This year’s International Museum Day theme, Museums for Education and Research, underscores the importance of cultural heritage to a holistic education. This concept applies equally to Wikimedia projects, where museums provide essential source material to make Wikimedia projects more reliable, better illustrated, and connected through linked open data. Collaborations with museums have therefore been highly prioritized by our movement, with the majority of Wikimedia affiliates and user groups working on outreach to institutions and museum professionals.

Every year since 1977, the International Council of Museums (ICOM) has celebrated International Museum Day (IMD) on May 18, and since 2020, Wikimedia Switzerland has been organizing an associated Wikimedia campaign with European affiliates, mostly from German-speaking countries. This year, Wikimedia Switzerland and the Wikimedia Foundation are encouraging a more global celebration of museums. Individual Wikimedians, affiliates, and user groups, are invited to respond to three challenges to increase museum coverage on Wikimedia: translation, media, and data. Continue reading here, or visit Meta, for more details about each activity and how you can participate. If you register on this dashboard, your edits will be counted and shared with ICOM. 

Translation challenge

Following a long process of close consultation with its international network of members, ICOM launched a new definition of ‘museum’ in 2022. The new definition focuses on inclusivity and community participation—values that could open the door to more collaboration with the Wikimedia movement.

“A museum is a not-for-profit, permanent institution in the service of society that researches, collects, conserves, interprets and exhibits tangible and intangible heritage. Open to the public, accessible and inclusive, museums foster diversity and sustainability. They operate and communicate ethically, professionally and with the participation of communities, offering varied experiences for education, enjoyment, reflection and knowledge sharing.”

ICOM released the definition in its three official languages: English, French, and Spanish. Subsequently, ICOM National Committees translated the definition into 21 more languages, including Arabic, Japanese, Filipino, and many others. Inspired by Desafíos de Traducción: Museo en Maya (Translation Challenges: Museum in Mayan), the 11th episode of the Museums and Chill podcast, we’re inviting Wikimedians to translate this definition into as many languages as possible, since the Wikimedia projects are unbeatable when it comes to translations, with more than 300 languages available just on Wikipedia. To participate in the challenge, follow the instructions on this page. Let’s work together to make the new museum definition even more international! 

Media challenge

Another way to celebrate International Museum Day is to document museums around the world, representing this year’s theme. To illustrate education and research in museums, you could share photos of their events, tours, and workshops; specialist libraries and archives; accessibility resources; or conservation in progress. Follow the instructions on this page, which includes a map of museums around the world.

Data challenge

You can also make museums more discoverable by adding data about institutions and their collections to Wikimedia Commons and Wikidata.

Structured Data on Commons

With Structured Data on Commons, you can add or enhance the data for images of museum buildings and spaces and the collections they hold, such as paintings, sculptures, photographs, historical and natural objects, and manuscripts. The data challenge page suggests the types of data you can add, how to find images to work with, and different approaches to making edits.

Wikidata

We’re focusing on three categories on Wikidata: museums anywhere on earth; people employed at museums (e.g. curators, museum directors, scientists, etc); and objects and events in museums.
The data challenge page has suggested queries to get started, such as museums on Wikidata without a country but with coordinates; paintings on Wikidata without an image; a list of curators by birthplace; as well as a table with a list of very important data missing from museums items on Wikidata, by country.

Panel discussion

On May 17, we will have a panel discussion about ‘Wikimedia, Museums, and Education’, including expert speakers from the museum sector. This conversation will be interpreted in different languages. The information on registering for this event will be available on this page.

Video content

During the month, Sandra Becker and Jean Marc Wyss from Wikimedia Switzerland will share videos about this year’s theme, Museums for Education and Research, featuring interviews with museum experts. These videos will be very short—perfectly timed for social media—and subtitled in more languages.

The International Museum Day 2024 pages on Meta have resources about Wikimedia and museum-related initiatives, as well as an overview of previous Wikimedia collaborations with ICOM. Follow those pages for updates, or subscribe to the GLAM-Wiki mailing list.

The XIV Ordinary General Electoral Assembly of Wikimedia Spain was held on 13 April, where the new Board of Trustees was elected for the period 2024-2027. This Assembly was held at the Museo Centro de Arte Reina Sofía with the presence of 22 members from different parts of Spain.

During the Assembly, the participating group had the opportunity to learn about the state of the association up close and in detail, through the presentation of the financial report and the activity report for the financial year 2023, as well as the budget for 2024.

Likewise, as a farewell, the outgoing Board of Trustees expressed their gratitude for this three-year period of work. Their satisfaction was the learning through the different challenges and objectives achieved, such as the increase of the budget, the growth of the team, the alliances and collaborations obtained, among others.

The outgoing Board of Trustees is made up of: Florencia Claes, as president; Mentxu Ramilo, as vice-president; Ana Porras, as secretary and María Bolado, as treasurer. Finally, as members, Ester Bonet, Pedro Pacheco and Santiago Navarro.

Newly elected Board of Trustees 2024 – 2027

During the Ordinary Electoral General Assembly, with the presence of 22 participants and 10 delegate votes, the new Board of Trustees of Wikimedia Spain for the period 2024-2027 was unanimously elected.

Thus, Florencia Claes was elected again as president of the association. In addition, Ester Bonet remains on the board, this time as vice-president; while Pedro Pacheco now as treasurer; and María Bolado as member. Also joining the board are Ignacio Casares, as secretary, and Israel Salcedo, as member.

The newly elected Board of Trustees has many challenges ahead. They face a new strategic planning that emanates from the 2030 Strategy, where the objective is to enhance the richness of heritage and linguistic diversity. In addition, they will continue to work on the gender gap, technological challenges and diversity education. Its mandate will last for a period of three years, until the General Assembly in 2027 for which elections will be called.

Members of the new Board of Trustees

Below, we share with you the profiles of the new Wikimedia Spain Board of Trustees:

Florencia Claes, second term as president of Wikimedia Spain

Born in 1974 in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Florencia has lived in Spain since 2003, holds a PhD in Audiovisual Communication and Advertising, and works as a research professor at the Rey Juan Carlos University. From there, she promotes the improvement of contents in Wikipedia.

She has worked in communication and audiovisual production for 10 years. She joined Wikimedia Spain in 2017. She has a strong commitment to the free knowledge movement.

As president, Florencia will continue to work on the promotion of free knowledge. As well as, explaining to others about how Wikimedia projects work and why it is important to be a Wikimedian.

Ester Bonet, Vice-President

Born in Barcelona in 1950. She has a degree in Physical Education and in Romance languages. A curious mixture that worked wonders for her in coordinating all the terminology work for the 1992 Olympic Games. She is currently retired and holds the position of president of the Catalan Terminology Society of the Institute of Catalan Studies.

She began her career as an editor at the Catalan Wikipedia in 2014. In 2016 she created the Espai ViquidonesUPF at Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, where she works to reduce the gender gap. For this reason she closely follows the Recommendations of the Wikimedia Strategy 2030, and participates in the proposals that focus on how to increase the number of female editors in Wikimedia projects.

As vice-president, Ester will continue to work for a diverse and egalitarian Wikipedia, where women continue to grow in number, both in terms of content and editors.

Nacho Casares, Secretary

Born in a village located in the outskirts of Granada, he graduated from the University of Granada and the University of Essex; he also holds a master’s degree in Web Development from the Open University of Catalonia. He has participated since 2018 in Wikimedia projects, carrying out edits especially on topics related to health sciences and LGBT.

In addition to being part of the Wikimedia LGBT+ user group, he devotes much of his time to technical work on Spanish Wikipedia, developing useful tools for users of the encyclopaedia.

Pedro J. Pacheco, Treasurer

Born in Murcia in 1972, he holds a degree in Business Studies from the University of Murcia. He currently works as a tax and accounting consultant, and is a photography enthusiast.

He joined Wikimedia Spain after winning the Spanish edition of Wiki Loves Monuments and attending the award ceremony in Alcalá de Henares. As treasurer he will provide support in the fiscal and accounting management of the association, as well as actively participating in its strategy.

María Bolado, member

Telecommunications Engineer from the University of Cantabria and Technical Engineer in Computer Systems from the UNED. She worked for two years as a contract researcher at the University of Cantabria, developing a microprocessor based on free architecture.

In 2004 she started working as a Technical Teacher of Vocational Training, specialising in Computer Systems and Applications and in 2019 she joined the body of Secondary Education Teachers, specialising in Computer Science. In addition, she works as a technical teaching advisor, trying to bring her students closer to free software and its philosophy.

These concerns led her to become involved in the Wikimedia movement and in the defence of free knowledge. She joined Wikimedia Spain in 2015 and has been a board member since 2017. María brings her technical knowledge, in the field of computer science and free software, helping in the decision-making process related to these aspects in the organisation.

Israel Salcedo González, member

Born in 1990 in Burgos, he holds a degree in Biotechnology and is a student of Social and Cultural Anthropology. He has carried out numerous scientific dissemination activities since his university days, which led him to register as a Wikipedia user in 2014 and to work as a secondary school teacher since 2017.

Further collaboration in editing articles led him to participate in Wikimedia events, such as several editions of Wikipedia for Peace, and to become a member of Wikimedia Spain as a way of promoting free knowledge and access to truthful and contrasted information. From this role as a disseminator, he has given different workshops to attract new editors to the Wikimedia movement and to generate quality content.

From randomized control trials to years of intensive content analysis, the featured scholars in our most recent Speaker Series webinar brought a range of research studies and findings to answer our two-part question, “What can we learn from Wikipedia and how do we move it forward?”

Wikipedia can shape the world, not just reflect it, according to research by panelist Neil Thompson, director of the FutureTech project at Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“Our experimental studies about Wikipedia have demonstrated the ways Wikipedia content makes its way into other knowledge production systems,” said Thompson, who led randomized control trials to examine the impact of Wikipedia content on scientific publishing and case law. In both studies, Thompson’s findings were clear: Wikipedia content influences real-world decisions and behaviors – in the case of his research, the decisions made in a court of law or in the development of scholarly publications.

“Because of Wikipedia’s scope, and how it is used and trusted, it has a lot of effect on the world,” said Thompson. “It’s pretty exciting, but it also speaks to the importance of getting the content as right as we can.”

Panelist Kai Zhu’s own research curiosities led him to explore how editing Wikipedia articles generates more attention paid to those articles and related articles, and the role of hyperlinks in driving this process.

“Wikipedia is not only a collection of textual content, but it is also a network of knowledge,” said Zhu, an assistant professor at Bocconi University, who emphasized the importance of the hyperlink structure of Wikipedia. “When there is a new link created, not only will more people read the linked article, but it also brings more content contribution because of that visibility.”

When panelist Shira Klein jumped into a Wikipedia talk page discussion in 2018, she never predicted it would lead to a two-year collaborative research study and a subsequent publication with nearly 55,000 views and counting. 

