The Centre for Internet and Society
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October 2014 Bulletin
http://editors.cis-india.org/about/newsletters/october-2014-bulletin
<b>Welcome to the tenth issue of the newsletter (October 2014).</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">We at the Centre for Internet & Society (CIS) welcome you to the tenth issue of the newsletter (October 2014). Archives of our newsletters can be accessed at: <a href="http://cis-india.org/about/newsletters">http://cis-india.org/about/newsletters</a></p>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; ">Highlights</h2>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> CIS sent its <a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/comments-to-rights-of-persons-with-disablities-bill-2014">comments and recommendations</a> on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill, 2014. It was submitted to the Parliamentary Standing Committee in October 2014. </li>
<li> CIS has published the <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/central-guidelines-and-schemes">Central Guidelines and Schemes</a>. </li>
<li> CIS was one of the signatories of a <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/letter-to-prime-minister-on-indo-us-bilateral-relations-on-intellectual-property">letter</a> sent to the Prime Minister of India Shri Narendra Modi sharing its concerns on India's position on intellectual property, particularly in the context of bilateral relations between the United States of America and India. The letter was sent on October 22, 2014. </li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>In 2013, the Indian Patent Office released Draft Guidelines for the Examination of Computer Related Inventions, in an effort to clarify some of the ambiguity. Shashank Singh <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/guidelines-for-examination-of-computer-related-inventions">analyses</a> the various responses by the stakeholders to these Guidelines and highlights the various issues put forth in the responses.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> Subhashish Panigrahi wrote an op-ed in <a href="http://cis-india.org/openness/blog/subhashish-panigrahi-october-13-2014-editorial-in-samaja">the Samaja</a> (Odia daily) on the hurdles that the Odia language has been facing and the potential aspects of the language including it being used massively on the Internet, Wikipedia and other media platforms. </li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>International Telecommunications Union is hosting its Plenipotentiary Conference this year in South Korea. India introduced a new draft resolution on ITU's Role in Realising Secure Information Society. The Draft Resolution has grave implications for human rights and Internet governance. Geetha Hariharan <a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/good-intentions-going-awry-i-why-india2019s-proposal-at-the-itu-is-troubling-for-internet-freedoms"> analyses </a> this.</li>
</ul>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> Vipul Kharbanda <a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/dna-database-for-missing-persons-and-unidentified-dead-bodies">analyses</a> the possible implications of the public interest litigation that has been placed before the Supreme Court petitioning for the establishment of a DNA database in respect to unidentified bodies in his latest blog entry. </li>
<li> In a blog post published in Lila Interactions P.P.Sneha <a href="http://cis-india.org/raw/lila-inter-actions-october-14-2014-rethinking-conditions-of-access">explores</a> the possibilities of redefining the idea of access through the channels of education and learning. </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">►Job</p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/jobs/programme-officer-institutional-partnership">Programme Officer</a> (Access to Knowledge - Institutional Partnerships): CIS is seeking applications for the post of Programme Officer for its Access to Knowledge (A2K) Programme. The position will be based in its Bangalore office. Programme Officer will collaboratively work with the A2K Team and would report to the Programme Director, Access to Knowledge at CIS. </li>
</ul>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility">Accessibility and Inclusion</a></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Under a grant from the Hans Foundation we are doing two projects. The first project is on creating a national resource kit of state-wise laws, policies and programmes on issues relating to persons with disabilities in India. CIS in partnership with CLPR (Centre for Law and Policy Research) compiled the National Compendium of Policies, Programmes and Schemes for Persons with Disabilities (29 states and 6 union territories). The updated draft is being reviewed by the Office of the Chief Commissioner for Persons with Disabilities. The draft chapters and the quarterly reports can be accessed on the <a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/resources/national-resource-kit-project">project page</a>. The second project is on developing text-to-speech software for 15 Indian languages. The progress made so far in the project can be accessed <a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/resources/nvda-text-to-speech-synthesizer">here</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">►NVDA and eSpeak</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Monthly Update</b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/october-2014-nvda-report.pdf">October 2014 Report</a> (Suman Dogra; October 31, 2014). </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">►Other</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Submission</b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/comments-to-rights-of-persons-with-disablities-bill-2014"><b> </b>Comments to the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill </a> , 2014 (Nirmita Narasimhan and Anandhi Viswanathan; October 30, 2014). </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Blog Entries</b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/central-guidelines-and-schemes">Central Guidelines and Schemes</a> (Anandhi Viswanathan, October 14, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/blog/the-legal-framework-for-enforcement-of-rights-of-persons-with-disabilities"> The Legal Framework for Enforcement of Rights of Persons with Disabilities </a> (CLPR; October 14, 2014). </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Media Coverage</b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/accessibility/news/the-hill-john-d-kemp-and-brandon-m-macsata-october-13-2014-communication-technology-opens-doors-for-everyone-not-only-people-with-disabilities"> Communication technology opens 'doors' for everyone, not only people with disabilities </a> (John D. Kemp and Brandon M. Macsata, The Hill, October 13, 2014). </li>
