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State of Openness in India's E-Governance Applications

Upasana Hembram — 2025-03-26T02:01:18Z

Open source software (OSS), also commonly known as free and open source software (FOSS) or free libre open source software (FLOSS), is software that is made available with its source code. It is licensed liberally, granting users access to study, use, modify, improve, or redistribute it. This work was sponsored by Mozilla Foundation.

In this context, the term ‘open’ refers to the source code being made available without having to pay royalties or licensing fees, while the term ‘free’ refers to the freedom to copy and use the software rather than being ‘free of cost’. The two organisations that are the self-appointed custodians of these definitions are the Free Software Foundation (FSF)2 and the Open Software Initiative (OSI).3 While the two organisations and the two terms resulted from different philosophies and represent different methodologies, the FSF and OSI acknowledge that for all practical purposes, “they both refer to essentially the same thing”4; “however, the differences in extension of the category are small: nearly all free software is open source, and nearly all open source software is free.

Click to download the research paper authored by Upasana Hembram and reviewed by Divyansha Sehgal. Shared under Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/state-of-openness-in-indias-e-governance-applications

Envisioning the Role of Open Knowledge in the Implementation of the National Education Policy 2020

Ashwini Lele — 2024-08-27T14:53:13Z

The National Education Policy 2020 brings a significant change in India's educational landscape, representing a comprehensive overhaul to address the evolving developmental imperatives of the country.

This latest report by CIS-A2K delves into the potential role of 'Open Knowledge' players within the framework of the NEP 2020, aiming to provide insights and recommendations for effective implementation. This study focuses on Wikimedia ‘open knowledge’ platform amongst all available digital open knowledge platforms.

Wikimedia initiatives have already been successfully integrated into various higher education institutions, such as Christ University and Goa University, where students engaged in writing and editing Wikipedia articles as part of their coursework. These experiences illustrate how open knowledge platforms can cultivate essential skills such as research, writing, and digital literacy among students.

The NEP 2020 encourages the use of open knowledge systems to support interdisciplinary learning and creativity. By leveraging platforms like Wikipedia, educators can facilitate collaborative learning and critical thinking, aligning with NEP's goals of fostering cognitive and emotional competencies. The report identifies key areas where Wikimedia can contribute, including the development of multilingual content and the enhancement of digital skills.

NEP 2020 presents a unique opportunity to formalize the role of open knowledge ecosystems in education, promoting a shift from rote learning to a more engaging, participatory approach that prepares students for the complexities of the modern world.

Read the report here

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/envisioning-role-of-open-knowledge-in-implementation-of-national-education-policy

Commemorating Chandan Chiring (1990-2024)

Nayan Jyoti Nath and Ajay Das — 2024-05-07T23:51:28Z

"ৱিকিপ্ৰকল্পসমূহৰ সম্পাদনাৰ দুৱাৰ সকলোৰে বাবে মুকলি। ই কোনো নিৰ্দিষ্ট সংখ্যাত্মক লক্ষ্য আগত ৰাখি কৰা কাম নহয়। ই এক নিৰৱচ্ছিন্ন প্ৰক্ৰিয়া। বৰ্তমান সময়ত অসমীয়া ৱিকিপিডিয়াত লিখিবলগীয়া বিষয় আছে অগণন, ৱিকিউৎসত সন্নিৱিষ্ট কৰিবলগীয়া গ্ৰন্থও আছে অগণন। সেইদৰে ৱিকিউদ্ধৃতিত সন্নিৱিষ্ট কৰিবলগীয়া লেখাৰ সংখ্যাও গণিব নোৱাৰা। ৱিকিউদ্ধৃতিয়ে পূৰ্ণাংগ ৰূপ পোৱাৰ পিছত এতিয়া আমি অন্যান্য ৱিকিপ্ৰকল্প যেনে ৱিকিঅভিধান, ৱিকিগ্ৰন্থ, ৱিকিসংবাদ আদিলৈয়ো মন মেলিব পাৰোঁ। কিন্তু ইয়াৰ বাবে আমাক লাগিব আমাৰ মাতৃভাষাটোৰ প্ৰতি আন্তৰিক দায়িত্ববোধ, এক শক্তিশালী কৰ্মদল আৰু সাংগঠনিক কাৰ্যকৰিতা। ইয়াৰ লগতে আমি এই কথাত গুৰুত্ব দিব লাগিব যে খৰধৰকৈ অপৈণত বহু কাম কৰাতকৈ নিয়মিতভাৱে উন্নত মানৰ কাম কৰি কিদৰে অসমীয়া ৱিকিপ্ৰকল্পসমূহৰ গুণগত মান বজাই ৰাখিব পৰা যায়।"
- চন্দন চিৰিং ফুকন