“The skirmish [on the talk page] was the tip of the iceberg,” said Klein, associate professor of history at Chapman University, who joined a debate between editors to support the citation of “Fear: Anti-Semitism in Poland after Auschwitz,” a book published by Princeton University Press and Random House in 2006. This experience led Klein to discover a group of editors working systematically to simplify and distort Holocaust history on the English-language Wikipedia.

In her research, Klein found that misleading information about Jews in Poland has been added to Wikipedia despite its policy violations, noting how the organized efforts of groups of editors to maintain the misinformation can lead to unchecked distortions in articles.

Along with her co-author, Klein studied 25 public Wikipedia articles and nearly 300 back pages, including noticeboards, arbitration cases, and talk pages. Together with interviews with editors and statistical data from Wikipedia, the analysis demonstrated how the addition of content that violates Wikipedia policies can evade scrutiny, leading to distortions and misinformation.

“One thing I’m curious about is what other areas on Wikipedia have this burning issue,” said Klein. “Is there a correlation between the amount of disinformation on a topic and the amount of dispute it has triggered on Wikipedia?”

For more than ten years, panelist Rosta Farzan has studied the social experience of new Wikipedia editors, including why people begin to edit and what helps them not only continue to edit but also contribute higher quality content to articles. According to Farzan’s research, intentional socialization practices for new editors can lead to their long term engagement with Wikipedia. 

Farzan, an associate professor in the School of Computing and Information at the University of Pittsburgh, emphasized the positive impact of the structure and support provided by Wiki Education’s Wikipedia Student Program. 

“The students feel proud of working on Wikipedia articles,” said Farzan. “Newcomers who join through classes are more likely to continue editing on Wikipedia compared to other comparable newcomers. They write more, they write better quality, and they stay on Wikipedia longer.”

Interested in hearing more from the panelists and other featured scholars? Catch up on our Speaker Series programs on YouTube and be sure to join our next webinar, “Wikipedia and Education, globally”, on Tuesday, May 14, 10 am PDT / 1 pm EDT.

Today we Wikicelebrate Brahim Faraji, a longtime Wikimedia volunteer, who ensures that Wikimedia Commons is full of high-quality photographs!

In 2016, Brahim Faraji‘s search for a way to make a positive impact led him to the Wikimedia Movement. Browsing the internet, Wikipedia caught his eye. He soon realized it was more than just an encyclopedia: “I looked to know more about Wikipedia, how it works and its background, then I found the Wikimedia movement with its values which motivated me to work harder and with passion”, he says.

His entry point was Wiki Loves Monuments, a global photo competition that encourages participants to capture images of cultural heritage sites around the world. The idea of preserving history through images resonated deeply with Brahim. In 2016, he uploaded photos to the contest for the first time, with four making it to Morocco’s Wiki Loves Monuments top ten! Since then, he has become a dedicated Wikimedia photographer, contributing pictures on diverse topics: from TBOURIDA Festival  (henna on a Moroccan wedding), to rebab instrument, from dramatic stormy sky to cultural Morocco’s cultural heritage sites. His work has been part of popular Wikimedia photo campaigns like Wiki Loves Africa, Wiki Loves Folklore and especially Wiki Loves Monuments, where Brahim impressively achieved finalist status for four years in a row.

Brahim also discovered another important aspect of  Wikimedia: education. He joined the Reading Wikipedia in the Classroom project and became one of the first certified trainers. That was in 2020, when the schools struggled with the pandemic and implementing online education. Despite the challenges, together with another trainer, Soukaina and the Moroccan User Group introduced Wikimedia education projects in Morocco, following a dream of a better world, which he describes: “with all generations raised with the skills necessary to understand how media is produced, able to access and evaluate content online and recognize biases and knowledge gaps in the information consumed.”

Brahim soon became a member of the global movement, taking part in different international events, like Wiki Arabia or Wiki Indaba (and true to his photographer spirit captured moments of the Wikimedia community!). 

Strong dedication to the Wikimedia mission fuels Brahim’s passion. When asked about his motivation, he highlights  “The values of the movement and the spirit of collaboration. I feel part of a worldwide family, which lives to make the world a better place through free knowledge.” 

Brahim recognizes that there is still a lot to achieve. He notices that there is still not enough knowledge about Wikimedia, which may lead to a small number of people joining our movement. But he is a natural optimist: “Nothing is easy but everything is possible! So, Don’t give up, your added value to make the world a better place is invaluable!”, he advises his fellow Wikimedians. 

Thank you for all your contributions, Brahim and for preserving knowledge about heritage for the future generations. 

🕑 1 hour 28 minutes

Dr. Moritz Schubotz (developer username Physikerwelt) is head of research at the mathematics department at FIZ Karlsruhe – Leibniz Institute for Information Infrastructure. He is the author or co-author of the MediaWiki extensions Math and MathSearch, and the Mathoid application, among others.

Links for some of the topics discussed:

• Dr. Moritz Schubotz CV and publications
• Math MediaWiki extension
• MathSearch MediaWiki extension
• MathML Wikipedia article
• MathJax Wikipedia article
• Mathoid
• The MaRDI (Mathematical Research Data Initiative) Portal (Wikibase instance)
• zbMATH Open
• Wikimedia Community User Group Math

O Pacto Digital Global é uma oportunidade única e crucial para moldar nosso mundo digital de uma forma que promova o interesse público e apoie o desenvolvimento sustentável para todas as pessoas, em todos os lugares.

 
Nós, as pessoas signatárias desta carta aberta, apelamos aos Estados-Membros da ONU para que adotem uma visão positiva para um futuro da Internet que apoie e empodere comunidades diversas em todo o mundo para criar e operar projetos de conhecimento livre e aberto. Os projetos da Wikimedia, incluindo a Wikipédia, a enciclopédia on-line, disponibilizam para o mundo o maior repositório livre e aberto, multilíngue, intercultural e universalmente acessível de materiais educacionais já criado. Os projetos da Wikimedia geridos pelo voluntariado têm formado um ecossistema liderado pela comunidade que defende a integridade da informação. Estes projetos servem como infraestrutura pública digital para conteúdo enciclopédico, neutro e de licença aberta em mais de 300 idiomas.  

A experiência de mais de duas décadas da Wikipédia nos ensinou que a Internet precisa ser aberta, global, interoperável e inclusiva para poder servir a toda a humanidade. Para isso, três compromissos essenciais devem ser incluídos no texto do Pacto Digital Global:

*Para assinar a carta, por favor, preencha este Formulário do Google. Para detalhes sobre como as informações que você compartilha neste formulário serão tratadas, consulte esta declaração de privacidade.

Co-signatários

The post Carta aberta para proteger a Wikipédia e outros projetos de interesse público no Pacto Digital Global appeared first on Wikimedia Foundation.

Between January 1st and March 5th, 2024, I was involved in a mission with the Italian National Antarctic Research Program (PNRA) aboard the icebreaker RV Laura Bassi, moving through the Ross Sea, the largest protected area in the world. Dealing with environment and climate change in my research as an analytical chemist at the University of Genoa, it wasn’t the first time I found myself in Antarctica, but this time the mission had a particular significance, linked to another great passion of mine: Wikipedia.

In my four previous missions, I had already talked about my volunteer work on Wikipedia to colleagues I met on the ship or at the base, often discovering other Wikipedians or people very interested in the project. At the same time, like many other readers or volunteers, I was aware that both on Italian Wikipedia and in other languages, articles dedicated to Antarctica and more generally to climate change often proved to be absent or superficial. Before leaving, I had begun to consider the idea of ​​organizing an editathon, a Wikipedia writing marathon, dedicated precisely to these topics. Fortunately, once on board, my proposal was well received by the party chief and other colleagues. And that’s how we organized the first editathon from Antarctica.

Technical limitations

As one can imagine, life at an Antarctic station is not easy, especially when that is a ship moving through ice, with strong winds and sometimes considerable waves. All the people participating in the mission have experiments to conduct related to their research project, but they may also be called upon to help colleagues or to perform measurements, sampling, or other experiments for scientists not present at the base. The work schedule is organized in variable shifts throughout the 24 hours, so that all laboratories can be used with maximum efficiency.

However, the biggest obstacle for a Wikipedian was another one: at the end of January 2024, when we chose to launch the editathon, Internet access was limited. Except for the devices used by navigation and logistics services, only three computers had access to a connection. And this absolutely complicates things when you want to write on Wikipedia. We solved this problem quite simply: by working off-line, coordinating with Wikimedia Italy to publish and edit articles at the beginning of the marathon. So, together with colleagues Paola Rivaro, Angela Garzia, Craig Stevens, Jasmin McInerney, and Liv Cornelissen, we wrote the first articles related to the editathon, which served as a starting point for volunteers who wanted to participate from Italy as well.

The results

Rather than an editathon, we should talk about an extended contribution period. Initially, in fact, we proposed to the Italian Wikipedia community to participate in a week of contribution on Antarctica and climate change. The proposal was very well received, well beyond expectations: the week, starting on February 1st, 2024, actually became a month and then a whole new project on Italian Wikipedia, all dedicated to Antarctica, with its Antarctic Base for discussions. I would have never expected such enthusiasm, both among my shipmates and among Wikipedia volunteers.

Thanks to the commitment of these people, today there are more than 150 new or improved articles on Italian Wikipedia: some of them are of fundamental importance in describing the continent (such as Antarctic Ice Sheet or Antarctic Ice Shelf) and the effects of climate change (for example Polar Amplification or Ice-Albedo Feedback). However, I would like to highlight articles that were not translated from English Wikipedia, but were created from scratch based on scientific sources during the editathon on the ship, such as Terra Nova Bay Polynya, High Salinity Shelf Water, and Marine Particulate Matter, but also Rain-on-snow event, written by a user in Italy. These articles represent a pride and added value for the entire community, being absent in all projects before their creation on the Italian version.

The participation of foreign colleagues, who contributed to English Wikipedia, was an unexpected and very welcome surprise (even with theme photos, taken and uploaded by Liv Cornelissen and Luisa Fontanot). I think that on board, all researchers understood the importance of scientific dissemination even through non-institutional means like Wikipedia, which allow the spread of free knowledge and important discoveries to as wide an audience as possible. If we, the “experts on the topic”, make the information that readers can find online reliable, the collective benefit is evident. Finally, I would also like to thank the implementing bodies of the PNRA and Wikimedia Italy for their interest and commitment to the logistical and communication aspects, fundamental for the success of the initiative.

Francisco Ardini

Associate Professor of Analytical Chemistry at the University of Genoa. He studies contamination in polar environments, participating in projects and expeditions in the Arctic and Antarctica, and carrying out outreach activities on the subject for schools and cultural associations. Since 2020, he has been proposing activities on Wikimedia projects (Wikibooks, Wikipedia, Wikivoyage, Wikimedia Commons) for schools, universities, and museums in the field of chemistry and climate change.