</ul>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k">Access to Knowledge</a></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">As part of the Access to Knowledge programme we are doing two projects. The first one (Pervasive Technologies) under a grant from the International Development Research Centre (IDRC) is for research on the complex interplay between pervasive technologies and intellectual property to support intellectual property norms that encourage the proliferation and development of such technologies as a social good. The second one (Wikipedia) under a grant from the Wikimedia Foundation is for the growth of Indic language communities and projects by designing community collaborations and partnerships that recruit and cultivate new editors and explore innovative approaches to building projects.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Blog Entries</b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/letter-to-prime-minister-on-indo-us-bilateral-relations-on-intellectual-property"><b> </b>Letter to the Prime Minister on Indo-US Bilateral Relations on Intellectual Property </a> (Nehaa Chaudhari; October 22, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/guidelines-for-examination-of-computer-related-inventions"> Guidelines for Examination of Computer Related Inventions: Mapping the Stakeholders' Response </a> (Shashank Singh; October 29, 2014). </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">►Wikipedia</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">As part of the <a href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/access-to-knowledge-program-plan">project grant from the Wikimedia Foundation</a> we have reached out to more than 3500 people across India by organizing more than 100 outreach events and catalysed the release of encyclopaedic and other content under the Creative Commons (CC-BY-3.0) license in four Indian languages (21 books in Telugu, 13 in Odia, 4 volumes of encyclopaedia in Konkani and 6 volumes in Kannada, and 1 book on Odia language history in English).</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Blog Entries</b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog/subhashish-panigrahi-october-13-2014-editorial-in-samaja"><b> </b>ଓଡ଼ିଆ ଭାଷା ବିକାଶରେ ପ୍ରତିବନ୍ଧକ ଓ ସମ୍ଭାବନା </a> (Subhashish Panigrahi, Samaja; October 13, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog/bharat-majhi-writings-now-available-under-cc-license"> Bharat Majhi Writings Now Available Under a Creative Commons License </a> (Subhashish Panigrahi; October 14, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog/global-voices-subhashish-panigrahi-october-18-2014-more-than-400-million-people-await-launch-of-odia-wikisource"> More Than 40 Million People Await the Launch of Odia Wikisource </a> (Subhashish Panigrahi, Global Voices and Wikimedia Blog; October 21, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog/ramakrushna-nanda-four-books-under-cc-license"> Odia Littérateur Ramakrushna Nanda's 4 Books Now Available Under a Creative Commons License </a> (Subhashish Panigrahi; October 22, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/openness/blog/open-source-subhashish-panigrahi-october-22-2014-open-access-platform-to-save-the-odia-indian-language"> Open Access Platform to Save the Odia Indian Language </a> (Subhashish Panigrahi, Opensource.com; October 22, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/blog/odia-wikisource-goes-live">Odia Wikisource Goes Live!</a> (Subhashish Panigrahi; October 26, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/openness/blog/samskrita-vaibhavam">Samskrita Vaibhavam</a> (Sanskrit Wiki Outreach Program) (Shubha and Sayant Mahato; October 30, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/openness/blog/tulu-wikipedia-workshop-cum-editathon-at-udupi">Tulu Wikipedia Workshop cum Editathon at Udupi</a> (Dr. U.B.Pavanaja, October 31, 2014). The event was covered by <a href="http://v4news.com/enliven-the-tulu-viki-fidia-first-and-then-add-tulu-to-the-8th-schedule-dr-ug-pavanaja-bangalore-rep-in-udupi/"> V4News.com </a> and <a href="http://www.mangaloretoday.com/newsbriefs/2-Day-Workshop-on-Tulu-in-internet.html">Mangalore Today</a>. </li>
<li> <a href="http://cis-india.org/openness/blog/converting-from-non-unicode-nudi-baraha-font-encoding-to-unicode-kannada"> Converting from nonUnicode (Nudi, Baraha, ...) font encoding to Unicode Kannada </a> (Dr. U.B.Pavanaja; October 31, 2014). </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Events Co-organized</b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/events/sangeet-baithak">Sangeet Baithak: A Hindustani Music Resource Donation Event in Mumbai</a> (Organized by CIS-A2K and Khayal Trust; Shivaji Park, Dadar, Mumbai; October 7, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/events/india-women-in-science-wiki-edit-a-thon">Indian Women in Science Wiki edit-a-thon</a> (Organized by IndoBioScience and CIS-A2K; Centre for Ecological Sciences, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore; October 11, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/events/ada-lovelace-edit-a-thon-2014">Ada Lovelace Edit-a-thon 2014</a> (Organized by IndoBioScience and CIS-A2K; Urban Solace; October 14, 2014). </li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; ">News and Media Coverage</h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS-A2K team gave its inputs to the following media coverage:</p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> <a href="http://v4news.com/enliven-the-tulu-viki-fidia-first-and-then-add-tulu-to-the-8th-schedule-dr-ug-pavanaja-bangalore-rep-in-udupi/"> Enliven the Tulu Viki Fidia first and then add Tulu to the 8th Schedule : Dr.UG Pavanaja, Bangalore Rep. in Udupi </a> (V4News.com; October 15, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/mangalore-today-october-17-2014-wikipedia-can-establish-tulu-in-a-wider-way"> Wikipedia can establish Tulu in a wider way </a> (Mangalore Today; October 17, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/the-hindu-renuka-phadnis-october-19-2014-wikipedia-editathon-attempts-to-raise-awareness-of-the-contribution-of-indian-women-to-science"> Pushing women scientists </a> (Renuka Phadnis; Hindu; October 19, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/karnataka-muslims-nisar-ahmed-syed-october-22-2014-wiki-media-foundation-keen-on-developing-urdu-wikipedia"> Wiki Media Foundation keen on developing Urdu Wikipedia </a> (Nisar Ahmed Syed; October 22, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/siasat-daily-october-24-2014-wiki-media-foundation-keen-on-developing-urdu-wikipedia"> Wiki Media Foundation keen on developing Urdu Wikipedia </a> (Siasat Daily; October 24, 2014). </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Participation in Event</b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/barcamp-bangalore">Barcamp Bangalore</a> (Organized by SAP Labs; Bangalore; October 12, 2014). Dr. U.B.Pavanaja and Rahmanuddin Shaik took part in the event. </li>
</ul>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://cis-india.org/internet-governance">Internet Governance</a></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">►Privacy</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">As part of our Surveillance and Freedom: Global Understandings and Rights Development (SAFEGUARD) project with Privacy International we are engaged in enhancing respect for the right to privacy in developing countries. We have produced the following outputs during the month although these may not be part of the SAFEGUARD project:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Blog Entries</b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/gujarat-high-court-judgment-on-snoopgate-issue"><b> </b>The Gujarat High Court Judgment on the Snoopgate Issue </a> (Vipul Kharbanda; October 27, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/dna-database-for-missing-persons-and-unidentified-dead-bodies"> DNA Database for Missing Persons and Unidentified Dead Bodies </a> (Vipul Kharbanda; October 31, 2014). </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Upcoming Event</b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/cpdp-2015">CPDP 2015</a> : The eighth international conference on computers, privacy and data protection will be held in Brussels from January 21 to 23, 2015. CIS is a moral supporter of CPDP. </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Participation in Events</b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/training-for-internet-governance-activists"><b> </b>Training for Internet Governance