(Editing WikiProjects is open to everyone, without specific numerical goals in mind, as it's a continuous process. Currently, there are countless articles awaiting creation on the Assamese Wikipedia, numerous books to be added to Wikisource, and an endless amount of content for Wikiquotes. Once the Wikiquotes project gains its complete form, we can shift attention to other projects like Wiktionary, Wikibooks, and Wikinews. However, achieving this requires a genuine sense of responsibility toward one's mother tongue, a robust workforce, and effective organization. Moreover, maintaining the quality of Assamese wiki projects necessitates consistent, high-quality contributions, rather than rushing to produce a large quantity of immature work.
Chandan Chiring Phukan)

With a heavy heart, I am deeply saddened to share the news of the passing of Chandan Chiring Phukan at 11:30 pm on Saturday, April 27th. Chandan Chiring was born on November 14, 1990, in Titabor, Jorhat district of Assam. He completed his primary and higher secondary education in Titabor and obtained Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Commerce from B Barooah College and KC Das Commerce College, Guwahati. After completing his education, he started his career in a private institution and moved on to work as a District Account Manager in the ASSAM STATE RURAL LIVELIHOOD MISSION (ASRLM) department of the Government of Assam owing to his talent. He began his career as a government employee in Barpeta district of Assam and was transferred to Majuli in July 2023 after two years. Chandan entered the world of literature at an early age and published his poems in several Assamese children's magazines ever since he was in school. Chandan always carried the ocean of Assamese art and culture in his heart. He was also interested in Indigenous food cultures, especially South Asian cuisine. He had a special place in his heart for Indian as well as Greek mythology and the Harry Potter films. He cherished an interest in gardening and photography. Despite his busy schedule, he enjoyed reading books and spending time on wikis.

After the transfer, he was affected with chronic dysentery, which gradually developed multiple internal infections, and experienced decreased immunity. He was under treatment for three months and was unable to walk. He slowly recovered and took care of his body at home for a few days. One day after Bahag Bihu, he started having fever and his health deteriorated, leading to his passing on April 27th.

Feeling that Chandan had recovered from his illness, he became more aware of his tastes. He dreamt of publishing a book of children's poems and fairy tales from around the world, but this dream didn’t become reality.

Chandan Da's passing hits close to home for me, as he was not just a fellow Wikimedian but a dear friend within my small circle of trusted individuals, a circle I hold tightly due to my introverted nature. Despite never meeting him in person, Chandan Da became a guiding light in my Wikimedia journey. His commitment to quality over quantity was evident in the 583 pages he created in Assamese Wikipedia despite the challenges of limited typing tools and keyboards around 2012, when he joined. His dedication extended to editing, with a remarkable 12,893 edits on Assamese Wikipedia, 1090 on Assamese Wikisource, and 1289 on Assamese Wikiquote, where he also served as an administrator. Chandan Da's contributions weren't confined to his native language; he uploaded 632 images and documents to Commons and participated in numerous Wiki workshops and conferences, including the Wiki Tea table meet at Assam College of Engineering on October 25, 2014, the Assamese Wikimedians' Conference and Workshop at Pragjyotish College on January 2, 2022, and a significant Train the Trainer (TTT) event in Kerala from September 28 to October 1, 2023. His total global edits amounted to an impressive 19,520. His impact reverberates through the Wikimedia community, inspiring newcomers and veterans alike.

Chandan Da's message for the community was published in the Assamese wikipatrika in September 2012, November 2015, May 2016, and May 2023 editions. He actively participated in publishing the wikipatrika regularly, starting from its first issue in September 2012. For his tireless efforts, he received many barnstars and accolades, totalling 34 barnstars, including The Original Barnstar, The Tireless Contributor Barnstar, Asian Month 2023 Barnstar, and The Teamwork Barnstar. He possessed great leadership qualities, always pushing others to contribute and do something for their mother tongue. He single-handedly contributed to getting a domain for Assamese Wikiquote and tirelessly contributed while encouraging others to do the same. Despite being hospitalized for around three months and facing difficulties in speaking and seeing clearly, he participated in the feminism and folklore campaign, creating 47 articles and becoming the fourth highest contributor from Assamese.