The Italian mission in Antarctica

The original writing week involved researchers engaged in the 39th Italian expedition to Antarctica, as part of the National Antarctic Research Program (PNRA). The PNRA is funded by the Italian Ministry of University and Research and is managed by CNR for scientific coordination, by ENEA for planning and logistical organization of activities at the bases on the continent, and by the National Institute of Oceanography and Experimental Geophysics – OGS for the technical and scientific management of the icebreaker ship Laura Bassi. Researchers from various nationalities belonging to Antarctica New Zealand also participated in the mission, contributing to English Wikipedia.

There’s been a recent surge in news reports about schools, including those in Kerala, incorporating AI into classrooms. For example this news titled “Kerala School Introduces IRIS: India’s First AI Teacher Robot” Today, I learned about a teacher training program organized by the Kerala Education Department. The program focuses on training teachers before students on AI tools. While I generally support teacher training on new technologies that can potentially improve teaching or save time, I’m curious about the specific problems AI is expected to solve.

 Last week I went to Portland for the MediaWiki Users and Developers conference (nee EMWCon). This is primarily a conference for people doing stuff with MediaWiki outside of Wikimedia. I had a blast.

I always enjoy conferences on the smaller side. They feel so much more personal. This year's conference had Ward Cunningham as the guest of honour. Ward was a fascinating person to meet and get to talk to.

I also must say hats off to the organizers - conference ran smoothly, venue was great, food was amazing. Seriously some of the best food I've ever had at any Wikimedia conference.

This was also my first time in Portland. Portland is a beautiful city. I didn't have a huge amount of time to explore the city, but I did manage to go to the Chinese garden, which was absolutely stunning. I also loved how many interesting murals there were in the city. Even the graffiti seemed prettier than normal.

 

I think my favourite talk was Jeffery's. He demo'd using LLMs to answer questions based on the content of the Wiki. The demo deities weren't fully in his favour, but I think it also demonstrated an important point that LLMs are cutting edge technologies that don't always give the expected answer 100% of the time. In any case, he did a great job presenting.

I did get the sense that I think some participants were disappointed that there was very little representation of WMF management (whether "real" management or product management) at the conference. Birgit did give a remote talk and Selena did come to a happy hour event after the conference, but neither really participated.

I don't think the participants necessarily wanted anything from WMF management, but there is a little bit of a feeling of being unseen. Many of the conference goers use MediaWiki for their own purposes and are interested to know what WMFs plans are for the future and how it will affect them (as do we all).

I think some participants were hoping to maybe make some connections for better mutual understanding and just reduce uncertainty about what is on the roadmap for MediaWiki. In theory Birgit's talk was about the plans for MediaWiki, but I suspect it was too laden with annual planning corporate buzzwords for anyone to figure out what it actually meant concretely.

The flip side of that of course is that open source is a do-orcracy. The corporate MediaWiki users as a general rule do not contribute back to MediaWiki core all that often, which is the price of admission to the various power structures of MediaWiki.

Create Camp

We were honored to host an exciting workshop in commemoration of the Open Data Day at the University of Environment and Sustainable Development, welcoming level 200 students to participate in an engaging training session.

The collaboration was between Women for Sustainability Africa (w4safrica), Open Knowledge Foundation (OKI), Open Knowledge Ghana (OKG), Youth Climate Council (YCC), and the University of Environment and Sustainable Development . The event aimed to equip participants with essential tools and techniques to tackle climate change effectively. From exploring open data platforms like Wikipedia to understanding the pivotal role of technology in climate resilience, attendees delved into a wealth of knowledge and insights.

Distinguished speakers from Women for Sustainability Africa, Youth Climate Council, and Open Knowledge Ghana graced the occasion, sharing invaluable lessons on the importance of open data, the role of Wikipedia for climate action, challenges in building climate resilience, data analytics for climate action, and emerging trends in technology for climate resilience.

It was intriguing for us to know that almost 90% of the students had no idea that every is welcome to contribute to Wikipedia and for most of them, they have been  with the myth that Wikipedia is not a credible site without verifying that statement themselves. Enlightening them about the value and opportunities Wikipedia offers was really intriguing to the student.

Moreover, the event served as a platform to introduce students to the Open Knowledge Foundation and Open Knowledge Ghana, the Wikimedia Community, and the Youth Climate Council enhancing a sense of community and encouraging active participation in the open knowledge movement surrounding climate change.

The enthusiasm among participants was obvious, with 51 students and a dedicated team of 7 individuals actively engaging in the session. Photos from the event capture the energy and excitement of the day, showcasing moments of learning and collaboration.

Looking ahead, participants have been enrolled in our community WhatsApp group, ensuring continued engagement and access to opportunities within the open knowledge space.

We extend our heartfelt gratitude to the Open Knowledge Foundation for their generous support, which made this event possible. Additionally, we thank Open Knowledge Ghana and the Youth Climate Council for their invaluable collaboration and support, as well as the University of Environment and Sustainable Development for welcoming us and providing a platform to engage with their students.

We also want to acknowledge our respective guest speakers in the persons of , Richard Martey from YCC Ghana, Anita Ofori, W4SAfrica, Ruby D-Brown, Maxwell Beganim from Open Knowledge Ghana.

As we reflect on the success of Open Data Day, we are inspired by the passion and dedication of all involved and look forward to future collaborations and initiatives aimed at driving meaningful change in the fight against climate change.

All photos credit – CC-BY-SA Women for Sustainability Africa

We reflect on the remarkable journey of the Wikipedia edit-a-thon that commemorated World Roma Day. This global event not only celebrated the rich tapestry of Roma culture and history but also aimed to bridge knowledge gaps within the vast expanse of the internet’s most extensive encyclopedia. The results were nothing short of extraordinary, with countless articles updated and expanded, shedding light on the stories and achievements of the Roma people.

Wikimedia Serbia organized the fifth global edit-a-thon to celebrate World Roma Day with the support of the CEE Hub. Volunteers worldwide wrote and improved articles on the Roma people and their history and culture. This campaign aims to combat prejudice and discrimination against Roma by spreading knowledge on Wikipedia and other Wiki projects. Roma Day Edit-a-thon was supported by Wikimedia Ukraine, Wikimedia Finland, Wikimedia Macedonia, Wikimedians of Albanian Language User Group, Wikimedia Community User Group Greece, Wikimedians of Romania and Moldova, Wikimedia Hungary and Wikimedians of the Republic of Srpska.

Page was created on Meta with a table containing a list of articles showing whether they exist in Wikipedia’s mentioned language edition. The list included different subcategories of topics, which made the list much easier to observe and navigate. This system allowed participants to work on translating articles if sources and literature on a given item did not exist in their language. Wikimedia affiliates and communities who were invited to join and support this event were countries and regions that have a significant Roma minority. Many affiliations and user groups organized a local version of this campaign.

The edit-a-thon lasted from the 1st until the 15th of April. This year, 42 participants from 8 language versions of Wikipedia wrote 116 and improved 9 articles. Wikipedians on Ukrainian, Serbian, and Macedonian Wikipedia contributed especially significantly to this event. The editors were also encouraged to work on Wikidata as well as on Wikiquote. On Wikidata, 51 new items were improved. On Wikiquote, 76 quotes were added. 

The final results can be viewed on Meta-wiki.

Articles about Romani people and their culture are an integral part of the CEE Spring competition, so editors from Central and Eastern Europe who are interested can contribute to this topic and participate in their local competitions until May 31st.

As we close the chapter on this year’s edit-a-thon, we invite you to join us next year. Whether you’re an experienced editor or new to the world of Wikipedia, your contributions can make a big impact. Together, let’s continue to enrich the narrative of the Roma community and ensure their history and culture are represented with the depth and respect they deserve.

Mark your calendars for next year’s World Roma Day, and be part of a movement that writes history, one edit at a time. 

United Nations Member States are drafting a vision for the future of the internet through the Global Digital Compact. We can ensure that the Wikimedia projects are protected.

United Nations (UN) Member States are outlining principles for an open, free, and secure digital future through a new international framework: the Global Digital Compact. Similar to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, the Compact will become the blueprint for how Member States shape their internet policies and develop regulation at the country level. Those policies and regulations will impact Wikimedia projects.

We want the Global Digital Compact to ensure that spaces exist in that digital future for community-led models centered on the public interest. This is especially important at a time when policymakers’ attempts to regulate the largest for-profit technology companies are increasingly resulting in unintended adverse consequences for community-led platforms like ours. The time to shape the text of the Compact is now, and Wikimedians have a unique story and experience to share. 

The Wikimedia Foundation and 12 Wikimedia affiliates have published an open letter as a call to UN Member States to include three key commitments in the Global Digital Compact. This blog post explains why influencing the Compact is essential for Wikimedia’s free and open knowledge mission, why we are publishing the open letter now, and how you can support this initiative.

Why is the Global Digital Compact important?

The Compact is being collaboratively created through a consultation process involving governments, civil society, the private sector, and more. UN Member States will vote on the final version of the Compact in September, 2024, at a special meeting known as the Summit of the Future that will focus on various aspects of global cooperation.

During the past two years, the Foundation and Wikimedia affiliates have been involved in the Compact drafting process. More recently, the Foundation and 12 Wikimedia affiliates have created a proposal to enshrine core principles that are essential to the Wikimedia movement, such as protecting community-led models, in the final version of the Compact. We believe this will both protect our projects and pave the way for similar projects to emerge and thrive in the future. 

For Wikimedia affiliates like Wikimedia Czech Republic, the Compact is a rare chance to proactively build a more inclusive online future:

In advocacy work, we often only react to changes in our legal and social environment that we were previously unable to influence. Thus, whenever there is an opportunity to participate in the creation of rules, and not only to follow them, we need to take it. The Global Digital Compact is such an opportunity. This initiative will influence the shape of the world in which Wikimedia projects operate, and here we can do something to help make the online space what we need it to be: A free digital space without barriers, which enables the free sharing of knowledge.

Why we are publishing this open letter now

Governments worldwide are increasingly proposing new legislation aimed at regulating the largest for-profit technology companies, but in doing so are inadvertently creating legal requirements that could harm Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects. Some measures proposed by governments in recent years both threaten the ability of volunteers to moderate content on the projects, and put pressure on the Foundation to violate our privacy principles and collect more information than is strictly necessary about users.

The creation of the Global Digital Compact is one of the most valuable opportunities to address these threats at the global level. Through this open letter, we are encouraging UN Member States to help us enshrine our values of community-led content moderation and governance in this global framework in order to protect our projects’ futures. The open letter builds on efforts over the past two years from the Wikimedia affiliates and the Foundation to help shape the Compact, mainly by providing both written and oral input into a number of public consultations. These include a comprehensive written submission in April 2023.

For Wikimedia User Group Nigeria and Wikimedia Chile, the Compact is a chance to highlight experiences from their communities at the global level. 

Wikimedia User Group Nigeria explained their challenges and aspirations:

Access to resources, knowledge, and power is not available in the same proportion among nations, and neither is access to technology. As an organization from the Global South, we desire a digital technological future that will benefit all and promote information transparency, equality, and safety of internet users everywhere.