Activists </a> (Organized by Global Partners Digital, UK; Cambridge; September 23 - 24, 2014). Geetha Hariharan attended the event. <i>The event was held in September and the details published in October</i>. </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/india-conference-cyber-security-and-cyber-governance"> The India Conference on Cyber Security and Cyber Governance </a> (Organized by FICCI and CYFY; October 15 - 17, 2014; New Delhi). CIS was a knowledge partner. Sunil Abraham was a panelist in the session "Privacy is Dead". </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/expert-consultation-on-cyber-security-justice-and-governance"> Expert Consultation on Cyber Security, Justice and Governance </a> (Organized by Hague Institute for Global Justice, Observer Research Foundation and STIMSON; October 18, 2014). Sunil Abraham was a speaker in the session "Internet Access, Freedom Online, and Development in the Global South". </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">►Free Speech</p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/good-intentions-going-awry-i-why-india2019s-proposal-at-the-itu-is-troubling-for-internet-freedoms"> Good Intentions, Recalcitrant Text - I: Why India's Proposal at the ITU is Troubling for Internet Freedoms </a> (Geeta Hariharan; October 28, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/good-intentions-recalcitrant-text-2013-ii-what-india2019s-itu-proposal-may-mean-for-internet-governance"> Good Intentions, Recalcitrant Text - II: What India's ITU Proposal May Mean for Internet Governance </a> (Geeta Hariharan; November 1, 2014). </li>
</ul>
<h3 style="text-align: justify; "><br /> <a href="http://cis-india.org/news">News & Media Coverage</a></h3>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS gave its inputs to the following media coverage:</p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/washington-post-october-9-2014-rama-lakshmi-is-india-the-next-frontier-for-facebook"> Is India the next frontier for Facebook? </a> (Rama Lakshmi; Washington Post; October 9, 2014). </li>
<li> <a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/financial-express-october-23-2014-j-anand-if-mncs-make-early-inroads-they-will-keep-market-share"> If MNCs make early inroads, they will keep market share: Sunil Abraham, CIS </a> (J.Anand; Financial Express; October 23, 2014). </li>
</ul>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://cis-india.org/raw/digital-humanities">Digital Humanities</a></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">CIS is building research clusters in the field of Digital Humanities. The Digital will be used as a way of unpacking the debates in humanities and social sciences and look at the new frameworks, concepts and ideas that emerge in our engagement with the digital. The clusters aim to produce and document new conversations and debates that shape the contours of Digital Humanities in Asia:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Blog Entry</b></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b> </b></p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<b> </b>
<li><b> </b><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/raw/lila-inter-actions-october-14-2014-rethinking-conditions-of-access">Rethinking Conditions of Access</a> (P.P.Sneha, Lilainteractions; October 15, 2014). </li>
</ul>
<h2 style="text-align: justify; "><a href="http://cis-india.org/">About CIS</a></h2>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The Centre for Internet and Society is a non-profit research organization that works on policy issues relating to freedom of expression, privacy, accessibility for persons with disabilities, access to knowledge and IPR reform, and openness (including open government, FOSS, open standards, etc.), and engages in academic research on digital natives and digital humanities.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">► Follow us elsewhere</p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li> Twitter:<a href="https://twitter.com/CISA2K"> </a><a href="https://twitter.com/CISA2K">https://twitter.com/CISA2K</a> </li>
<li> Facebook group: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/cisa2k">https://www.facebook.com/cisa2k</a> </li>
<li> Visit us at:<a href="https://cis-india.org/"> </a> <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge">https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/India_Access_To_Knowledge</a> </li>
<li> E-mail: <a href="mailto:a2k@cis-india.org">a2k@cis-india.org</a> </li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">► Support Us</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Please help us defend consumer / citizen rights on the Internet! Write a cheque in favour of 'The Centre for Internet and Society' and mail it to us at No. 194, 2nd 'C' Cross, Domlur, 2nd Stage, Bengaluru - 5600 71.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">► Request for Collaboration:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">We invite researchers, practitioners, and theoreticians, both organisationally and as individuals, to collaboratively engage with Internet and society and improve our understanding of this new field. To discuss the research collaborations, write to Sunil Abraham, Executive Director, at<a href="mailto:sunil@cis-india.org">sunil@cis-india.org</a> or Nishant Shah, Director - Research, at <a href="mailto:nishant@cis-india.org">nishant@cis-india.org</a>. To discuss collaborations on Indic language Wikipedia, write to T. Vishnu Vardhan, Programme Director, A2K, at <a href="mailto:vishnu@cis-india.org">vishnu@cis-india.org</a>.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><i> CIS is grateful to its primary donor the Kusuma Trust founded by Anurag Dikshit and Soma Pujari, philanthropists of Indian origin for its core funding and support for most of its projects. CIS is also grateful to its other donors, Wikimedia Foundation, Ford Foundation, Privacy International, UK, Hans Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, and IDRC for funding its various projects. </i></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/about/newsletters/october-2014-bulletin'>http://editors.cis-india.org/about/newsletters/october-2014-bulletin</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaAccess to KnowledgeAccessibilityInternet GovernanceDigital HumanitiesOpenness2014-11-23T16:40:23ZPageGetting Strategic about Openness and Privacy
http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/open-up-tim-davies-november-3-2014-getting-strategic-about-openness-and-privacy
<b>This blog post by Tim Davies, Open Data Research Lead at Web Foundation was published in Open Up? on November 3, 2014.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Click to read the original post <a class="external-link" href="http://www.openup2014.org/getting-strategic-openness-privacy/">here</a>. Sunil Abraham gave his inputs.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; "><b>Information is powerful.</b> And in a world where the amount of information generated, captured and stored has grown exponentially in recent decades, getting hold of the information you need, when you need it, relies upon having access to the data that describes it. That makes the control of data especially powerful.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Modern transparency initiatives, promoting the idea of open data, have been seeking to break the data-monopoly of privileged actors within the state — unlocking key datasets and making them available for public scrutiny and reducing the information inequalities that undermine open public discourse. Opening up government data is *one* way in which citizens can reclaim some power and reestablish the principle that “they work for us”. Open government data gives us power to know how the government is spending money, what companies are getting public sector contracts and licenses, who owns these companies, what profits they make and what royalties and taxes they pay. Yet, progress has been slow, and we have faced substantial challenges in securing reliable and standardised flows of public data that can be joined-up to give a true picture of how public resources are being used, and key decisions made. Although millions of public datasets have been placed online, the most politically salient are often lacking. The <a href="http://www.opendatabarometer.org" target="_blank">2013 Open Data Barometer </a>found fewer than 1 in 10 accountability datasets were truly open.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">At the same time, advocates of building a more open government need to grapple with three other trends that are shaping discussions of data, power and the state:</p>