Although advised to rest after gaining strength, he fell ill again, but even on his deathbed, he was organizing an edit-a-thon on Assamese Wikiquote from April 22nd to April 28th. Unfortunately, he passed away on April 27th at 11:30 pm. We shared almost everything, discussing vast topics from films to mythology, personal matters to serious issues, and from food to travel. All of these conversations will be missed dearly. Since joining the service, I hardly had time to contribute to Wiki, but he always insisted that I contribute in any form. His encouragement and inspiration were the driving forces behind my recent activity on Wiki. He also consistently reminded me to attend the monthly Wiki meet, which I shamefully avoided many times due to my nature. His impact on the Assamese Wiki community cannot be forgotten. His loss is deeply felt not only by the Assamese wiki community but by the entire Indic wiki community. Today, the entire Assamese wiki family mourns his loss as Asomi Aai lost one of her dearest sons. As Jean-Paul Sartre said, "The only way to deal with death is to transform everything that precedes it into art." Chandan Da's contributions to Wiki, his poems, his dreams—all are art that will eternally remain in our hearts. May his departed soul find peace.

This article was written by Nayan Jyoti Nath, an Assamese Wikimedian. Ajay Das is the co-author.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/commemorating-chandan-chiring

Open Movement in India (2013-23): The Idea and Its Expressions

soni — 2024-02-13T02:57:29Z

This report identifies some broad patterns that have materialized in the Open Movement in the country in the last decade. The report is based on a reading of the available literature on selected projects and conversations with academicians and advocates of the Open. The rough outline of the Open initiatives is accompanied by reflections on the nature of the Open here and the need to envision it differently from what it currently is.

The report was prepared by Soni Wadhwa, and the visual elements of this study have been sourced by Joseph Francis. CIS’s Access to Knowledge team is grateful to Soni for embarking on the study and making the recommendations. The full report can be read here.

Open, as an idea, has not received systematic attention in India. Openness as a philosophy is rooted in the belief that sharing ideas and resources is healthy for the knowledge economy, especially in contemporary times. This sharing does not take anything away from any entity; rather, it enables collaboration and innovation for the larger social good. With the Internet and digital technology, one can see the faster spread of such innovation across the globe while also allowing for plenty of room for its adaptation to regional contexts. Anchored in the thought and efforts of individuals such as Richard Stallman (1992; 2002; 2006; 2009) and Tim Berners-Lee (Berners Lee, 2004; Berners-Lee, Hendler and Lassila, 2001; Berners-Lee et al 1992; Berners-Lee and Tim, 2010; Berners-Lee, Tim and Hendler, 2001; Berners-Lee, Tim and Shadbollt, 2011; Bizer, Heath and Berners-Lee 2011) who take a view contrary to that of keeping public funded research and innovation locked away under copyright and patent laws, the Open Movement originated in the Global North.

In the West, specifically in the USA, with the support from the institutions such as the Hewlett Foundation and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, the manifestation of the Open Movement through the push for OER (Open Educational Resources) translated into a greater uptake from educational institutions such as Rice University and the MIT (through MIT OCW – Open CourseWare)(Bliss and Smith, 2017). With prestigious universities offering MOOCs (massive open online courses) through platforms such as edX and Coursera, educational resources have come to be seen as a social good: keeping them available for mass access has been an intentional move towards equal access to quality educational materials. In addition to OER, Open Access (the idea that research funded by public funds need to be made available publicly rather than behind a paywall erected by commercial publishers), as an expression of the Open Movement, has also been present in institutional funding mechanisms in the West, again, especially in the USA. A lot of research emerging out of grants extended to individuals and institutions have space for allocation of funds towards the cost of Open Access publishing for dissemination of results. Several other initiatives such as the Creative Commons, and the Wikimedia Foundation have been working towards making Openness a reality by charting out various projects, pathways, and initiatives to keep knowledge accessible to all for learning as well as collaboration.