Wikimedia Chile emphasized that the Compact offers a crucial opportunity to reshape digital governance:

Voices from the Global South are crucial to shaping this discussion. Our experiences are often overlooked when determining technology’s global impact and governance. We urge Wikimedia affiliates and volunteers to actively participate in this conversation, as it presents a rare opportunity to shape and safeguard the internet we desire.

Our open letter outlines key commitments that we want to have included in the final version of the Compact: principles that are fundamental to ensuring that the future of the internet is open, global, interoperable, inclusive, and grounded in human rights.

What we are saying in our open letter

The open letter that the Foundation and a dozen Wikimedia affiliates have published and signed asks UN Member States to enshrine three core principles in the Global Digital Compact that can help ensure that online public interest projects as well as the people who create them can continue to thrive:

1. Protect and empower communities to govern online public interest projects.  Free knowledge projects such as Wikipedia should not be rare. UN Member States should—through regulation, public policy, funding, and other resources—support a world where diverse online communities can build and govern their own public interest projects, designing them to be equitable and contributing to a healthier online information ecosystem. 
2. Promote and protect digital public goods by supporting a robust digital commons from which everyone, everywhere can benefit. Digital public goods such as Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects aim to make multilingual and intercultural information freely accessible to everyone. A thriving public domain that enables the sharing of free and openly licensed content for everyone to use and reuse is key to advancing many Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
3. Build and deploy Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to support and empower, not replace, people who create content and make decisions in the public interest. AI and machine learning tools should support, and not replace, the work of humans. They should be designed and deployed in a manner consistent with international human rights standards, ensuring clear and consistent attribution. Such tools should also ensure participation and control by affected communities through transparent, accountable, and open processes.

Wikimedia UK has campaigned these past years to educate lawmakers and prevent the unintended negative consequences of regulatory decisions that threaten Wikimedia projects. The Wikimedia affiliate noted:

The Global Digital Compact represents a unique opportunity for Wikimedians to work together, across nations, to determine how we can make the internet an even better place. It is important to balance user interests with protection and freedom for public interest projects and community-governed platforms. We hope that as many people as possible from across Wikimedia’s diverse communities will sign and share the open letter to help shape this important initiative.

The full potential of the internet—enabling collaboration, broadening access to knowledge, and advancing social progress—depends on a united effort from governments, policymakers, and civil society to protect public interest spaces online.

Sign the open letter to show your support for a digital future that protects Wikimedia and other community-led projects for future generations. You can also read more about the Global Digital Compact and the Wikimedia movement’s work to shape it on our campaign collaboration webpage on Meta-Wiki and in our Medium blog post. 

*      *       *

If you want to stay on top of everything you need to help us protect the Wikimedia model, its people, and its values, sign up for our quarterly newsletter.    

23 April 2024 — Today, the Wikimedia Foundation, the nonprofit organization that operates Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects, along with 12 Wikimedia affiliates, published an open letter calling on United Nations (UN) Member States to include commitments in the forthcoming Global Digital Compact that can allow online public interest projects, such as Wikipedia, to thrive. By protecting these projects and the communities that create them, the international community can ensure that the digital environment advances sustainable development and human rights.

The Global Digital Compact, which is being developed through a consultation process involving governments, the UN system, the private sector, civil society, grassroots organizations, academia, and individuals, aims to “outline shared principles for an open, free, and secure digital future for all.” It is the most comprehensive attempt ever at creating a vision for a shared approach to governing digital technologies. Set to be agreed at the Summit of the Future in September, this compact among UN Member States will help structure the future of digital cooperation and regulation for many countries around the world.

The letter released today highlights how Wikipedia’s community-governed model can serve as a roadmap for a better internet. Wikipedia is made and maintained by a global community of over 265,000 volunteer contributors who set and enforce policies to ensure that information on the platform is fact-based, neutral, and attributed to reliable sources. Over the last 20 years, Wikipedia’s human-centered content moderation model has established an unparalleled resource for reliable information in over 300 languages; its 62 million articles are viewed more than 15 billion times per month worldwide. Volunteers vigilantly defend against information that does not comply with the rules that they themselves have established and agreed upon. Furthermore, their volunteer-led process of content moderation is open and transparent. 

Wikipedia is also the only website in the top-ten most-visited global websites to be run by a nonprofit organization, the Wikimedia Foundation. The letter’s signatories, which include the Wikimedia Foundation and Wikimedia affiliates, are calling on the drafters of the Global Digital Compact to include three key commitments that can help ensure an open, global, interoperable, and inclusive internet upon which public interest projects such as Wikipedia, and the people who create them, depend:

1. Protect and empower communities to govern online public interest projects. 

Free knowledge projects such as Wikipedia should not be rare. UN Member States should — through regulation, public policy, funding, and other resources — support a world where diverse online communities can build and govern their own public interest projects, designing them to be equitable and contributing to a healthier online information ecosystem. 

2. Promote and protect digital public goods by supporting a robust digital commons from which everyone, everywhere can benefit.

Digital public goods such as Wikipedia and other Wikimedia projects aim to make multilingual and intercultural information freely accessible to everyone. A thriving public domain that enables the sharing of free and openly licensed content for everyone to use and reuse is key to advancing many Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

3. Build and deploy Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) to support and empower, not replace, people who create content and make decisions in the public interest.

AI and machine learning tools should support, and not replace, the work of humans. They should be designed and deployed in a manner consistent with international human rights standards, ensuring clear and consistent attribution. Such tools should also ensure participation and control by affected communities through transparent, accountable, and open processes.

Read more about these commitments in our open letter.

“As the world’s largest repository of human knowledge online, Wikipedia powers today’s digital knowledge ecosystem. It is one of the most important sources for training Large Language Models, and much of the information available from internet search engine results, voice assistants, and more comes from content on Wikimedia projects,” said Rebecca MacKinnon, VP of Global Advocacy at the Wikimedia Foundation. “Through the Global Digital Compact, we have the opportunity to safeguard the best of the internet — open, community-led online spaces that are built in the public interest. We’re calling on UN Member States to embrace these three commitments. In doing so, they will not only protect Wikipedia; they will protect the right of communities anywhere in the world to build new online projects that serve the public interest in a manner that is responsible, ethical, and inclusive.”

“The Global Digital Compact represents a critical moment for everyone who contributes to and cares about Wikipedia to shape and safeguard the internet we desire,” said Patricia Díaz Rubio, Executive Director of Wikimedia Chile, one of a dozen Wikimedia affiliates to sign onto the letter. “We urge other Wikimedia affiliates and volunteers to seize this opportunity to secure a global agreement that protects and empowers online communities, promotes digital public goods and commons, and harnesses the transformative power of emerging technologies in a way that serves the public interest.”

The publication of today’s open letter builds on efforts from the Wikimedia Foundation over the last two years to help shape the Global Digital Compact, including input into a number of consultations and a comprehensive written submission in April 2023. 

Organizations and individuals committed to supporting the future of online public interest projects are encouraged to sign the letter*in support. To learn more, see this blog.

About the Wikimedia Foundation

The Wikimedia Foundation is the nonprofit organization that operates Wikipedia and other Wikimedia free knowledge projects. Our vision is a world in which every single human can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. We believe that everyone has the potential to contribute something to our shared knowledge and that everyone should be able to access that knowledge freely. We host Wikipedia and the Wikimedia projects, build software experiences for reading, contributing, and sharing Wikimedia content; support the volunteer communities and partners who make Wikimedia possible. The Wikimedia Foundation is a United States 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization with offices in San Francisco, California, USA.

For media inquiries, please contact press@wikimedia.org.

About Wikimedia affiliates 

Wikimedia affiliates are a global network of groups that support Wikipedia, Wikimedia projects, and the mission of sharing free knowledge globally. They range from more formally established groups, like chapters, which often have their own staff and governance systems, to more informal groups of volunteers, such as user groups. There are currently 188 Wikimedia affiliates around the world.

*To sign the letter, please complete this Google Form. For details on how the information you share in this form will be handled, see this privacy statement.

Related content

Open letter to protect Wikipedia and other public interest projects in the Global Digital Compact

Sign the letter

Visit our Advocacy page and learn more about our initiatives

Learn more

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The Global Digital Compact is a unique and pivotal opportunity to shape our digital world in a manner that advances the public interest and supports sustainable development for everyone, everywhere. 

We, the signatories of this open letter, call on UN Member States to embrace a positive vision for the internet’s future that supports and empowers diverse communities everywhere to build and operate free and open knowledge projects. The Wikimedia projects, including Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, provide the world with the largest free and open, multilingual, intercultural, universally accessible repository of educational materials ever created. The volunteer-run Wikimedia projects have formed a community-led ecosystem that champions information integrity. They serve as digital public infrastructure for openly licensed, neutral, encyclopedic content in over 300 languages.

Wikipedia’s experience of over two decades has taught us that the internet needs to be open, global, interoperable, and inclusive in order to serve all of humanity. To that end, three essential commitments should be included in the text of the Global Digital Compact:

*To sign the letter, please complete this Google Form. For details on how the information you share in this form will be handled, see this privacy statement.

Co-signatories

Related content

Wikimedia Foundation and global communities call on UN Member States to protect Wikipedia and other public interest projects in the Global Digital Compact

Read more

Visit our Advocacy page and learn more about our initiatives

Learn more

The post Open letter to protect Wikipedia and other public interest projects in the Global Digital Compact appeared first on Wikimedia Foundation.

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Latest tech news from the Wikimedia technical community. Please tell other users about these changes. Not all changes will affect you. Translations are available.

Recent changes

• Starting this week, newcomers editing Wikipedia will be encouraged to try structured tasks. Structured tasks have been shown to improve newcomer activation and retention. [1]
• You can nominate your favorite tools for the fifth edition of the Coolest Tool Award. Nominations will be open until May 10.

Changes later this week

• The new version of MediaWiki will be on test wikis and MediaWiki.org from 23 April. It will be on non-Wikipedia wikis and some Wikipedias from 24 April. It will be on all wikis from 25 April (calendar). [2][3]

Future changes

• This is the last warning that by the end of May 2024 the Vector 2022 skin will no longer share site and user scripts/styles with old Vector. For user-scripts that you want to keep using on Vector 2022, copy the contents of Special:MyPage/vector.js to Special:MyPage/vector-2022.js. There are more technical details available. Interface administrators who foresee this leading to lots of technical support questions may wish to send a mass message to your community, as was done on French Wikipedia. [4]

Tech news prepared by Tech News writers and posted by bot • Contribute • Translate • Get help • Give feedback • Subscribe or unsubscribe.

11/04/2024-17/04/2024

Mapping

• [1] Christoph Hormann demonstrated his work during the recent Karlsruhe Hack Weekend to improve the way addresses and entrances are displayed. His modifications include more differentiated entrances icons and a new address rendering strategy. Alternative styles are available in the repository on GitHub.
• Sven Geggus has re-activated his unique map of campsites in OpenStreetMap that have been mislabelled, which had been offline for two years. It shows campsites that mistakenly contain other campsites.
• SeverinGeo argued that terrain and highway mapping is better suited for beginner mappers than building mapping, due to its relative ease and the limited availability of high-quality satellite imagery for buildings.
• The vote on the extended tagging of traffic_sign was cancelled and the proposal withdrawn. Up to this point, there had been 8 votes in favour, 26 against, and 4 abstentions.