<ul style="text-align: justify; ">
<li>Firstly, and most important, the revelations brought to our attention by whistleblower Edward Snowden have confirmed the extent of the secret state and the profound imbalance of power between citizens and their state created through mass surveillance. Whilst projects to disclose even basic data on the state like public spending are underfunded and ad hoc, billions of dollars are poured into tools and technologies that violate basic human rights and that threaten trust and security on the Web. Fundamentally the problem with secret mass surveillance is that it destroys the checks and balances that are meant to limit the power of the state over citizens.</li>
<li>Secondly, and in part due to the discussion spared by Snowden, public awareness of the data, and consequently power, held by corporations has grown. The Web has become increasingly centralised, and large companies now harvest large amounts of data on any individual technology user. In parallel, in some countries such as the UK, governments have sought to use open data agendas as cover for increased proprietary sharing of public data with private firms, seeking to go around established principles of consent to share publicly held health, tax or student records with profit-making firms. Such data-sharing is not inherently wrong if there are public benefits, but building citizen trust in the state’s stewardship of personal data, and ensuring safeguards are in place to warrant that trust, is a major challenge.</li>
<li>Thirdly, concerns have been raised that some of the data released through open data initiatives may also affect the privacy of citizens. Some aggregated and anonymised datasets can be combined with other data to reverse engineer identifiable information. Although early calls for “raw data now” were clear that they were not calling for open personal information, in practice the divide between personal and public can be a narrow one.</li>
</ul>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">So, do these trends mean we should be more cautious about opening up? Should the balance swing back towards a focus on protecting privacy? Ultimately, a simple opposition of privacy and openness is a false dichotomy. The question is not should we focus on openness, or should we protect privacy: but is <i>Who should be open? And how?</i> <i>And whose privacy should be protected, and how?</i></p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Sunil Abraham, of the Centre for Internet and Society in Bangalore, has offered a key solution in the idea that:</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">“Transparency should be proportional to power, privacy inversely so.”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">It is on this basis that organisations working for a fairer future, with more vibrant public discourse, greater freedom, and better governments, can campaign for both privacy and openness together. Those who occupy public office, own companies, or tender for public contracts must accept that there is a legitimate public interest in information about their activities in these roles, whilst independent citizens must be afforded space to form views and live lives without constant state surveillance. Companies should not be considered to have a right to privacy: their interests are already protected by other laws and provisions.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">To deliver effective openness through open data, the Web Foundation is working to <a href="http://www.opendataresearch.org/reports/" target="_blank">understand how data gets used on the ground in different settings across the world</a>, and, with Omidyar support, is working on the creation of inclusive open data standards for public contracting data. Standards like the <a href="http://standard.open-contracting.org/" target="_blank">Open Contracting Data Standard</a> are part of building a new infrastructure of open governance, making it possible to join-up data from different places, helping tilt the balance of power towards citizens when it comes to scrutinising governments and corporations. Through the <a href="http://www.opendatabarometer.org" target="_blank">Open Data Barometer</a> we keep track of the availability of key datasets that can be used for accountability, and we’re co-chairing the <a href="http://www.opengovpartnership.org/groups/opendata/" target="_blank">Open Government Partnership Open Data Working Group</a>, seeking to set high standards for relevant and usable data disclosures by governments.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">By focussing on the civic use of data, we can better identify those datasets that must be in the public domain. And by thinking about relative power when considering privacy we can address genuine privacy concerns, whilst not allowing corporations claiming privacy rights, or public figures trying to hide their financial interests, from diminishing the power of data to enable accountability.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">At the same time, the Web Foundation leads the <a href="http://www.google.com/url?q=http://webwewant.org/&sa=D&sntz=1&usg=AFQjCNFavRxYWPtWx7osZ9Psx24eNHkmWw" target="_blank">Web We Want campaign</a>, challenging mass surveillance and seeking to secure a Web where individuals have the right to privacy, and the tools to secure it. And increasingly transparency of what the state and companies do with personal data can help increase the capacity of citizens to respond to threats to their autonomy, and can increase oversight and safeguards on state or corporate capacity.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Ultimately, our ongoing efforts to open up, and to protect individual freedoms, have to be strategic. And keeping an analysis of power, and Sunil’s maxim, in mind, provides a good starting point to guide the strategy.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/open-up-tim-davies-november-3-2014-getting-strategic-about-openness-and-privacy'>http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/open-up-tim-davies-november-3-2014-getting-strategic-about-openness-and-privacy</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpennessInternet Governance2014-11-09T09:19:23ZNews ItemAn Article on Kannada Wikipedia
http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/yojana-november-2014-pavanaja-article-on-kannada-wikipedia
<b>I wrote an article on Kannada Wikipedia which was published in the Yojana magazine on November 2014 issue.</b>
<table class="listing">
<tbody>
<tr>
<th><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/YojanaNov2014.png" alt="Yojana" class="image-inline" title="Yojana" /></th>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/yojana-november-2014-pavanaja-article-on-kannada-wikipedia'>http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/yojana-november-2014-pavanaja-article-on-kannada-wikipedia</a>
