Hi Teemu, I agree that there is a lot we can, and should, do for people who are not online... I'm really excited about this partnership with Kiwix because they are the base of a lot of different initiatives in the offline space.
Are you aware of WikiFundi[1]? It is a project, built on Kiwix, that is taking steps towards offline editing. Offline editing is a really complex problem from a technical and user experience perspective. The WikiFundi team has been working on the product for a couple of years now, with support from WMF and the Orange Foundation. In January, the Foundation funded a project grant[2] to support WikiFundi developing their user experience and effectiveness. Cheers, Anne [1] http://www.wikifundi.org/ [2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project/WikiInAfrica/WikiFundi On Fri, Jul 20, 2018 at 11:39 AM, Leinonen Teemu <[email protected]> wrote: > Hi all, > > Offline is important but when doing these things we should same time > remember our vision statement’s part saying “*every single human being* can > freely *share* in the sum of all knowledge”. > > We should never consider the people in the “offline world” being only > readers, users or consumers of the content, but people who naturally have a > lot of knowledge to share for the rest of the world. > > With the offline distribution, let’s keep working on to have more > languages and active communities in the Wikimedia. Let’s have the > edit-button when ever possible. > > -Teemu > > > James Heilman <[email protected]> kirjoitti 20.7.2018 kello 12.54: > > > > Agree amazing news. Offline is key for much of the world. > > > > We are developing and distributing "Internet-in-a-Boxes" to help > compensate > > somewhat for the pull back from zero rating. > > > > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Internet-in-a-Box > > > > James > > > >> On Fri, Jul 20, 2018 at 4:27 AM Lucas Teles <[email protected]> > wrote: > >> > >> Those are excellent news! > >> > >> I wonder if there are any plans on working on less rich countries. They > >> usually have less internet access and would benefit from that. > >> > >> Wikipedia Zero has just expired in Angola and I can’t imagine a best > way to > >> replace that source of knowledge withou having to deal with the negative > >> side of it. > >> > >> Concerning the many users from Angola that reached out to me complaining > >> about the end of Wikipedia Zero in Angola, giving them access to Kiwix > will > >> be of enormous help. > >> > >> Teles > >> > >> Em qui, 19 de jul de 2018 às 19:16, Samantha Lien <[email protected]> > >> escreveu: > >> > >>> This press release is also available on the Wikimedia blog here: > >>> > >> https://blog.wikimedia.org/2018/07/18/wikimedia- > foundation-and-kiwix-partner-to-grow-offline-access-to-wikipedia/Wikimedia > >>> Foundation and Kiwix partner to grow offline access to Wikipedia > >>> *The Wikimedia Foundation and Switzerland-based Kiwix announce a global > >>> collaboration to increase offline access to Wikipedia and the Wikimedia > >>> projects.* > >>> > >>> Lausanne, Switzerland, and San Francisco, USA, 18 July 2018 – The > >>> Wikimedia Foundation has announced a partnership with Kiwix, the free > and > >>> open-source software solution that enables offline access to > educational > >>> content, to expand and improve access to Wikipedia and other Wikimedia > >>> projects globally. This partnership will include a $275,000 > contribution > >> to > >>> Kiwix to further enhance offline access to Wikipedia in parts of the > >> world > >>> where consistent, affordable internet connectivity presents a > significant > >>> barrier to accessing Wikipedia. > >>> > >>> “Our hope is that one day everyone will have access to the internet, > and > >>> eliminate the need for other offline methods of access to information.” > >>> said Kiwix CEO Stephane Coillet-Matillon. “But we know that there are > >> still > >>> serious gaps in internet access globally that require solutions today. > >>> Kiwix is a tool to start fixing things right now.” > >>> The Wikimedia Foundation and Kiwix have had a long-standing > collaborative > >>> relationship to expand access to Wikipedia around the world. This > >> includes > >>> recent support to Kiwix and WikiProject Medicine to improve the > >>> availability of offline Wikipedia medical content [1], as well as > >>> improvements to the Kiwix desktop experience. > >>> > >>> Through this partnership, the two organizations will collaborate to > >> create > >>> a long-term strategy for third party reuse of Kiwix’s free access > >> platform, > >>> fix longstanding code debt, improve Kiwix’s usability across mobile > >>> platforms including Android, and integrate Kiwix’s and the Wikimedia > >>> Foundation’s technical operations more closely for improved Wikipedia > >>> offline experiences. > >>> > >>> “As part of the 2030 direction for Wikimedia’s future [2], we’re > thrilled > >>> to be partnering with Kiwix to invest in solutions to address one of > the > >>> critical barriers to participating in Wikipedia globally: reliable > >> internet > >>> access,” said Anne Gomez, Senior Program Manager at the Wikimedia > >>> Foundation. “We have made a commitment as an organization to actively > >>> address the challenges and barriers to reaching our global Wikimedia > >>> vision: a world in which everyone can freely share in knowledge. Today > >>> marks an important step toward realizing that commitment.” > >>> > >>> The Wikimedia vision is global: a world in which everyone can freely > >> share > >>> in the sum of all knowledge. While there has