Mapping campaigns

• GoWin wrote about a craft mapping campaign with students from the University of Bohol, Indonesia. The on-site observations were recorded on fieldpapers. The georeferenced photos, collected with OpenCamera, were uploaded to Panoramax.
• The Hub de Mapeo Abierto, from HOT, organised an outdoor mapping party in Medellín as part of #OpenDataDay.
• Contrapunctus offered practical advice on organising OpenStreetMap mapping parties, highlighting key areas such as choosing safe and practical locations, effective announcement and invitation strategies, necessary equipment, and efficient teaching and mapping techniques.

Community

• C-RadaR discussed ► various topics in their April edition:
  • Anna, from netzpolitik.org, addressed the inclusion of children in discussions on IT security and encryption.
  • Oliver, from the German Amateur Radio Club, detailed a training weekend for emergency radio communications.
  • Tobias, along with weeman, explored developments in the StreetComplete app, designed to improve OpenStreetMap data.

OpenStreetMap Foundation

• The OSMF provided details on the timing and effect of the shutdown of OAuth 1.0a and HTTP Basic Auth on OpenStreetMap.
• The Board of the OpenStreetMap Foundation will meet for two days in Frankfurt on 26 and 27 April 2024. Topic suggestions for this meeting can be submitted via the forum.
• The OpenStreetMap Foundation blogged three reasons to join the OSMF as a member:
  • You can nominate to serve as a member of the OSMF Board and influence the strategic plan and some of OSM’s finances.
  • You can vote in the annual Board elections, as well as on other foundation initiatives.
  • To help grow and diversify the OSM membership worldwide.

Events

• France’s national cartography institute is launching ► a major cartography competition, in which participants are invited to use the BD TOPO ► to create a cartographic, computer graphic, or artistic narrative on the subject of France’s territorial continuities and disparities.
• Cyberjuan introduced the programme and academic programme committees for SotM Latam 2024 ►, to be held on 7 and 8 December at the Instituto Federal do Pará in Belem, Brazil.

Education

• GOwin facilitated a workshop in Iloilo, Philippines, to train local disaster agencies in field mapping.
• The IVIDES Institute has held a short course on collaborative mapping with OpenStreetMap, which focused on disaster risk reduction (DRR) for civil defence employees from several states of Brazil. Dr Raquel Souto commented ► on this training in her diary, saying that she has written a preliminary list of features related to DRR and their corresponding tags.
• Carston Hernke explored sourcing data to map parcel lockers in Berlin. He covered data from Overture Maps and OpenStreetMap, using DuckDB to query and convert the data, and preparing to visualise the mapped data.

Humanitarian OSM

• OSM India, in collaboration with OSM West Bengal and OSM Jalpaiguri, has launched a mapping project to map all sorts of roads and buildings along the estimated path of the 31 March tornado.
• Supaplex discussed the use of three OpenStreetMap projects to map areas affected by the 2024 Hualien earthquake in Taiwan. These initiatives will focus on mapping buildings, roads, and waterways to aid recovery and rebuilding efforts. They will consider donating recent satellite imagery to improve mapping accuracy. There are also plans to organise on-site mapping events to support local communities once conditions have stabilised.

Maps

• On 14 April at 17:08 UTC, TheRukk, who is most likely a mapper based in Italy, uploaded changeset 150 million to OpenStreetMap. In this changeset, he used the StreetComplete editor to clarify the road surface of the section of road at the intersection around the Porta San Felice gate, Bologna.
• Last week we reported on the migration of the Deutsche Post locations map from a market competitor to OpenStreetMap. Daniel-j-h has taken a closer look at the technical solution used to build the map and published his analysis on Mastodon.
• Christoph Hormann discussed the history of digital map design, highlighting that while digitalisation has brought significant benefits such as increased efficiency, and accessibility to a wider audience. It has resulted in a considerable loss of design skills and cartographic techniques, many of which had been developed and refined to very high standards in earlier centuries.
• Christoph Hormann reviewed the evolution and diversity of map design within the OpenStreetMap community, examining various projects and styles that highlight both historical developments and current trends in cartography, focusing on different regional and technical approaches to map design.
• juminet tooted the new symbol renderings for Belgian businesses such as breweries and chip shops.
• Christopher Beddow explored the evolution of cartography in an article on unstructured reality, discussing how modern mapping techniques, such as the use of digital twins and symbolic maps, blend empirical data collection with symbolic representation to both capture and abstract reality, enriching our interaction with geographical information systems.

OSM in action

• PamPam has provided tools for creating simple, interactive maps that allow easy customisation and sharing of maps to enhance interactive geographic storytelling.
• Rihards Olups presented some real-world applications of OpenStreetMap, including:
  • A fire department that used OSM to map all the houses and fire hydrants in their area and uses OsmAnd to find the nearest hydrants and determine the best routes.
  • A rescue dog handler who has created their own OSM leaflet app to plan their missions.
• ls65536 has developed a virtual sailing navigation simulator that uses real geographical and near real-time weather and ocean data. It also has the ability to set up races to compete against others.

Software

• Michel Stuyts has created a user script that adds an OpenStreetMap link to Google search results for geographic locations in the European Union, following the changes in March 2024, when Google removed such links to its own maps.
• rtnf has built song lyrics that capture the essence of OSM well. Musically, this could be quite exciting, as this AI prototype shows. Surely we have musical mappers who can do this by people for people? But the choir? A task for the upcoming SotM perhaps 😉 JOSM also has its own song.
• Kamil Monicz talked about the recent improvements and future plans for his OpenStreetMap-NG project. Highlights include faster GPS trace uploads, new trace editing features, and easier navigation. Kamil also mentioned upcoming features and thanked community members and sponsors for supporting the project.
• Ilya Zverev, the developer behind well-known tools such as EveryDoor and Level0, has reminded us of his browser plugin for the fast editing of tags in OSM (we reported earlier). This plugin allows tags to be corrected much faster, without the loading times of the iD editor, and eliminates the need to copy URLs into Level0.

Programming

• Sam Woodcock from HOT described, in his diary, how the new ODK entities, introduced into the ODK field data collection Suite in 2023, can be used to track OSM objects, collect information about these and eventually update OSM tags for these objects.The HOT Field Mapping Tasking Manager example (background OSM map without attribution) shows how a Server and a Mobile tool from the ODK suite are used to coordinate field teams and collect data from the field. These two tools are available free and open source for any organisation that wants to deploy its own server. Paid hosted services are also available.
  • The ODK Central server stores survey data and lets teams coordinate field data collection. Entities can be stored with geometry and properties.
  • The Android ODK Collect application can be used offline to collect data in the field.

Releases

• OsmAnd 4.7 has been released for Android and iOS. The Android version comes with faster offline navigation, extracted route tags from OpenStreetMap data, and OAuth 2.0 for OSM login. The iOS version has a redesigned tracks menu (long press to upload changes to OpenStreetMap) and many new widgets.

Did you know …

• … the Babykarte? This is a map showing relevant POIs and information for parents and guardians of infants and toddlers (0 to 3 years of age).
• … that if you see outdated map tiles on OpenStreetMap then reloading the page without cache might help you?On Windows and Linux this can be done using the keyboard shortcut CTRL+F5, on macOS CMD+SHIFT+R (or CMD+OPTION+R for Safari). In Firefox for Android, hold down the page reload button.If these keyboard shortcuts are not available to you, then open the site in a private window (incognito mode).
• … that there is a wiki page with a detailed guide to mapping North Korea using satellite imagery? This guide focuses on various elements such as transportation, land use, and specific structures such as buildings and monuments. It also offers specific tagging recommendations for contributors to ensure accurate and standardised map entries, and discusses the challenges of mapping in a region with limited local data contributions.
• … the Open Brewery Map? A map that shows all the breweries mapped in OSM.
• … that you draw a circle with a specified radius around a point on the map by using this tool?

OSM in the media

• Anne-Karoline Distel has completed an extensive photographic survey of Kilkenny City, capturing 360° street-level imagery that is now available on Mapillary. This volunteer effort, supported by a European Camera Grant from Meta, aims to improve OpenStreetMap data by focusing on areas accessible to pedestrians and cyclists.

Other “geo” things

• The city council of Barcelona has organised the removal of a bus route from Google and Apple maps. This decision was made in response to resident complaints about being unable to return home due to the bus being constantly filled with tourists on their way to Park Güell, the city’s second most popular attraction after the Basílica de la Sagrada Família.
• In episode 229 of the Geomob podcast, Steven interviewed Sean Wiid about UP42, a geospatial marketplace that simplifies access to commercial geospatial data and processing algorithms. UP42 aims to address the issues of complexity and fragmentation in the earth observation and geospatial industry. Sean explained that UP42 is a user-friendly platform, which differentiates itself from competitors by focusing on providing an accessible interface and API for customers.
• You can learn how to use GeoParquet with Apache Sedona to improve Overture Maps data efficiency. This tutorial explains how GeoParquet improves spatial operations and data interoperability.
• The Overture Maps Foundation has released a first beta version of its global open map dataset, which integrates multiple open data sources and includes 54 million points of interest and 2.3 billion buildings. The dataset is designed to complement OpenStreetMap by providing users with a ready-to-use geospatial dataset.

Upcoming Events

Where	What	Online	When	Country
Rio de Janeiro	Oficina de importação de POIs no OpenStreetMap, a partir de um arquivo de pontos – YouthMappers UFRJ		2024-04-19
	Arricchire i dati di OSM con i linked open data: impariamo a usare QLever		2024-04-20
臺北市	OpenStreetMap Taiwan x Help.NGO Crisis Mapping for Hualien Earthquake mapathon		2024-04-22
	iD Community Chat		2024-04-24
Düsseldorf	Düsseldorfer OpenStreetMap-Treffen (online)		2024-04-24
Wien	71. Wiener OSM-Stammtisch		2024-04-24
Aachen	5. Treffen Aachener Stammtisch 2.0		2024-04-25
Potsdam	Radnetz Brandenburg Mapping Abend #6		2024-04-25
	OSMF Engineering Working Group meeting		2024-04-26
	OpenStreetMap visual impaired accessibility initiative – kickoff (online)		2024-04-27
Fianarantsoa	State of the Map Madagascar		2024-04-28 – 2024-04-29
Brno	Missing Maps Mapathon at the Department of Geography		2024-04-29
Fianarantsoa	OSM Africa April Mapathon – Map Madagasikara		2024-04-30
Dresden	OSM-Stammtisch Dresden		2024-05-02
Essen	FOSSGIS-OSM-Communitytreffen 2024 Nummer 20		2024-05-03 – 2024-05-05
Bochum	OSM-Workshop		2024-05-05
臺北市	OpenStreetMap x Wikidata Taipei #64		2024-05-06

Note:
If you like to see your event here, please put it into the OSM calendar. Only data which is there, will appear in weeklyOSM.