</p>
No publisherpavanajaAccess to KnowledgeWikimediaWikipediaOpennessKannada Wikipedia2014-12-05T01:22:53ZBlog EntryNow, Tulu set to be promoted through Wikipedia articles
http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/the-hindu-november-24-2014-govind-d-belgaumkar-now-tulu-set-to-be-promoted-through-wikipedia-articles
<b>With the dream of including Tulu in the list of official languages of the country (eighth schedule of the Constitution) remaining far from being realised, enthusiasts seem to be keen to promote the language through Wikipedia.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The article by Govind D. Belgaumkar was <a class="external-link" href="http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-karnataka/now-tulu-set-to-be-promoted-through-wikipedia-articles/article6629007.ece">published in the Hindu</a> on November 24, 2014.</p>
<hr style="text-align: justify; " />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Beginning on Wednesday, a three-day convention at Sahyadri College will ideate to find means to achieve this goal with the Karnataka Tulu Academy leading the initiative.<br /><br />The convention will focus on writing Wikipedia articles in Tulu.<br /><br />Nearly 30 students, mostly from Canara College and some from Aloysius College, and some teachers from Bantwal have registered for the event.<br /><br />The plan is to ensure that about 25-30 people keep writing in Tulu on Wikipedia.<br /><br />Some students from the Government Girls PU College in Udupi had already been contributing articles in Tulu, according to the academy’s registrar Chandrahas Rai.<br /><br />He hoped that the activity would help to pressure authorities to include Tulu in the eighth schedule of the Constitution.<br /><br />The convention comes ahead of the mega Tulu event – Tuluvere Parba planned in December – and it is hoped that it would awaken the Tulu spirit among the people of the region.<br /><br />The resource person will be Wikipedia representative and Bengaluru-based Programme Manger, Indian Languages, The Centre for Internet and Society Sri Pavanaja U.B..<br /><br />Mr. Rai said the articles need to be written regularly to keep the language alive on the platform otherwise it would be notified as inactive.<br /><br />The convention will be inaugurated by Shivaram Shetty, professor in Mangalore University’s SVP Kannada Study Centre.<br /><br />President of the academy Janaki Brahmabar, president of Bantwal Tulukuta A.C. Bhandary and Tuluvere Parba’s chief convenor Kadri Navaneet Shetty will be present.<br /><br />Others who are expected to take part include Mangaluru Tulukuta President Damodar Nisarga, General Secretary of Tuluvere Parba Nitte Shashidhar Shetty.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/the-hindu-november-24-2014-govind-d-belgaumkar-now-tulu-set-to-be-promoted-through-wikipedia-articles'>http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/the-hindu-november-24-2014-govind-d-belgaumkar-now-tulu-set-to-be-promoted-through-wikipedia-articles</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpennessTulu WikipediaAccess to Knowledge2014-12-06T01:23:43ZNews Itemಭಾಷಣದಿಂದ ಭಾಷೆ ಉಳಿಯಲ್ಲ, ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲೇ ಮಾಹಿತಿ ಸಿಗುವುದು ಅಗತ್ಯ: ಪವನಜ
http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/just-kannada-november-23-2014-kannada-wikipedia-presentation-coverage
<b>Media coverage of Kannada Wikipedia presentation at Mysuru on November 23, 2014. </b>
<p>The article was <a class="external-link" href="http://www.justkannada.in/pavanaja-u-b-kannada-use-more/">published in Just Kannada</a> on November 23, 2014.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">ಮೈಸೂರು, ನ.23 : ಧ್ವಜ ಹಾರಿಸಿ ಭಾಷಣ ಮಾಡಿದರೆ ಕನ್ನಡ ಭಾಷೆ ಉಳಿಯುವುದಿಲ್ಲ. ಬದಲಿಗೆ ಕನ್ನಡಲ್ಲೇ ಎಲ್ಲಾ ಮಾಹಿತಿಗಳು ಸಿಗುವಂತೆ ಮಾಡುವುದು ಅಗತ್ಯವಿದೆ ಎಂದು ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನ ಭಾರತೀಯ ಭಾಷೆಗಳು, ಸಮಾಜ ಮತ್ತು ಅಂತರ್ಜಾಲ ಕೇಂದ್ರದ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮ ವ್ಯವಸ್ಥಾಪಕ ಡಾ.ಯು.ಬಿ.ಪವನಜ ತಿಳಿಸಿದರು.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">ವಿಸ್ಮಯ ಫೌಂಡೇಶನ್ ಭಾನುವಾರ ಕುವೆಂಪುನಗರದ ಉದಯರವಿ ರಸ್ತೆ ಕಲಾಸುರುಚಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಆಯೋಜಿಸಿದ್ದ ಕನ್ನಡ ರಾಜ್ಯೋತ್ಸವ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮದಲ್ಲಿ `ಕನ್ನಡ ವಿಕಿಪಿಡಿಯ: ಒಂದು ಪರಿಚಯ’ ಕುರಿತು ಮಾತನಾಡಿದರು.<br /> ಕನ್ನಡ ವಿನಾಶದ ಹಾದಿಯತ್ತ ಸಾಗುತ್ತಿದೆ. ಇಂದು ಕೇವಲ ಕಥೆ, ಕಾದಂಬರಿಗಳಿಂದ ಮಾತ್ರ ಕನ್ನಡ ಉಳಿಯುವುದಿಲ್ಲ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯದಂತಹ ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನಗಳನ್ನು ಬಳಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಬೇಕು. ಕನ್ನಡ ರಾಜ್ಯೋತ್ಸವ, ಸ್ವಾತಂತ್ರ್ಯ ದಿನಾಚರಣೆಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಧ್ವಜ ಹಾರಿಸಿ, ಭಾಷಣ ಮಾಡಿದರೆ ಕನ್ನಡ ಉಳಿಯುವುದಿಲ್ಲ. ಬದಲಾಗಿ ಅಗತ್ಯ ಮಾಹಿತಿಗಳು ಕನ್ನಡದಲ್ಲೇ ಸಿಕ್ಕಿದರೆ ಕನ್ನಡ ಉಳಿಯುತ್ತದೆ ಎಂದರು. ದೇಶ-ವಿದೇಶಗಳ ಭಾಷೆ, ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿಗಳ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ತಿಳಿದು ಕೊಳ್ಳುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ನಮ್ಮಲ್ಲಿ ಕನ್ನಡ ಮಾಹಿತಿ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ ಕಡಿಮೆ ಇದೆ. ಕನ್ನಡಿಗರು ಕನ್ನಡ ಮಾಹಿತಿಗಾಗಿ ಹುಡುಕಾಟ ನಡೆಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಹುಡುಕುವ ಮುನ್ನವೇ ಅಗತ್ಯ ಮಾಹಿತಿ ಒದಗಿಸಿದರೆ ಕನ್ನಡ ಉಳಿಸಲು ಸಾಧ್ಯವಾಗುತ್ತದೆ ಎಂದು ತಿಳಿಸಿದರು.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">ಭಾರತೀಯ ವಿಕಿಪಿಡಿಯದಲ್ಲಿ 20ಕ್ಕೂ ಹೆಚ್ಚು ಭಾಷೆಗಳಿವೆ. ತಿಂಗಳಿಗೆ 50 ಕೋಟಿ ಹೊಸ ವೀಕ್ಷಕರು ಭೇಟಿ ನೀಡುತ್ತಾರೆ. ಇದರಲ್ಲಿ ಏಳು ಸಾವಿರ ಸಂಪಾದಕರಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಜೊತೆಗೆ ಇದೇ ಮಾದರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಜೂ.2003ರಲ್ಲಿ ಕನ್ನಡ ವಿಕಿಪಿಡಿಯ ಆರಂಭಗೊಂಡಿದ್ದು, ಅಲ್ಲಿಂದ ಇಲ್ಲಿಯವರೆಗೆ 18 ಸಾವಿರ ಲೇಖನಗಳು, 622 ಸಂಪಾದಕರು ಇದ್ದಾರೆ. ಅದರಲ್ಲಿ 22 ಮಂದಿ ಸಕ್ರಿಯ ಸಂಪಾದಕರು ಹಾಗೂ ನಾಲ್ಕು ಮಂದಿ ಅತಿ ಸಕ್ರಿಯ ಸಂಪಾದಕರಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ತಿಂಗಳಿಗೆ 18.50 ಲಕ್ಷ ಜನ ಕನ್ನಡ ವಿಕಿಪಿಡಿಯ ಪುಟ ವೀಕ್ಷಣೆ ಮಾಡುತ್ತಾರೆ ಎಂದು ಮಾಹಿತಿ ನೀಡಿದರು.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">ನಾವಷ್ಟೇ ಅಲ್ಲ ಲಕ್ಷಾಂತರ ಮಂದಿ ತಂತ್ರಜ್ಞಾನ(ವಿಕಿಪಿಡಿಯ, ಅಂತರ್ಜಾಲ)ಕ್ಕೆ ಹೊಂದಿಕೊಂಡಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಕನ್ನಡ ಕಲಿಯುವವರಿಗೆ, ಭಾಷಾಭಿಮಾನಿಗಳಿಗೆ ಹಾಗೂ ಅಗತ್ಯ ಮಾಹಿತಿ ಹುಡುಕುವವರಿಗೆ ವಿಕಿಪಿಡಿಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಕನ್ನಡ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ ಸೃಷ್ಟಿ ಮಾಡಬೇಕು. ಜನರಿಂದ ಜನರಿಗಾಗಿ ಜನರೇ ನಡೆಸುವ ವಿಶ್ವಕೋಶಕ್ಕೆ ಅಗತ್ಯ ಮಾಹಿತಿಗಳನ್ನು ಅಳವಡಿಕೆ ಮಾಡಬೇಕು ಎಂದ ಅವರು, ಕನ್ನಡ ಭಾಷೆ ಹಾಗೂ ಸಂಸ್ಕೃತಿ, ಸಂಸ್ಕಾರಗಳನ್ನು ಅನ್ಯರಿಗೂ ಪರಿಚಯಿಸುವ ನಿಟ್ಟಿನಲ್ಲಿ ಕನ್ನಡ ವಿಕಿಪೀಡಿಯವನ್ನು ಬಳಸಿಕೊಳ್ಳಿ ಎಂದು ಸಲಹೆ ನೀಡಿದರು.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">ಮೈಸೂರು ವಿವಿ ಕುವೆಂಪು ಕನ್ನಡ ಅಧ್ಯಯನ ಸಂಸ್ಥೆ ನಿವೃತ್ತ ಪ್ರಾಧ್ಯಾಪಕ ಪ್ರೊ.ಆರ್ವಿಯಸ್ ಸುಂದರಂ ಮಾತನಾಡಿ, ಒಂದು ಸಾವಿರ ವರ್ಷಗಳಿಂದ ಒಂದು ವರ್ಷವೂ ಎಡಬಿಡದೆ ಬರೆಯುತ್ತಿರುವ, ಕಲಿಯುತ್ತಿರುವ ಭಾಷೆ ಕನ್ನಡ. ಕನ್ನಡ ಭಾಷೆಗೆ ತನ್ನದೇ ಆದ ಇತಿಹಾಸ, ಪರಂಪರೆ ಇದೆ. ಒಂದೊಂದು ಶತಮಾನದವರೆಗೂ ಕನ್ನಡ ಸಾಹಿತ್ಯ ಅವಿಚ್ಛಿನ್ನವಾಗಿ ಇದೆ. ಇಂತಹ ಭಾಷೆಯ ಬಗ್ಗೆ ನಿರಂತರವಾಗಿ ಪ್ರಚಾರ ಮಾಡಬೇಕು. ಹಾಗೆಯೇ ಆಯಾಯ ಪ್ರದೇಶದಲ್ಲಿ ನೆಲೆಸಿರುವವರು ಅಲ್ಲಿನ ಸ್ಥಳೀಯ ಭಾಷೆಗಳನ್ನು ಕಲಿತುಕೊಳ್ಳಬೇಕು ಎಂದು ಮನವಿ ಮಾಡಿದರು.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">ಮೈಸೂರು ವಿಶ್ವವಿದ್ಯಾನಿಲಯ ವಿಶ್ವಕೋಶ ನಿವೃತ್ತ ಕಾರ್ಯನಿರ್ವಾಹಕ ಸಂಪಾದಕ ಡಾ.ಹಾ.ತಿ.ಕೃಷ್ಣೇಗೌಡ ಅಧ್ಯಕ್ಷತೆ ವಹಿಸಿದ್ದರು. ವಿಸ್ಮಯ ಫೌಂಡೇಶನ್ ಸಂಸ್ಥಾಪಕ ಸೋಮಶೇಖರ್ ಇದ್ದರು.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/just-kannada-november-23-2014-kannada-wikipedia-presentation-coverage'>http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/just-kannada-november-23-2014-kannada-wikipedia-presentation-coverage</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpennessKannada WikipediaAccess to Knowledge2014-12-06T02:30:29ZNews ItemKannada Wikipedia Presentation in Mysuru: Coverage in Prajavani
http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/prajavani-november-24-2014-kannada-wikipedia-presentation-in-mysuru