In India, the state of the Open Movement is thrown into stark relief by the much longer and much more engaged Western imagination and practice of Openness. Indeed, studying its contours here is equivalent to studying its absences and is therefore very challenging. Here, Open, as an idea, has come via the West and still seems to be struggling to be defined and accepted as an ideal to strive towards. It is an alien concept, deeply misunderstood by the stakeholders who control sharing of knowledge resources: policy makers, legislators, leaders of research and institutions, and researchers and academicians in general.

To suggest another example, a pilot survey of Indian faculty members’ attitudes towards use of Open Knowledge sources such as Wikipedia in Indian classrooms reveals that faculty members are very suspicious and skeptical of such sources. They see it as a source of misinformation and therefore, as unreliable.What gets missed is the idea that the content on these sources is not merely for consumption of information and knowledge but are also platforms for knowledge creation and collaboration. In contrast to the two scenarios of OER and Open Access mentioned above, India does not show a long history of organized effort towards making information and knowledge accessible to all, not just through earmarking funds or mechanisms for making publicly funded research available in the public domain via Open Access, but through nurturing a culture of the Open as the default mode of dissemination.

What, then, are we to make of the direction in which the Open Movement is headed in India? Is it possible to shape its trajectory in India? Is it possible to ascertain the ways in which the ideas or benefits of the Open can be made to resonate with the Indian educational and research scenario? Can Indian educators and researchers afford to stay out of the Open ecosystem? What alternative modes of innovation do they champion? These are the questions that this study of the Open Movement in India in the last decade (2013-2023) seeks to explore.

The study is not an exhaustive one: it looks at only some examples that engage with the idea of the Open. The selective nature of the study is informed by two rationales. One, an all-encompassing review would be impossible given the constraints on time and resources: indeed, such a review would be the task of a full-fledged tracking project (which is one of the futures that this report suggests at the end). Two, given that Open does not have a clear pathway or a central, strategic vision to drive it as a movement, the selection of projects themselves is a symptom of the disjointed ways in which the idea of Open struggles to take shape or survive in India.

The year 2013 has been chosen as a starting point for this exploration because it was the year the Wikimedia Foundation extended a grant to the Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore, to work with various Wikipedia communities in India towards the growth of the Open ecosystem in India. This last decade then is of grave importance to the CIS because it helps the organization reflect on their own work vis-a-vis that of other Open advocates CIS’s work, since then, is available on its website through details of its initiatives via its Access to Knowledge and Openness Programmes (see, for instance, their work on bridging gender gap on Indian Wikimedia communities, apart from a host of other training and advocacy initiatives here). This study is an aid to survey the idea and expressions of the Open as a broader movement and thus help CIS reflect on new directions and strategies to be pursued in the near future, to begin with.

However, there is more to the year 2013 than the happenstance of the grant to CIS per se: indeed, one can spot other organized efforts emerging in the Indian ecosystem since then. NPTEL (National Programme on Technology Enhanced Learning), which was established in 2003, began to offer MOOCs on its platform in 2014. Coincidentally, 2013 was also the year the Bichitra Project (an online variorum of the work of the Indian Nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore), funded by the Ministry of Culture, went live. Together, the international foray into the Indian Open Movement and the governmental gravitas to strive towards making education and the literature of a great Indian author) accessible provide the rationale for this study’s focus on the examination of the nature of championing for the cause of the Open, its successes, failures, and potential for its growth in the next decade.

The approach or methodology to explore answers to these questions involved: analysis of primary as well as secondary research available on the different initiatives in India; interactions with experts working in the Open domain in India including some Indian academicians, especially on the discussion of Open Access which impacts their publishing record, and in turn, impacts their career advancement. The reading and the conversations supplemented each other in the process of investigation: the existing literature provided facts through texts (blogs, papers, documentation on websites and so on) while the interactions opened up more nuances of intersections through perspectives that do not always make it to the static texts.

Any study on the Open Movement in India owes a huge debt to Arul George Scaria’s gargantuan Open Science India Report (2019). At over 350 pages, it is a detailed study of Open Access projects and also includes a survey conducted among academic fraternity. It also offers concrete suggestions to strengthen access in research. It is remarkable for the larger view it takes of access to include access for persons with disabilities and access in terms of language, suggesting that research should also be accessible in Indian languages, and also in jargon-free English for wider audiences. Apart from Scaria’s study, there are journalistic pieces about Open Data in India, given the relevance it has for governance.