This weeklyOSM was produced by MatthiasMatthias, PierZen, Strubbl, TheSwavu, barefootstache, darkonus, derFred, euroPathfinder, mcliquid, rtnf.
We welcome link suggestions for the next issue via this form and look forward to your contributions.

Movement Strategy Recommendation 4 (Equity in Decision Making) and Initiative 24 (Movement Charter) are the bedrock which form the bases of the implementation of the Movement Charter Ambassador Program in the West African Region project. This iteration aims to ensure that both experienced and newly joined members of the Ghana and Nigeria Wikimedia communities are enlightened and well-informed about the full draft of the Charter and its entireties. The project took into consideration involvement and awareness of the community members on the contents of the Movement Charter and inviting them to share their feedbacks to some of the questions raised during the session. It also enlightened participants on the right approach on when, where and how to share their perspectives and opinions with regards to how the activities and governance of the Movement affects them as community and region. It also strive to inform the community members that decision-making processes within the Wikimedia Movement are fair, inclusive, and representative of the diverse voices and perspectives within the community and for them to fully be a part of these, they need to add their voices so as to ensure equitable balance in the Movement.

Key objectives of this iteration include:

• Introducing/reintroducing the MS recommendation 4 to the community members
• Informing about the Movement Charter Document.
• Notifying community members on the recent final draft of the Movement Charter.
• Equipping them with the right information to participate in conversation that identifies and addresses the Wikimedia Movement governance.

The West African Regional MC Implementation Team

The West African region team of Movement Charter Ambassadors that implemented the Nigeria and Ghana Wikimedia Communities/Movement Charter Ambassador Program include:

Iwuala Lucy: aWikimedian and language professional with a degree in Language Studies. Her passion for indigenous languages veered her toward the path of indigenous language advocacy and revitalization. She is passionate about contributing to free knowledge dissemination and documentation. She also uses the Wiki Projects as a means for advocating for the digitization and preservation of indigenous languages and sees the Igbo Wikipedia as a useful tool through which she could achieve this cause. She is the Project Lead.

Peace Chinwendu (Akwugo): A linguist and passionate about contributing to free and open knowledge projects. With a keen interest on improving language and Women Visibility, giving her an edge to see the Wiktionary as a tool to promote and preserve the indigenous languages. She has organized several projects to encourage knowledge Equity and knowledge as a Service of which the project Deepening Community Engagement on movement Strategy Implementation in the Igbo Community is one of them. She is responsible for the project documentation.

Onwuka Glory: An experienced Wikimedian – joined the movement in 2021 as a volunteer. Her passion for free knowledge accessibility led her to join and identify with groups such as: Wikimedia User Group Nigeria, Igbo Wikimedia User Group and Open Foundation West Africa. She is the project Communication manager.

Alhassan Mohammed Awal: Formerly the Communications Manager for the Dagbani Wikimedians User Group and is currently the Co-Lead for the Dagaare Wikimedia Community to provide general training and technical support on their language Wiki. He is a Language Activist, communication and social media enthusiast, a content creator, and a translator. He plays several voluntary roles in organizing Wikimedia projects and co-leading working groups, presentations in calls, and as well as during conferences.

Fuseini Mohammed Kamal-Deen: a Wikimedian in Residence and trainer who is passionate about using technology to promote education and cultural heritage. He is a co-lead of the Gurene Wikimedia Community and a member of the Cyber security professional Association in Ghana. He contributes to Wikimedia projects under the username User:Dnshitobu and is a co-facilitator in Dagbani Wikipedia Saha tele-education program on TV. He is a professional teacher with a background in Information technology and a volunteer for many other community organizations.

Ogalihillary: a Wikimedian from Nigeria, a member of the Igbo Wikimedia community, a core team member of the Igala Wikimedia Community, a member of the Igbo Wikimedia programs committee, a member of Wiki Loves Africa international team where he serves as an Ambassador to English speaking communities, the former community lead for IG WIKI-COMMONS Hub in the Igbo community. He plays several voluntary roles in organizing Wikimedia projects , online meetings and training for both the Igbo and Igala Community.

Timeline and Activities

To achieve the outlined objectives of the project, series of discussions, consultations, and meetings were held to ensure the success of the project both across the Ghana and Nigeria Wikimedia communities. The actvites listed below were tailored within the stipulated time.

• Translating the untranslated Movement Charter pages on Meta weeks before conversation
• First General Online conversation
• Second online conversation (Nigeria Wikimedia community)
• Feedback and brief writing (to be collated on a designated Etherpad)
• Final Report in English

First Online Conversation

On the 3rd April, 2024 the online launch of the Movement Charter Conversation in the Ghana and Nigeria Wikimedia communities was held with the invitation of Movement Charter Drafting Committee member (Ciell) who shared insights on the Movement Charter Document. The discussion focused on an overview of the draft and all the entities that made up the document and also discussed the movement charter and equity in decision-making explicitly.

The conversation touched on the historical background of the Wikimedia Foundation and its roles within the movement, proposed structures like the Global Council, and emphasized inclusivity. Insights on serving on the Global Council, qualifications required for membership, and responsibilities of different council bodies were also shared. Concerns about potential bureaucracies were addressed through role delineation between assembly and board members, proposing governance structure adjustments for efficient decision-making while ensuring accountability. Furthermore, the focus shifted to establishing the functions and structure of the Global Council Assembly for decision-making in the Wikimedia movement.

There was a highlight on the assembly’s role in providing direction through majority decisions and its interaction with the council, board, and subcommittees. The complexities of the Global Council, emphasizing strategic considerations by committees like the Movement Charter Drafting Committee, were also discussed. Support from Wikimedia Foundation staff for Global Council operations without forming a separate legal entity and collaboration between WMF liaisons and council members were underscored, ensuring alignment of community interests and organizational goals.

Second Online Conversation (Nigeria Wikimedians Community)

Snippets of the Movement Charter Conversation in the Nigerian Community

To ensure ensure that communities are fully engaged in the community review process, and full understanding of the Movement Charter content, the Movement Charter conversation was brought more closer to the individual communities which the Nigerian Communities had on 8th April 2024. this grassroot strategy was adopted to ensure that those who could not participate in the general online launch could be reached and well informed. This session also focuses on explaining the different parts of the proposed Movement Charter document, intimating the participants the topics and contents that make up the document, answering questions and sharing insights on what content is obtainable from the document for clarity and consulation.

Final Feedback

Snippets of the Final Feedback of the Movement Charter Conversation in the Ghana and Nigeria Wikimedia Community

In this session which was held on the 13th April 2024, participants were invited to share their opinion and give their feedback with regards to the movement charter document and the Wikimedia Movement governance which was collated via the Jamboard and Google form. This session offered the space to the participants to share their ideas with regards to their active participation and what they have learnt so far from the previous sessions.

Feedback and input gathered through these engagements will be used to inform the development of recommendations and proposals for enhancing equity in decision making within the Wikimedia movement. These recommendations will be presented for further discussion and refinement, with the ultimate goal of creating a more inclusive and participatory decision-making framework that reflects the values and principles of the movement as a whole.

Challenges and way forward

Challenges and difficulties are one of the elements that help shape and mould the outcome of a project. These challenges can make or mare the project success and includes:

• Time Difference: One of the challenges faced in the implementation of collaborative project, especially when there is difference in time zone and world view is difference in time zone and world view. These two elements were first put into consideration. Arriving at a convenient time and date that would ensure the active participation of the members of the two countries was one of the challenges faced during the implementation of the project – we were able to find a solution that saw to the success of the project.
• Internet Instability: Another challenge is the unstable nature of internet connection in this part of the world. Poor internet coverage made some interested participant to be absented during these conversation. However, despite the challenges faced, were were able to successfully implement the project and gained considerable insights in project management and implementation.
• Difficulties to understand the concepts: In addition, it was challenging to make the participants comprehend the distinction between the Movement Strategy and Movement Charter. Most of the participants did not read the learning resources before the discussion, and therefore found it difficult to differentiate between the two. However, some of them understood the difference, while some had a vague understanding and planned to go through the resources to gain a better understanding.
• Technical Mishap: Due to some technical glitches, the scheduled online conversation for the Ghana community was not accounted for.

Outcome and Impact

This 3rd iteration of the Movement Charter Conversation which took place in the West African Region countries of Ghana and Nigeria recorded over 40 online attendees. Adopting a 3 consecutive conversation sessions, which involve first a General online conversation, a country based conversation in Nigeria and a general feedback session which invited community members to share their observations and learnings from the 2 conversation organized. It is in this feedback session that their knowledge and understanding of the topic of the conversation was gauged. In The level of participants awareness and understanding towards the topic of the conversation was determine using the Jamboard and post-event survey. The summary of findings and its interpretation are logically captured on the West African Region Movement Charter Conversation Draft Implementation Plan Logic Model below.

Post Event Findings

It was observed that many participants from the two Wikimedia communities lacked knowledge about the Movement Charter document, based on their feedback during the general first online conversation and via Jamboard/Google form. There was also a misconception about who is eligible to contribute to the document. However, the feedback received during the session indicates that participants now have a better understanding of the document and have been empowered with the right information to actively participate in Wikimedia Movement activities and governance.

In this article, Eugene Ormandy from Japan, Caner from Turkey and Taufik Rosman from Malaysia introduce their activities in December 2023.

Logo

Caner created a logo for this project. The triangle came from the location of three countries and colors has meanings too. Turquoise is the historical and cultural color of Turkey, red one came from Japan flag and golden one came from Malaysia flag. In addition, interlocking triangles represent diversity.

Q1. How did you contribute to Wikimedia projects in December 2023?

Eugene Ormandy : I held a Japan-Malaysia Friendship editathon with Taufik. I am very honored that various institutions cooperated the event.

In addition, I wrote 6 articles on Diff and 2 articles on Japanese Wikipedia. Moreover, three articles in which I talked with Dr. Sae Kitamura (aka User:さえぼー) were published on a Japanese Web magazine. Of course I reported it on Diff.

It was a great pleasure that I could hold a Wikimedia lecture for librarians in December. I introduced how I enjoy contributing Wikimedia project based on a Diff article I wrote. Of course I reported the experience on Diff.

Caner : In December, as it was the end of the year, I prepared an Almanac consisting of the activities we carried out throughout 2023 as Wikimedia Community User Group Turkey.

Additionally, as the ambassador of the MCDC Ambassador Program, which we carried out within the Wikimedians of Turkic Languages User Group, I published the end of the program report on Diff.

Taufik Rosman : This month, we organised our Japan-Malaysia Wikipedia editathon for the second year. For this year, it was in conjunction with ASEAN and Japan 50 years anniversary. We were glad to organise this concurrently with Japan again.