<b>Media coverage of Kannada Wikipedia presentation at Mysuru on November 23, 2014.</b>
<table class="plain">
<tbody>
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<th>Scanned version of the report published by Prajavani on November 24, 2014</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/PVMysuruNov242014.png" alt="Prajavani Media Coverage November 24, 2014" class="image-inline" title="Prajavani Media Coverage November 24, 2014" /></td>
</tr>
</tbody>
</table>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/prajavani-november-24-2014-kannada-wikipedia-presentation-in-mysuru'>http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/prajavani-november-24-2014-kannada-wikipedia-presentation-in-mysuru</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpennessKannada WikipediaAccess to Knowledge2014-12-06T02:40:17ZNews ItemOdia Wikipedia: Article in Dhatri
http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/article-in-dhatri
<b>This article was published in Dhatri on December 1, 2014.</b>
<p><img src="http://editors.cis-india.org/home-images/Dhatri.png" alt="Dhatri" class="image-inline" title="Dhatri" /></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/article-in-dhatri'>http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/article-in-dhatri</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpennessOdia WikipediaAccess to Knowledge2014-12-07T01:34:23ZNews ItemA Seminar on E-publishing of Odia Books
http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/seminar-e-publishing-odia-books
<b>A seminar was organized by Molybtech Technology Solutions on November 30, 2014 for the betterment of Odia language and writers at Bhanja Kala Mandap.</b>
<p>Subhashish Panigrahi participated in the seminar as a speaker and shared his knowledge with the audience.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/seminar-e-publishing-odia-books'>http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/seminar-e-publishing-odia-books</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpennessOdia WikipediaAccess to Knowledge2014-12-07T02:41:26ZNews ItemOdia Wikisource launched in Odisha capital
http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/odisha-sun-times-november-28-2014-odia-wikisource-launched-in-odisha-capital
<b>After the success of Odia Wikipedia, it is now the turn of Odia Wikisource to bring the best of Odia literature to the people of Odisha in the language they speak.</b>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The article was <a class="external-link" href="http://odishasuntimes.com/101389/odia-wikisource-launched-odisha-capital/">published in Odisha Sun Times</a> on November 28, 2014.</p>
<hr />
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Having gone through a rigorous assessment process by the Wikimedia language committee and Wikimedia Foundation’s board before being released last month, the Odia Wikisource was formally launched at Jayadev Bhawan on Friday.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Launching the Odia Wikisource, eminent linguist Padhma Shree Dr Debiprasanna</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Pattanayak emphasized the importance of such a project in Odia language to make the best of Odia writing available on computer, mobile and tablet to ensure that youngsters take interest in Odia.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">“e-books are the key to take Odia to the masses, especially those who are outside Odisha and have no access to libraries,” he said.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Speaking on the occasion, Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, Editor of leading Odia daily ‘Sambad’ said; “Internet should be treated as a friend of our language rather than as an enemy.”</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">He announced the relicensing of 19 books published by Ama Odisha under a Creative Commons Share Alike license that will be digitized on Wikisource.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Patnaik evinced keen interest in collaborating with the Odia Wikimedia community in the future for such language and cultural work.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Presiding over the function, noted poet and thinker Dr Haraprasad Das advised the youth for filling the gaps in the Odia language using internet.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">“Odia Wikisource is connecting me with my roots, my language and culture”, said Pankajbala Sarangi, who has made the highest of 1200 edits on Odia Wikisource.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The credit for the most extensive work on Odia book digitization, however, goes to Bhubaneswar based non-profit Srujanika that digitized about 740 books.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Started two years ago as an incubator project, the Odia Wikisource is now live on the internet at or.wikisource.org.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The project now houses many precious books including writings of noted authors like Fakir Mohan Senapati, Upendra Bhanj and the entire Odia Bhagabata.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">It includes most periodicals that were published between1850-1950. Odia Wikisource will further this work by going one step ahead in digitizing books in the form of text in Unicode so that they appear in a search engine search in Odia language.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">It allows readers to read books from computers, mobiles and tablets, even permitting them to print and use the content elsewhere. These books are way lighter than the scanned books. This is making a way for audio books.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Books for which copyright has lapsed and many rare books could be digitized and preserved for the future.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Apart from old and valuable books, books by renowned and contemporary authors like Padma Shree Debiprasanna Pattanayak, Ramakrushna Nanda, Dr Jagannath Mohanty, Dr Subrat Prusty, Bharat Majhi and Nirmala Kumari Mohapata, and many other authors have been taken by the Odia Wikisource team to digitize.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">In collaboration with Wikimedians from Bhubaneswar, Bangalore based non-profit Centre for Internet and Society’s Access To Knowledge program was instrumental in training the faculty of Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS). “50 students from KISS have digitized 4 books and are continuing to contribute more”, says Preetinanda Roy.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Wikimedians also converted Odia Bhagabata to Unicode by using the source text from Odia.org. “We are aiming to bring more rare books and manuscripts in Odia in the near future,” said Odia Wikimedian Mrutyunjaya Kar.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/odisha-sun-times-november-28-2014-odia-wikisource-launched-in-odisha-capital'>http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/odisha-sun-times-november-28-2014-odia-wikisource-launched-in-odisha-capital</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpennessOdia WikipediaAccess to Knowledge2014-12-07T02:53:32ZNews ItemTechnology and Gender Based Violence
http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/technology-gender-based-violence
<b>Rohini Lakshane was a speaker at this event organized by the Bachchao Project on November 24, 2014. Rohini spoke about various strategies that women use to respond to online harassment, such as reporting the abuser, and enlisting support from online followers, or friends or family in order to deal with the abuser.</b>
<ul>
</ul>
