 countries > of West Africa, we will assess the project and extend it over a larger > scale for 2013, if the results are good. > > > As it is one of our missions, we consider producing free knowledge in > French and in local languages and making it accesible in territories > developping access to digital technology but having no active Wikimedia > community yet, to be essential. So we will also support the forming of > contributors communities in these countries. > > See also (in french) http://www.wikimedia.fr/afripedia > > == > > The Institut Français is the operator for the French Ministry of Foreign > Affairs in charge of the cultural action in foreign countries. Through its > French Language Department, the Institut Français works towards the > attractivity and spreading of French language across the world. It > particularly takes care of the development of the teaching of French > language and culture in secondary school and in universities. > http://www.institutfrancais.com/ > > The Agence universitaire de la Francophonie (Association of Universities of > the Francophonie) groups 786 higher education and research institutions > from 98 countries on the five continents, using French language as a > language for teaching and research. Its mission is to contribute to the > solidarity between French-speaking higher education establishments and to > the development of a scientific arena in French, respecting the cultures > and languages diversity. > http://www.auf.org/ > > > -- > Adrienne Charmet-Alix > Directrice des programmes - Wikimedia France > Twitter : @AdrienneAlix > adrienne.a...@wikimedia.fr | 07.62.92.42.01 > http://www.wikimedia.fr > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list > Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l