This current study does not aspire to be monumental like Scaria’s. However, it is hoped that its relevance to the ongoing conversations about openness would be noted at at least two levels. One, between 2019 (when Scaria’s report was published) and 2023 (the end point of this study), socioeconomic changes such as COVID-19 and the resulting remote work, one expects, have highlighted the significance of openness. For instance, given the serious constraints it posed for travel, a lot of commercial publishers kept their resources open so that further research, within medicine and outside, could keep happening. Thus, it becomes imperative to understand if the Indian ecosystem displayed any stronger endeavor towards openness. To anticipate a couple of suggestions discussed in the report below, certain things such as Indian researchers’ apathy or disdain for Open Access has not quite changed in the span of these four years. However, Government of India’s open initiatives such as Anuvadini and Bhashini around tools for navigating and producing content in Indian languages have started to appear.

Two, Scaria’s study subsumed all knowledge under “science”: in other words, science, in his report, is a metonym for knowledge. This current study, in being inclusive of humanities and the arts, especially as relevant to Open GLAM (Galleries, Libraries, Archives, Museums), engages with knowledge or movement in general irrespective of its disciplinary boundaries.

With that statement on where this report is situated, some notes about its structure are in order. This study begins with an overview of the legal and policy environment in India. It then moves on to explore the nature of Open projects in India. There are many ways to organize the narrative around Openness, with the domain wise bifurcation of the different aspects of the Open (The OPEN Movements, 2023). In contrast, this goes on to organize the projects around positionalities, rather than the domains. That is, the different projects and initiatives are narrativised as:

Public funded projects: These are endeavors emerging from funds provided by the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Culture and distributed via grants to Higher Education Institutes in India, especially the IITs. They stand out as one category in that they are characterized by:

The vision to provide basic infrastructure of education and archival material in the public domain
The capacity to think and execute in terms of massive impact and scale
A wide scope for aiming higher in terms of innovation, approach, and access

Volunteer undertakings: These are projects undertaken by non governmental organizations such as the Sanchaya Foundation, SFLC (Software Freedom Law Centre) and FOSSUnited characterized by:

A niche focus on a language or a domain or an audience
A preoccupation with developing a community rather than delivering an output
A qualitative aspect to engagement and documentation, as opposed to impact in terms of numbers

Within volunteer undertakings, the role of philanthropic foundations is very briefly touched upon. There are entities such as the SRTT (Sir Ratan Tata Trust) and SDTT (Sir Dorabji Tata Trust) that supported the cause of the Open in the initial stages via their investment in the larger educational and cultural cause. These foundations also seem to have discontinued their efforts in the long term perhaps given the scope of work involved. In addition to philanthropic foundations, mention is also made of international projects. The international Open Knowledge projects in India involve the Wikimedia Foundation and the Mozilla Foundation that have funded various initiatives in India and have continued to stay invested in the larger vision as well as execution of Openness through their grants.

The discussion of the above mentioned types of projects is followed by an examination of the attitudes of academicians teaching at Higher Education Institutes towards Open Access as a specific niche within the Open Movement. Conversation with faculty members in different institutions reveals that Open as an idea is not quite clear to the academia, or at least occupies a space of dissonance: while it is desired as an ideal, it is very strongly constrained by the judgments of fellow peers and employing institutions. In contrast, conversations with experts in Open Access reveals that Open Access deserves a much stronger effort: not just to push for policy changes but also to decolonize Indian academia.

The study concludes with some threads that can be pursued from the projects the Open Movement in India has witnessed in the last decade. These points of engagement could become points of reflection for further initiatives in the next decade or two.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/open-movement-in-india-idea-and-its-expressions

Security of Open Source Software : A Survey of Technical Stakeholders’ Perceptions and Actions

Divyansha Sehgal — 2023-04-13T06:01:31Z

Open-source software (OSS) components are largely assumed to be secure due to their open nature. However, that is not always the case. Of late, there has been an increased incidence of software supply-chain issues, with some industry reports estimating a 300% increase in attacks that exploit existing vulnerabilities between 2020 and 2021.
This report by Centre for Internet and Society surveys technical stakeholders to determine how they select OSS components to use in their projects and how they think broadly about the security of the projects they create.