<p><a href="http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/blog/technology-gender-based-violence.pdf" class="internal-link">Click to download the event report</a> (PDF).</p>
<ul>
</ul>
<hr />
<p>Date : 25/11/2014<br />Time : 6:15pm to 8:15 pm<br />No. of attendees : 14 ppl<br />Organisations Involved: The Bachchao Project , CIS , Amnesty International , Breakthrough , Take Back the Tech.Venue : Center for Internet and Society , Domlur</p>
<p>The Bachchao Project is a community effort to build Open Source Technologies with the following aims :</p>
<p>1. Personal Safety with focus on women.</p>
<p>2. Empowering prevention of Gender Based Violence.</p>
<p>3. Enabling fight against Gender Based Violence.</p>
<p>On 25th November we honored the UN’s “ End Violence against Women” day by conducting an event where we invited various NGOs and experts to come join us in our effort by :</p>
<p>1. showcasing how technology has been used to fight gender based violence</p>
<p>2. talk about how technology has added more mediums for gender based violence</p>
<p>3. And discuss how we could make better solutions to fight .</p>
<p>Talks given :</p>
<ol>
<li>A show case of The Bachchao Project initiatives : </li>
</ol>
<p>Speakers : Chinmayi S K , Ankitha Herurkar and Yogesh Londhe.</p>
<p>The Bachchao Project talked about their applications : ( <a href="http://thebachchaoproject.org/">thebachchaoproject.org</a>)</p>
<ol>
<li>Bachchao - A distress application used to send SOS msgs and record evidence in case of a distress </li>
<li>Pehara - A community monitoring system. Which sends distress and alert information in case of any distress reported by anyone in the community to friend , family and the police </li>
<li>i-rode : An Application used to rate public transit and display the safety of a public transit. </li>
<li>Gender Sensitivity of public space : an initiative to provide an interface to rate gender sensitivites of public spaces based on certain questions. </li>
<li> readytoreport.in, an initiative by Amnesty International : </li>
</ol>
<p>Speaker : Gopika Bashi</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Gopika Bashi from Amnesty International spoke about their effort to educate and encourage women to file an FIR when an incident occurs to them . <a href="http://readytoreport.in">readytoreport.in</a> is a website which educates about all the legal option and the rights of a abused .It also provide answers to their minor questions.</p>
<ol>
<li>How Breakthrough is using technology to solve problems : </li>
</ol>
<p>Speaker : Manoj M</p>
<p>Manoj spoke about two of the many initiatives breakthrough has undertaken .</p>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Board the Bus Campaign : This was a gamification solution used by breakthrough to encourage using public transport by women. Where in for every action the woman takes they were given some points which could be</li>
</ol>
<p>converted into incentives.</p>
<ol>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Trainer App : This was used to interact with the various trainer at breakthrough who conduct sexual harassment seminars in various States of the country.</li>
</ol> <ol>
<li>Online Harassment in the Indian context : </li>
</ol>
<p>Speakers :(Rohini Lakshane and Chinmayi S K )</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">The speakers talked about various forms of Online Harassment . They spoke about the various contextual forms of Harassment in india because of the cultural practices . That included not understanding consent and not understanding the online spaces are an extension of Physical spaces.</p>
<p style="text-align: justify; ">Rohini spoke about various strategies that women use to respond to online harassment, such as reporting the abuser, and enlisting support from online followers, or friends or family in order to deal with the abuser. Very few women take legal recourse due to lack of faith in the law, or the time-consuming, emotionally taxing and financially draining nature of legal processes, or negative experiences with law enforcement and the police. Rohini also spoke about how laws don’t necessarily take into account the consent of women and that there are grey areas where it is difficult to distinguish between sexual expression, obscenity and pornography using the existing legal framework in India.</p>
<p>Chinmayi also spoke about take back the tech and how it is fighting online harassment.</p>
<p>Discussion Takeaways :</p>
<p>Panelists :</p>
<p>Ushashri TS - MD , Manhattan Associates , India</p>
<p>Gopika Bashi -Women's Rights Researcher & Campaigner at Amnesty International India</p>
<p>Rohini Lakshane - Researcher at the Centre for Internet and Society</p>
<p>Manoj M - Media and technology Consultant at breakthrough</p>
<ul>
<li>“one plug fits all” - might not be a adage that might not be applicable for technology solutions in gender based violence</li>
<li>Response of the application or the device needs to be time bound depending upon the application need not be real time always</li>
<li>Application for crisis should be time bound , should consider the limitations like battery and should provide as much accuracy in terms of location.</li>
<li>Technology should take into consideration environments ( rural vs urban) , Cultural tendencies and interactions .</li>
<li>Applications needs to simple to use to make it universal</li>
<li>Validation should be an important part of the technology since there is a chance of a lot of garbage data .</li>
<li>Attitudinal changes will support the usage of technology in a proper way esp in a country like India .</li>
<li>Similar apps for the same purpose without seriously considering the quality of service and sustainability can be harmful .</li>
<li>Everything cannot be an application .</li>
<li>Technology needs acts like a service provider in solving the issues.</li>
<li>There is need and use of technology in counselling and education.</li>
<li style="text-align: justify; ">Some technologies should not be done like online FIR since then the authorities might shy away from responsibilities. But some people might have a need for such technologies hence the implementation and validation must be thought through. Also the police would not welcome digital avenues to file FIRs. This is because they try to gauge if the complaint is false by speaking with a complainant who pays a visit to the police station. This is their way of weeding out false and frivolous complaints, and sometimes of thwarting genuine complaints because more FIRs mean more work for the police. They lose this option when FIRs are submitted through digital channels.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Harass Map Egypt is an good example of how technological projects should be implemented with 1000 volunteers working on ground tirelessly to ensure the repeated mapping and stopping of street harassment.</li>
</ul>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/technology-gender-based-violence'>http://editors.cis-india.org/internet-governance/news/technology-gender-based-violence</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaOpennessAccess to Knowledge2014-12-09T16:32:34ZNews Item‘Tulu Wikipedia’ in incubation stage, 600 articles uploaded, says U.B. Pavanaja
http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/the-hindu-november-26-2014-ravi-prasad-kamila-tulu-wikipedia-in-incubation-stage
<b>In all, 600 articles have been uploaded to the Tulu Wikipedia which is still in its incubation stage, according to U.B. Pavanaja, Wikipedia representative and Programme Officer, The Centre for Internet and Society, Bengaluru. </b>
<p class="body" style="text-align: justify; ">The article by Ravi Prasad Kamila was <a class="external-link" href="http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Mangalore/tulu-wikipedia-in-incubation-stage-600-articles-uploaded-says-ub-pavanaja/article6636113.ece">published in the Hindu</a> on November 26, 2014. Dr. U.B.Pavanaja gave his inputs.</p>