Q2. What was the most impressive news of Wikimedia Movement in December 2023?

Eugene Ormandy : A Japanese Diff article titled 調査手法の一事例：些細な誤謬を訂正する was excellent. This is a report of how to utilize NDL Digital Collections, a service held by the National Diet Library Japan for editing a Wikipedia article. I think this article would become a good tool for persuading Japanese institutions to use their services for Wikimedia.

The author of this article is User:Uraniwa, a member of the Student Wikipedian Community in Waseda University Tokyo. I am very proud of collaborating with such a talented Wikimedian.

Caner : Diff articles published in December were the results and outcomes of Wikimania 2023. Because it aroused my curiosity about what kind of results an event I attended achieved. Also, I was very happy and motivated to see the huge team behind Wikimania 2023, the efforts put in and the success that resulted. Also, I was surprised and motivated to see the Wikimania Japan-Turkey Friendship Project, which we carried out with Eugene, among the outcomes.

Taufik Rosman : What caught my attention was this Diff post titled “There is a Wikipedian in the Village: The first training in a village in Turkey” by Adem. Malaysia tries to do more events in villages as most of them still practise their culture and indigenous languages.

Q3. What did you learn about your friends’ communities in December 2023?

Eugene Ormandy : I created an article of [[言語図書局]] on Japanese Wikipedia. It is one of the Malaysia’s government institution, which coordinating the use of the Malay language and Malay-language literature.

Caner : As an interest from my childhood, I found Yakisugi, a Japanese traditional wood preservation method, while researching Japan and Japan culture. When I saw that the article was not included in the Turkish Wikipedia, I immediately started translating it and published it. Additionally, this article I published made history as the first article published in Turkish Wikipedia in 2024 according to Wiki time.

Taufik Rosman : I was reading the Wikipedia article about the Ottoman architecture. Some of the buildings here in Malaysia especially mosques get their inspiration from Ottoman architecture.

Music

Eugene Ormandy : I was impressed by “THE GREATEST UNKNOWN,” the newest album of a Japanese band King Gnu. Complicated but melodious tunes knocked me out.

Caner : December is the last month of the year and is a time when we review what we have done and experienced throughout the year. While I was thinking about all this, Cüneyd Orhon‘s song called Rast Taksimi playing in the background made me go deeper, remember what I had forgotten, and end the year 2023 happily.

Taufik Rosman : For this month, I recommend to listen this Japanese pop song titled “Question” by meiyo. I listened to this exactly one year ago.

Wiki Education kicked off the month in Chicago, where four political scientists from across the country joined Scholars & Scientists Program Manager Will Kent for a panel discussion at the 81st annual Midwest Political Science Association (MPSA) conference.

For refugee resettlement expert Shyam Krishnan Sriram, participating in the panel, “Being a MPSA Wiki Scholar: Sharing Political Expertise on Wikipedia,”  was an opportunity to break from his typical engagement with the conference.

“The MPSA is an important conference and I have attended a dozen times in the last two decades,” said Sriram, assistant professor of political science at Canisius University. “When it was suggested to come together as a panel, I jumped at the chance because this professional development side of the conference is important to me – not just presenting original research.” 

Reflecting on their experience as participants of a recent Wiki Scholars course, each of the four scholars noted the importance of editing Wikipedia as a strategy to combat misinformation, particularly during the 2024 election year. Panelists also initiated conversations about the role Wikipedia can play in disseminating research, its relationship with artificial intelligence and large language models, and the challenges of biases against Wikipedia. 

“We agreed during the panel that the number one challenge was a vast amount of misinformation about Wikipedia and its legitimacy as an academic source,” noted Sriram. “We still have a lot of work to do!”

Panelist and doctoral student at the University of Georgia Yao Yao agreed, underscoring the importance of educating academics and students on the immeasurable value of Wikipedia.

“As a PhD student, I believe it’s crucial to challenge the notion that students should be discouraged from using Wikipedia,” said Yao, an American politics scholar. “Instead, we should educate them on how to leverage its benefits effectively.”

From her first day in the Wiki Scholars course, Yao was drawn to the “inclusive and collaborative nature” of the Wikipedia community, embracing the chance to question her assumptions, gain practical skills in content creation, and join the worldwide group of editors dedicated to sharing knowledge. 

“One aspect of the course that particularly resonated with me was its emphasis on overcoming bias and fostering confidence in editing Wikipedia,” said Yao. “I also appreciated the opportunity to learn the intricacies of article editing, even though some processes seemed complex initially. The course provided valuable guidance on editing various elements such as images and charts, which has expanded my skill set and deepened my understanding of content creation on Wikipedia.”

An idea championed by panelist Muhamad Hassan Bin Afzal, visiting professor in the Department of Political Science and Public Service at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga, the group plans to collaborate on a writing project which will examine the topics they discussed at the conference.

“The participants were so fun, engaged, and curious, and we’re even in talks about developing a paper for publication,” said panel chair Jacqueline M. Keil, assistant professor of political science at Kean University.

Wiki Education staff also engaged with all MPSA conference attendees from our booth in the exhibition hall. Both Kent and Wiki Education’s Communications and Outreach Coordinator Colleen McCoy connected with political science experts from across the globe, sharing information about our upcoming Wiki Scholars & Scientists professional development courses and the opportunity to teach with Wikipedia in our Wikipedia Student Program.

Apr 17, 10:58 UTC
Resolved - This incident has been resolved.

Apr 17, 10:10 UTC
Monitoring - A fix has been implemented and we are monitoring the results.

Apr 17, 09:38 UTC
Identified - The issue has been identified and a fix is being implemented.

Apr 17, 09:38 UTC
Update - We are continuing to investigate this issue.

Apr 17, 09:26 UTC
Investigating - We are aware of issues with accessing some wikis, and we are investigating.

By Rupal Karia, Outreach and Community Coordinator at Wikimedia UK

The UK has a thriving Wiki community, and coming together informally, in-person, can be an important opportunity for Wikipedians who enjoy interacting with people in real life as well as online.

Meet-ups are a space where you can connect with fellow Wikimedians, chat about Wikipedia and its sister projects, exchange ideas and support, meet other people who are passionate about open knowledge and feel part of the UK Wiki community. All meet-ups observe the Friendly Spaces Policy; commiting to providing a welcoming experience for everyone, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, disability, appearance, race, and religion (and not limited to those aspects). 

Whether you are new to Wiki projects or a long-time Wikimedian, there are meet-ups happening up and down the country where you can connect with fellow Wikimedians. Currently there are meet-ups in Leeds, Edinburgh, Brighton, Oxford and London.

You can find out more details about all the meet-ups here. If you would like to set up a Wikimedian meet-up in your area and would like some support from WMUK, please get in touch with us at volunteering@wikimedia.org.uk

The post Ways to connect – Wikimedian meet-ups across the UK appeared first on WMUK.

On r/AmItheAsshole, you tell your story about an interpersonal conflict, and, after 18 hours, a bot tallies the comments and labels the post as:

• YTA (you are the asshole)
• NTA (not the asshole)
• ESH (everyone sucks here)
• NAH (no asshole here)
• or INFO (more information needed)

How many people get voted the asshole? Thanks to bot data from u/phteven_j, here are the relevant statistics for 2022-Nov-01 to 2023-Apr-03.

• Total judgments: 45,597
• 445,160 Mod actions (remove, ban, etc)
• Banned users: 30,590
• 445 Average post upvotes
• 140 Average comments per post
• Average time til top comment posted: 14.5 minutes

Also, the Redditor who issued the top (most voted for) judgment receives a point toward their user flair rank. A user with the “Pooperintendant” flair has been the highest-voted top-level commenter fifty times! Again, with data from u/phteven_j, I’ve tabulated the number of those holding a rank. These are cumulative: a higher rank is counted in all lower ranks. Note that these ranks span the history of the subreddit, which has revised the system over that time (in 2019, five new ranks were added). This explains why, for a couple of higher ranks, there are more of them than a preceding rank.

04/04/2024-10/04/2024

Mapping

• Suresh Devalapalli described how to improve the quality of OpenStreetMap data by identifying and correcting untagged pedestrian crossings, which are critical to improving the accuracy of pedestrian networks in urban areas such as Los Angeles. Using algorithms, they have automated the detection and correction of mapping inconsistencies, significantly improving the utility of the data for navigation and planning.
• PineappleSkip has written a diary entry on tagging rural roads in Queensland, Australia.
• Minh Nguyễn has mapped all the time zones of the United States and their history going back to 1919, when time zones were first established in the US.
• Take part in the vote and discussion on the interpretation of maxwidth:physical for gates and doors, debating whether it refers to the passable width without opening or after the gate/door is fully opened.

Community

• Arjunaraoc shared his efforts at improving the accuracy of geospatial data on OpenStreetMap and Wikidata for Indian locations, focusing on correcting mismatches in the locations of villages in Andhra Pradesh.
• In the second week of their EU Camera Grant project Anne-Karoline Distel has uploaded around 30,000 images, using a GoPro Max, experimenting with different modes of transportation including cycling, walking, and taking the bus to capture imagery. Despite weather challenges, their efforts were enhanced by using an e-bike, allowing for broader coverage. They also discussed the project in a local radio interview and began testing uploads to Panoramax.
• bkil is calling for developers to help contribute to an OSM accessibility initiative. They want to aid blind editors and others with a disability through micro-mapping and documentation.
• In Timor-Leste, the Red Cross Red Crescent Climate Centre, in collaboration with local and international partners, is pioneering anticipatory action mapping to mitigate climate-related risks. This project uses satellite imagery to map critical infrastructure and is complemented by community knowledge of flood history and early warning mechanisms.
• GovernorKeagan continued his mapping efforts in Gqeberha, South Africa, focusing on adding missing buildings, micro-mapping schools and shopping centres, and making small corrections. His detailed work included correcting misalignments and improving data quality through local knowledge and aerial photography, making a significant contribution to the OpenStreetMap project in South Africa from Ireland.
• The UN Mappers of the Month for April are the extraordinary team of Chinese translators who translated the UN Maps Learning Hub courses: OSM Basics and OSM Advanced. Their dedication helps overcome language barriers, allowing future Chinese mappers to gain skills directly in their native language.

OpenStreetMap Foundation

• The OpenstreetMap Foundation’s Communication Working Group tweeted about weeklyOSM.
• The OSMF announced that the York Region Open Data provided under the Open Data Licence and OGL 1.0 Toronto have been deemed compatible with OSM by the LWG. It lists several licences, such as OGL Canada 2.0 and various local variants, and notes their compatibility with specific standards. The list is a work in progress and will be updated as more information becomes available.

Events

• The Heidelberg Institute for Geoinformation Technology will release Sketch Map Tool 2.0 on Tuesday 16 April. The new version will offer enhancements for participatory mapping with offline data collection, digitisation, and georeferencing. Join the launch event in the first session at 9 am or the second session at 5 pm (UTC+2).
• The call for academic track abstracts for the State of The Map 2024 is open until Friday 10 May.
• On Thursday 25 April the Trufi Association will host a webinar exploring GTFS-Flex’s potential. This extension to the General Transit Feed Specification can represent real-world dynamic conditions, including informal transport in the global South and services for communities supported by small urban, rural, and tribal transit agencies.