Highlights:

90% of respondents work in companies with a dedicated team responsible for the security of software. 80% of them do not carry out any further security checks on an OSS once it has been approved for use by their security teams.
80% of respondents see comprehensive documentation as an important factor when selecting an OSS for use.
70% of respondents report validating dependencies in their selected open-source software component.
50% of respondents consider how actively an open-source software is maintained before selecting it for their projects.
40% of respondents do not anticipate accidental exploitation of vulnerabilities or expect malice from bad actors when they create software.
30% of respondents report not doing any post-release maintenance on the OSS component used and deployed.

Click to download the full report

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/security-of-open-source-software-a-survey-of-technical-stakeholders2019-perceptions-and-actions-1

Securing Our Dependence on Code Reuse in Software

divyank — 2023-04-13T05:47:00Z

Dividing and breaking up a software project into smaller modules with functionality that can be reused to build other software is an increasingly common practice in software development today. We examine our infrastructural dependence on reuse of open-source software (OSS) components, examine the unique security risks posed by the widespread reuse of code, and survey systemic solutions to securing code reuse.

Dividing and breaking up a software project into smaller modules with functionality that can be reused to build other software is an increasingly common practice in software development today. Much of this reuse happens in the form of open-source software (OSS) packages, i.e. software whose source code is openly available on the internet with a permissive licence which allows for its reuse and modification. A study that analysed the composition of over 2400 commercial software applications from seventeen industries found that, on average, 78% of the code used to build them was open-source software – indicating that code reuse is not merely supplemental, but foundational to software development processes today. Relying on domain experts to build and maintain the functionality that is ancillary to a software application’s primary purpose saves effort and allows application developers to focus on their own work domains. For instance, a developer building a video conferencing application – such as Zoom – may reuse an open-source library called ffmpeg to encode and decode video streams, or another open-source component, OpenSSL, to encrypt and decrypt the encoded streams as they are transmitted over the internet, rather than reimplementing this functionality from scratch.

Despite the well-known practical benefits of code reuse and its prevalence in all of the digital products and services our society relies on, several security incidents in widely used OSS projects have shown that such projects are often underfunded and under-maintained. The ‘Heartbleed’ vulnerability most clearly illustrates this. In 2014, a security vulnerability in the OpenSSL software library – which is widely used to encrypt web traffic – affected about one-fifth of the servers on the internet. Malicious actors could have exploited this vulnerability to decrypt all of the data that these servers handled and even impersonated them.

In this report, we examine our infrastructural dependence on reuse of OSS components and develop an understanding of the security risks posed by the widespread reuse of code that is developed and maintained by untrusted individuals and organisations that have no obligation to provide these services or any subsequent support.

We present an analysis of common security issues in OSS packages, with a focus on the unique security issues that arise in the tooling and processes used to store, distribute and operate reused code. Finally, we survey solutions and frameworks which seek to address some of these issues on a systemic level.

This report is primarily aimed at regulators, technical decision-makers and organisations invested in furthering research in this area. It can also serve as a starting point for software developers who want to learn about the common security pitfalls of using OSS components and how they can avoid them.

Click to download the full report

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/securing-our-dependence-on-code-reuse-in-software

Digitisation of O Bharat, a bilingual biweekly published in Goa from 1912 to 1949

subodh — 2022-10-11T14:53:58Z

The digitization project of O Bharat, a historic biweekly published between 1912 to 1949 in Goa was completed through collaboration of different organizations. The trustees of Bharatkar Hegde Desai Trust initiated the project in collaboration with Marathi department of Goa University, Bhakti Dnyan Marg Sanstha and Goa Central Library. The Centre for Internet and Society's Access to Knowledge Programme facilitated the project with technical and financial assistance. Two local students scanned 12000 pages in 8 days. The year wise volumes of O Bharat are now freely available on Wikimedia Commons in the form of archive.


Above: Front page of O Bharat in Portuguese	Above: Front page of O Bharat in Marathi

Context

It all started like this. During the Wikimedia session at Goa University in October 2021, it was realised that there is very little documentation about the ‘Goa Liberation Struggle’ on Wikimedia projects. So, in the meeting Prof. Vinay Madgaonkar from the Marathi language department took the lead to develop a project around this theme.

The exhaustive list of freedom fighters, major incidents in history, the places related with struggle, monuments and memorials was prepared. The next day, to have a glimpse of the situation on ground, we toured a few places and monuments in South Goa. As we were shocked to see the sorry state of the memorials, we came across a monument of Govind Pundalik Hegde Desai known as Bharatkar (an editor of O Bharat), in a lush green forest near Quepem village. Being curious to know about the history of O Bharat publication, Prof. Vinay introduced us to the grandson of Bharatkar, Adv. Khagendra Desai who founded Bharatkar Hegde Desai Trust, non-profit organisation in Goa to archive the works of Bharatkar.

