Also, to add, for this particular grant I can really only look positively at the openness surrounding the writing of the grant. There have been emails on this list inviting input and discussion when the grant proposal was underway, a lot of content was available on-wiki, and an effort was made to ensure that the project was not only aligned with the planning of the Foundation but also with the community - which is indeed particularly important given the restricted nature of the funding.
I congratulate everyone involved for securing this grant, for the process with its improved transparency, and I am very much looking forward to see the project implemented! Denny On Mon, Jan 9, 2017 at 3:01 PM Lisa Gruwell <lgruw...@wikimedia.org> wrote: Hi Pete and Gerard- I just wanted to give my thoughts on restricted gifts. Like most things, there are both good and bad restricted gifts. They can be bad if a funder is making a well-intentioned gift that none-the-less pulls the organization in direction that they were not planning to go. Or even worse, when a funder pays for something outside of an org's plans that has ongoing maintenance cost that are not covered in the grant. This is why the WMF board reviews all restricted grants per our gift policy <https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Gift_policy>. Those are the types of dynamics that the board considers when they review a restricted grant. Structured Data on Commons was in our product roadmap, so this grant is not diverting our attention. The grant simply enables us to accelerate the work we were planning to do. In terms of restrictions, we have to follow through with the plan we submitted. In other words, do what we said we are going to do. I think that accountability is a good thing. And the Sloan Foundation is a great long-term funder of WMF. If something changes as the work progress, I have no doubt we could have a reasonable conversation with them about adjusting the plan. Best, Lisa On Mon, Jan 9, 2017 at 1:03 PM, Gerard Meijssen <gerard.meijs...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hoi, > Maybe restricted but the subject matter is exactly what we want anyway. > Where I have my reservations is that Wikidata will be set in stone and > stuff that just is not right will be with us for forever. With more money > it does not need to be a huge problem because it makes it more manageable. > Thanks, > GerardM > > On 9 January 2017 at 21:52, Pete Forsyth <petefors...@gmail.com> wrote: > > > Structured data on Commons is a huge and important area -- for one thing, > > the whole Media Viewer project would have gone much more smoothly if > there > > were underlying structured data to rely on. Kudos to WMF and Sloan for > the > > focus on this issue! > > > > If I'm not mistaken, this is by far the most extravagant restricted grant > > in the history of the WMF. I believe the Stanton Foundation's usability > > grant ($890k in 2008)[1] and Public Policy Initiative grant ($1.2 million > > in 2010)[2] are the only ones that comes close. In the past, WMF board > > members have expressed great skepticism about -- specifically -- the > Sloan > > Foundation's influence, when it sought to place an observer in WMF board > > meetings. A former WMF Executive Director has written at length about the > > dangers of restricted grants. > > > > It appears there is a new theory in play around restricted grants. Will > > somebody be expressing it publicly? Will the past practice of publishing > > the details of the grant expectations be followed?[3] > > > > -Pete > > -- > > [[User:Peteforsyth]] > > > > [1] https://blog.wikimedia.org/2008/12/03/improved-usability- > > in-our-future/ > > [2] > > https://wikimediafoundation.org/wiki/Press_releases/May_ > > 2010_Wikimedia_Foundation_will_engage_academic_experts_ > > and_students_to_improve_public_policy_information > > [3] > > https://outreach.wikimedia.org/wiki/Public_Policy_ > > Initiative_project_details > > > > On Mon, Jan 9, 2017 at 11:48 AM, Wes Moran <wmo...@wikimedia.org> wrote: > > > > > Hello Wikimedia community, > > > > > > It’s our delight to inform you that we received a US$3,015,000 grant > from > > > the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation > > > <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_P._Sloan_Foundation> [1] to > > expedite > > > development of structured data on Commons. The grant will be given over > > the > > > course of three years, and will allow us to develop a team, in > > > collaboration with the Wikidata team at Wikimedia Deutschland, that can > > > focus on integrating the structured data features of Wikidata into > > > describing the media files on Commons. > > > > > > This work will allow us to expedite features both on the Wikidata > > > development roadmap, and in other products supported by the Wikimedia > > > Foundation. The grant also provides funding to ensure that movement > > > stakeholders, like Wiki Loves Monuments and GLAM-Wiki program leaders, > > and > > > external partners who contribute heavily to Commons, such as GLAMs, can > > be > > > involved in the development. > > > > > > We have drafted a high level overview of the grant and its scope, > > available > > > on Commons > > > <https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Structured_ > data/Sloan_Grant> > > > [2]. A blog post about the grant is also available on the Wikimedia > blog > > > <https://blog.wikimedia.org/2017/01/09/sloan-foundation- > structured-data> > > > [3]. > > > > > > We are currently in the process of identifying the technical lead for > the > > > project. If you have questions, Alex Stinson, the Foundation’s > GLAM-Wiki > > > strategist, will be leading the community engagement and communications > > for > > > the project until we hire a community liaison as part of the grant. > Stay > > > tuned for more details about the project in the coming months. > > > > > > We’re excited to be able to support this project, and look forward to > > your > > > participation in its development. > > > > > > Thank you, > > > > > > Wes Moran and Maggie Dennis > > > > > > *Wes Moran, Vice President of Product* > > > *Maggie Dennis, Interim Chief of Community Engagement * > > > *Wikimedia Foundation* > > > > > > [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_P._Sloan_Foundation > > > [2] https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Commons:Structured_data/ > > Sloan_Grant > > > [3] https://blog.wikimedia.org/2017/01/09/sloan-foundation- > > structured-data > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > > > wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > > > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > > > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > > > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > > _______________________________________________ > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > > wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > > > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines > New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> > _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe> _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines New messages to: Wikimedia-l@lists.wikimedia.org Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:wikimedia-l-requ...@lists.wikimedia.org?subject=unsubscribe>