Education

• Zeke Farwell explored the art of mapping rural forests in JOSM by demonstrating how to efficiently outline forest areas using existing road maps. This tutorial reveals handy techniques, including the time-saving tip of using the ‘alt’ key for tagless copying, which makes forest mapping easier and more accurate.
• The IVIDES Institute have hosted ► a workshop on the collaborative mapping of points of interest (POI) with OpenStreetMap. Dr Raquel Souto commented ► about it in her diary, sharing that she presented on how to map coastal and marine POIs.

OSM research

• [1] GeoSDS team have analysed the emergency response time of ambulances in Jakarta, Indonesia, by using the emergency=ambulance_station tag in OpenStreetMap.
• A new study from Qi Zhou, Zixian Liu, and Zesheng Huang presented a method integrating OpenStreetMap and Google satellite imagery to map the road surface types (paved or unpaved) in Kenya, addressing the challenge of large-scale, accurate road surface identification. The dataset created contains over 1.2 million road segments, with the method proving highly accurate, offering valuable insights for improving local infrastructure and economic development.
• Rhett Butler discussed the significant effect of illegal ‘ghost roads’ on rainforests, focusing on their role in facilitating unauthorised access and deforestation. The article highlights the use of OpenStreetMap data to show how technology and mapping data can reveal the vast network of these roads and draw attention to the urgent need for conservation efforts in these critical areas. The study highlights the value of geospatial data in environmental conservation strategies.

Maps

• Berliner Badeseen (Berlin Bathing Lakes) puts the places in Berlin where you can swim (like beaches and lakes) on a map, indicating water quality with coloured umbrella icons and offering filters for personalised searches. It was created using Maperitive, OpenStreetMap data, and Leaflet.js, with water quality data from daten.berlin.de and swimming pool data from the municipal pool operator Berliner Bäderbetriebe.
• OSM India community member sahilister has started a thread on the OSM Community forum highlighting places in India that have highly detailed and beautiful looking maps on OSM. #NicelyMappedIndia places will be showcased on OSM India’s Mastodon and X handles.
• Nat Henry has launched Close, an interactive map that shows walkable, bikeable, and transit-friendly neighbourhoods across every block in the United States.
• Matt Whilden has created a map of the US state of Washington based on OSM data that can be searched using filters without having to follow Overpass syntax. Using an example, he shows how he can easily visualise Indian and Thai takeaway restaurants on the map with a very simple search query.

OSM in action

• ‘Infection Free Zone’, a post-apocalyptic strategy game, was launched on Steam Early Access on Thursday 11 April. The game features integration with OpenStreetMap, allowing players to rebuild cities in any real-world location, facing threats from the infected and resource scarcity. Players must make strategic decisions to ensure survival, using the game’s detailed replication of real-world topography to plan defences and resource gathering efficiently.
• The Russian marketplace Ozon is testing transitioning from Yandex Maps to its own geoplatform based on OSM data. Now OSM maps can be found on the page of order pick-up points and the website for selecting a location for opening pick-up points. The company is also testing a platform for filling in missing buildings and addresses in OSM based on messages from couriers.
• Bobropiton noticed that the public transport information boards in St. Petersburg are using an OpenStreetMap map.

Software

• Starting with version 19030, JOSM now builds for macOS, with native support for Apple Silicon.
• Mapilio has integrated OpenStreetMap login functionality, a significant step towards improving accessibility and map quality. This development allows users to seamlessly connect their OpenStreetMap accounts, making it easier to contribute and use Mapilio’s tools for a better mapping experience.
• Kamil Monicz discussed his progress in the development of OpenStreetMap’s NextGen, highlighting enhancements such as client-side SVG rendering for trace images for faster uploads and improved UI, and updates to deployment scripts, while thanking project sponsors and contributors.
• AlexandrPS has made a dark theme user style for osm.org and has improved the visibility of building outlines in the iD editor. By the way, there is documentation for the iD editor, which makes it easier to create your own styles.

Programming

• overturemaps-py is the official Python command-line tool of the Overture Maps Foundation, designed to download Overture Maps data in various formats, with features currently in the experimental phase.
• Alexander Nozik talked about the creation of maps-kt, a cartographic library for Compose Multiplatform.
• William Edmisten’s docker-openstreetmap-stack provides a set of Docker services to serve OpenStreetMap (OSM) tiles, routing, and geocoding. It includes detailed instructions on setting up the environment, prerequisites, hardware requirements, and steps to build the demo application, import data, and run the applications.
• Igor Sukhorukov spoke about openstreetmap_h3, a tool to help analyse OSM data, at the PGConf.Russia conference.

Did you know …

• … there is an OpenStreetMap tag on StackOverflow and GIS StackExchange?
• … the various options for supplying your Garmin devices with OSM maps?
  • OpenTopoMap
  • Speichenkarte ►
  • Garmin’s TopoActive ►
  • kleineisel.de
  • VeloMap
  • WanderReitKarte.de ►
  • thkukuk.de ►
  • freizeitkarte-osm.de ►
  • hscholland.de ►
  • OpenHiking.eu
  • hike-and-bike.ch
• … there are wikis that are focused solely on highways? AARoads covers North America and SABRE covers the UK and Ireland.

OSM in the media

• Elias Probst has discovered and Paketda! reported ► that the Post and DHL Group now use OpenStreetMap instead of the previous Google Maps service for the display of branches and packing stations on their website and in the Post and DHL app ►. A step that, according to CHIP, was probably motivated ► by financial considerations.

Other “geo” things

• Students from the University of Stralsund, in collaboration with the Störtebeker Brewery, have developed ► a ‘beer map’ comparing 13 different types of beer in a project that combines scientific analysis with beer tasting. Guided by statistical standards, the project aims to help beer lovers identify their favourite beers more easily, using multi-dimensional statistics to map the similarities and differences in flavour profiles.
• OpenCage’s last #geoweirdness toot was about Finland to celebrate the GeoMob event held on 9 April in Turku.

Upcoming Events

Where	What	Online	When	Country
Berlin	190. Berlin-Brandenburg OpenStreetMap Stammtisch		2024-04-12
	OSMF Membership Campaign Webinar		2024-04-13
Dover	Beer and Mapping!		2024-04-13 – 2024-04-14
Delhi Cantonment	7th OSM Delhi Mapping Party		2024-04-13
	OpenStreetMap visual impaired accessibility initiative – kickoff (online)		2024-04-13
City of Belmont	Social Mapping Sunday: Ascot Bridge		2024-04-14
København	OSMmapperCPH		2024-04-14
Žilina	Missing Maps mapathon Žilina #13		2024-04-15
Amsterdam	Maptime Amsterdam – Spring Mapping!		2024-04-15
Budapest	2024.04 – OSM találkozó		2024-04-15
Hannover	OSM-Stammtisch Hannover		2024-04-15
Berlin	DRK Beginner Online Mapathon	✓	2024-04-15
England	OSM UK Online Chat	✓	2024-04-15
Tagbilaran	OSM-PH outreach in Tagbilaran, with UB-YMC		2024-04-16
Lyon	Réunion du groupe local de Lyon		2024-04-16
San Jose	South Bay Map Night	✓	2024-04-17
Bonn	174. OSM-Stammtisch Bonn		2024-04-16
City of Edinburgh	OSM Edinburgh pub meetup		2024-04-16
	[Online] Map-py Wednesday		2024-04-17
Bielefeld	OSM Ostwestfalen-Lippe		2024-04-17
Kiel	Mapping-Party “Surveillance under surveillance” Kiel		2024-04-17
Karlsruhe	Stammtisch Karlsruhe		2024-04-17
	iD Community Chat		2024-04-24
Düsseldorf	Düsseldorfer OpenStreetMap-Treffen (online)		2024-04-24
Wien	71. Wiener OSM-Stammtisch		2024-04-24
Aachen	5. Treffen Aachener Stammtisch 2.0		2024-04-25
Potsdam	Radnetz Brandenburg Mapping Abend #6		2024-04-25
Fianarantsoa	State of the Map Madagascar		2024-04-28 – 2024-04-29

Note:
If you like to see your event here, please put it into the OSM calendar. Only data which is there, will appear in weeklyOSM.

This weeklyOSM was produced by MatthiasMatthias, Strubbl, TheSwavu, TrickyFoxy, YoViajo, barefootstache, derFred, euroPathfinder, mcliquid, muramototomoya, rtnf.
We welcome link suggestions for the next issue via this form and look forward to your contributions.

For Jessica Allison of the Detroit Institute of Arts, participating in Wiki Education’s recent Art History Wiki Scholars course presented the opportunity to improve Wikipedia articles using sources at her fingertips – the works housed in her museum’s own collection.

To find her starting point, Allison assembled a comprehensive list of works in the museum’s collection that related to the course themes and then explored Wikipedia to discover which of the works were already featured as articles. Her search led to the Wikipedia article about “The Jewish Cemetery”, a 17th century oil painting by the Dutch artist Jacob van Ruisdael.

“I came across the article for the Jewish Cemetery and noticed that some of the information, especially around provenance, was not accurate or as clearly described as what we had in our database,” said Allison, Collections Database Manager. “I wanted to check the sources and make sure we could update the article to share a clearer timeline of how the painting made its way into our collection.”

Allison did just that and more, tackling the project head-on. During her participation in the Wiki Scholars course, she added nearly 3,500 words and 36 references to the article, completely transforming several existing sections and adding a new section featuring the exhibition history of the painting.

Allison, along with her colleagues, continues to engage with and learn about Wikipedia and Wikidata to understand how to make accurate and robust information about their collections more accessible to the public. She encourages other professionals across all disciplines to lend their unique expertise, noting how the awareness of and immediate access to sources can save significant research time.

“Wikipedia can be a really great source of information for users looking to know more on certain subjects, but the articles are only as good as the sources and information that someone is able to provide,” said Allison. “Having resources and professional knowledge on a subject and being able to share it in this way helps everyone.”

When reflecting on her participation in the course, Allison noted the fun of rediscovering practices she hasn’t employed since her time as an art history student.

“My favorite part about editing Wikipedia is getting to spend some time researching and writing about works in our collection and using skills I don’t often get to utilize since finishing school,” said Allison. “It is nice to slow down and learn more about a work and be able to turn that knowledge into something accessible and easy to read for the public so that they can learn more about the work as well, and maybe they’ll decide to come check out the collection in person.”

Funded by Samuel H. Kress Foundation and led by Wiki Education in fall 2023, the 10-week Art History Wiki Scholars course focused on training scholars in pre-modern European art and architecture how to add their expertise to this underdeveloped subject area on Wikipedia. The collective contributions of Allison and the other 19 course participants have been viewed on Wikipedia nearly 3 million times.