As both of us share the same vision, CIS-A2K partnered with Bharatkar Hegde Desai Trust, to relicense and digitise freedom fighter Bharatkar’s ‘O Bharat,’ a Marathi-Portuguese bilingual weekly, currently housed at Goa Central Public Library.

About the 36 Year Run of ‘O Bharat’ upto India’s Independence

Freedom fighter, social reformer and journalist 'Bharat'kar Govind Pundalik Hegde Desai, (7th Nov 1885 - 15th Aug 1949), started 'O Bharat' (in Portuguese) or 'Bharat' (in Marathi) on 6th November 1912. For 36 years thereafter, Bharatkar courageously protested the Portuguese occupation, relentlessly advocated radical and progressive social reforms and doggedly championed the cause of an independent and sovereign Indian Goa.

Partnerships

The partnerships with various stakeholders were developed after a series of discussions and official communications. The Bharatkar Hegde Desai Trust obtained official permissions from the State Government departments for the access of O Bharat volumes in the library. Goa Central Public Library provided access to the bound volumes of O Bharat and permission to scan them. Another local organisation, Bhakti Dnyan Marg Sanstha in association with Goa University Marathi Department identified few students for the digitisation.

Digitisation process and launch on Wikimedia Commons

The trustees of Bharatkar Hegde Desai Trust relicensed the two volumes of selected editorials published in 2018 and the whole O Bharat issues into CC-BY-SA 4.0. We conducted digitisation training with Prof. Vinay Madgaonkar and students, Shravani Parab and Shridhar Raut, from Goa University to scan 12000 pages in 8 days. The officials of Goa Central Public Library cooperated in access to original volumes and in the process of digitisation. The Chief Minister of Goa inaugurated the project on Wikimedia Commons on India’s 75th Independence day, 15 August 2022. The year wise volumes of ‘O Bharat’ are now freely accessible to anyone in the world at any time anywhere. The uploading of the volumes is in progress.

Media links

The event of launching digitised content on Wikimedia was very well received by the people in Goa. The researchers, students, readers and journalists will have this reference value content while exploring the history of Goa. Various national and local media published the news covering all the aspects of this archive. The links are given below -

This was originally published on Wikimedia Blog in September 2022

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/digitisation-of-o-bharat

Digitisation of O Bharat, a bilingual biweekly published in Goa from 1912 to 1949

subodh — 2022-10-11T13:11:15Z

Context

About the 36 Year Run of ‘O Bharat’ upto India’s Independence

Partnerships

Digitisation process and launch on Wikimedia Commons

Media links

This was originally published on Wikimedia Blog in September 2022

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/digitisation-o-bharat

Call for Survey Responses: Security Perceptions of Open Source Software Among Practitioners

Divyansha Sehgal — 2021-11-30T05:14:46Z

Most software projects today contain open source components. Some industry estimates put the number at 500+ OSS components per app. Centre for Internet and Society is studying the security impact of the widespread use of these (often under-maintained) projects.

The survey for this study here

If you use any open source components for your job, your input around how you select components to use would help us understand industry standards around the use of OSS.

Even if you’re not a part of the security teams in your organization, please take this survey! It will help us understand how you select OSS components and you may learn ways to vet your own dependencies.

The survey should take around 30 minutes to complete. As a token of our gratitude for your time and your survey contributions, we would like to send you an Amazon India Gift Card for Rs. 250. Please be sure to include your email address since it will be used to send the Gift Card at the end of the week.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/call-for-survey-responses-security-perceptions-of-open-source-software-among-practitioners

Gurshabad Grover nominated to join advisory group on open source software for ISO/IEC JTC 1

Admin — 2019-11-02T05:17:24Z

Gurshabad Grover has been nominated through the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) to be a member of the Advisory Group AG) on Open Source Software for ISO/IEC JTC 1.

JTC 1 deals with international standards on information technology. This AG is currently documenting requirements and potential opportunities for industry use of open source software for all work areas under the various committees of JTC 1.

For more details visit http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/gurshabad-grover-nominated-to-join-advisory-group-on-open-source-software-for-iso-iec-jtc-1