been a significant > reduction > >>> in high mobile data costs and other barriers to participating in > >> Wikipedia, > >>> more than half the world’s population is not yet online. [3] > >>> > >>> Today, Kiwix sits at the heart of the offline ecosystem with more than > 3 > >>> million users from more than 200 countries. It can store millions of > >>> Wikipedia articles from any of Wikipedia’s nearly 300 languages along > >> with > >>> thousands of books and videos on a single flash drive or microSD card > for > >>> access on smartphones and computers. Kiwix has also worked with > >> nonprofits > >>> such as the Orange Foundation, Human Rights Foundation, Internet in a > >> Box, > >>> WikiFundi, and Digisoft to scale distribution of offline education > >>> materials around the world to students, teachers, and the general > public. > >>> > >>> More information about the Wikimedia Foundation’s work to expand access > >>> and participation to Wikipedia globally, including information about > this > >>> partnership with Kiwix, can be found in the Wikimedia Foundation’s > >>> 2018-2019 annual plan. [4] > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> About the Wikimedia Foundation > >>> > >>> The Wikimedia Foundation is the nonprofit organization that supports > and > >>> operates Wikipedia and its sister free knowledge projects. Wikipedia is > >> the > >>> world’s free knowledge resource, spanning more than 45 million articles > >>> across nearly 300 languages. Every month, more than 200,000 people edit > >>> Wikipedia and the Wikimedia projects, collectively creating and > improving > >>> knowledge that is accessed by more than 1 billion unique devices every > >>> month. This all makes Wikipedia one of the most popular web properties > in > >>> the world. Based in San Francisco, California, the Wikimedia Foundation > >> is > >>> a 501(c)(3) charity that is funded primarily through donations and > >> grants. > >>> > >>> About Kiwix > >>> > >>> Kiwix is an open-source software that brings internet content to > millions > >>> of people without internet access - be it because of cost, poor > >>> infrastructures or even censorship. Websites like Wikipedia, TED talks, > >> the > >>> Gutenberg library and many more can be stored and browsed as if users > >> were > >>> online. Kiwix is available in more than 100 languages, and runs on all > >>> major desktop and mobile platforms. Based in Lausanne, Switzerland, > Kiwix > >>> Association is a registered Swiss Verein that is funded solely through > >>> donations and grants. For more information, see www.kiwix.org. > >>> > >>> Press contacts > >>> > >>> Wikimedia Foundation > >>> Kui Kinyanjui > >>> [email protected] > >>> > >>> > >>> Kiwix > >>> Stéphane Coillet-Matillon > >>> +41 79 215 8510 or [email protected] > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> [1] > >>> > >> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Project/Stephane/ > Kiwix/Offline_medical > >>> > >>> [2] > >>> https://blog.wikimedia.org/2017/11/03/wikimedia-movement- > new-direction/ > >>> > >>> [3] https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Statistics/Pages/stat/default.aspx > >>> > >>> [4] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/New_Readers/Annual_Plan_1819 > >>> -- > >>> *Samantha Lien* > >>> Communications Manager > >>> Wikimedia Foundation > >>> 1Montgomery Street > >>> Suite 1600 > >>> San Francisco, CA 94104 > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> > >>> (To be unsubscribed from this press release distribution list, please > >>> reply to [email protected] with 'UNSUBSCRIBE' in the > subject > >>> line)_______________________________________________ > >>> Please note: all replies sent to this mailing list will be immediately > >>> directed to Wikimedia-l, the public mailing list of the Wikimedia > >>> community. For more information about Wikimedia-l: > >>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l > >>> _______________________________________________ > >>> WikimediaAnnounce-l mailing list > >>> [email protected] > >>> https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaannounce-l > >>> > >> -- > >> Steward for Wikimedia projects. Administrator at Portuguese Wikipedia > and > >> Wikimedia Commons. > >> Sent from mobile. Please, excuse my brevity. > >> > >> +55 (71) 99707 6409 > >> _______________________________________________ > >> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > >> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and > >> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > >> New messages to: [email protected] > >> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > >> <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe> > > > > > > > > -- > > James Heilman > > MD, CCFP-EM, Wikipedian > > _______________________________________________ > > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > wiki/Wikimedia-l > > New messages to: [email protected] > > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe> > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > wiki/Wikimedia-l > New messages to: [email protected] > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe> > -- *Anne Gomez* // Senior Program Manager, New Readers <https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/New_Readers> Pronouns: she/her https://wikimediafoundation.org/ *Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. That's our commitment. Donate <http://donate.wikimedia.org>. * _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l New messages to: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe>