<hr />
<p class="body" style="text-align: justify; ">Speaking at a workshop on writing articles in Tulu, using Kannada script, for Wikipedia at Sahyadri College of Engineering and Management here on Wednesday, he said that since 2007 till this January there were 135 Tulu articles. The remaining 465 articles were added in the last over nine months.</p>
<p class="body" style="text-align: justify; ">Workshops on writing articles in Tulu for Wikipedia organised in Udupi and Mangaluru had helped in adding more articles.</p>
<p class="body" style="text-align: justify; ">Mr. Pavananja, originally hailing from Sullia in Dakshina Kannada, said that if Tulu Wikipedia was to be kept alive at least 50 to 60 articles would have to be uploaded a month and it required at least 10 dedicated writers.</p>
<p class="body" style="text-align: justify; ">If one wants to write articles in Tulu, he or she would have to log on to bilty.com/tuluwiki and later register there like registering while creating a new e-mail id. Later one can write, edit or read articles written in Tulu using Kannada script.</p>
<p class="body" style="text-align: justify; ">Karnataka Tulu Sahitya Academy had organised the workshop as a prelude to the three-day ‘Vishwa Tuluvere Parba’ (Global Tulu Festival) scheduled at the college from December 12.</p>
<p class="body" style="text-align: justify; ">President of the academy M. Janaki Brahmavar requested the participants to write articles about Tulu language and culture and about the coming festival and upload.</p>
<p class="body" style="text-align: justify; ">One can contact Mr. Pavanaja through pavanaja@gmail.com.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/the-hindu-november-26-2014-ravi-prasad-kamila-tulu-wikipedia-in-incubation-stage'>http://editors.cis-india.org/openness/news/the-hindu-november-26-2014-ravi-prasad-kamila-tulu-wikipedia-in-incubation-stage</a>
</p>
No publisherpraskrishnaAccess to KnowledgeWikimediaWikipediaOpennessTulu Wikipedia2014-12-07T03:21:11ZNews ItemWomen's Day Edit-a-thon at Jnana Prabodhini
http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/womens-day-edit-a-thon-at-jnana-prabodhini
<b>A Marathi Wikipedia Women's Day edit-a-thon was conducted in collaboration with Jnana Prabodhini to commemorate the celebration of International Women's Day.</b>
<p>A Marathi
Wikipedia Women's Day edit-a-thon was conducted in collaboration with Jnana
Prabodhini in Pune on 9 March, 2017 to commemorate the celebration of
International Women's Day. Jnana Prabodhini is an organisation that is active
in the field of social work. The organisation enabled the bringing together of women working
in the culture and Indology sectors for this edit-a-thon.</p>
<p>The aim of
the two-hour-long edit-a-thon was to help build resources in the field of Culture, Indology and women
empowerment on Marathi Wikipedia. The edit-a-thon also introduced the
participants to editing Wikipedia and contributing to Wiki projects. In
addition to this, the workshop attempted to add references to existing articles
in order to improve their credibility.</p>
<p>The all-women event was attended by
seven women from different walks of life. The participants edited five articles
on women related to culture and Indology. Dr. Aaryaa Joshi, research scholar at
Jnana Prabodhini was one of the expert trainers at the event.</p>
<p>Link to event page on meta can be found <a href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Women%27s_Day_Edit-a-thon_at_Jnana_Prabodhini,_Pune_on_9th_March_2017">here</a>.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/womens-day-edit-a-thon-at-jnana-prabodhini'>http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/womens-day-edit-a-thon-at-jnana-prabodhini</a>
</p>
No publisherSubodh KulkarniCIS-A2KAccess to KnowledgeWikimediaWikipediaMarathi WikipediaOpenness2017-04-15T07:31:38ZBlog EntryTelugu Wikipedia stall at Vijayawada Book Festival
http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/telugu-wikipedia-stall-at-vijayawada-book-festival
<b>The Telugu Wikipedia community put up a stall at the Vijayawada Book Festival in January, in order to increase reach of the regional language encyclopaedia.</b>
<p> </p>
<p>Last in a series of book stalls set up across the Telugu-speaking region, the Telugu community set up shop at the 27th Vijayawada Book Festival from 3 to 11 January 2017 at the PWD Grounds. The community had previously set up similar book stalls in <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/telugu-wikipedia-stall-at-rajahmundry-book-fair-1">Rajahmundry </a>and <a class="external-link" href="http://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/telugu-wikipedia-stall-at-hyderabad-book-fair">Hyderabad</a>. Considered one of the largest book festivals in India with deep-rooted cultural significance in the Telugu literary circles, the Telugu community aims to increase the reach and visibility of Telugu Wikipedia through the setting up of this stall. </p>
<p>The book festival, open for the public from 11 am to 11 pm, was inaugurated by Kendra Sahitya Akademi winner <a class="external-link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rachapalem_Chandrasekhara_Reddy">Rachapalem Chandrasekhar Reddy</a>, with a collection of 235 stalls to browse from. The festival was organised in partnership with the <a class="external-link" href="http://www.ap.gov.in/about-ap/language-culture/">Andhra Pradesh Department of Language and </a><a class="external-link" href="http://www.ap.gov.in/about-ap/language-culture/">Culture</a><a class="external-link" href="http://www.ap.gov.in/about-ap/language-culture/"> </a>and <a class="external-link" href="http://ntrtrust.org/">NTR Trust</a>. The stall was set up by Telugu Wikipedia community members with support from CIS-A2K and NTR Trust. </p>
<p> More than 150 individuals were engaged through this event. Interested members of public would receive follow-up through "Know-How" videos of Telugu Wikipedia. This provides basic information regarding editing and contributing to Wikipedia and its sister projects. They would also receive invitations to offline events taking place in Vijayawada in the future. </p>
<p> Telugu Wikipedia editor <a class="external-link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/User:Pranayraj1985">User:Pranayraj1985</a> said of his experience in talking to the public about Telugu Wikipedia, "I learnt a lot about what people know about Wikipedia and what they didn't know. In general, many of the visitors exclaim when they [come to] know, there is Wikipedia in Telugu language. But, in contrast, here in Vijayawada, we could at least find handful of people who knew there is something called Telugu Wikipedia.</p>
<p> <em>The link to the events page on meta can be found <a class="external-link" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CIS-A2K/Events/2017/Stall_in_Vijayawada_Book_Festival">here</a>.</em></p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/telugu-wikipedia-stall-at-vijayawada-book-festival'>http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/telugu-wikipedia-stall-at-vijayawada-book-festival</a>
</p>
No publisherPavan SanthoshCIS-A2KAccess to KnowledgeWikimediaWikipediaTelugu WikipediaOpenness2017-04-15T16:23:32ZBlog EntryAdikavi Nannaya University Telugu Wikipedia Workshop
http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/adikavi-nannaya-university-telugu-wikipedia-workshop-1
<b>A Telugu Wikipedia introductory workshop was conducted for the students of Adikavi Nannaya University, Rajahmundry between 6- 7 January, 2017. </b>
<p> </p>
<p>A two-day Telugu Wikipedia workshop was conducted for the
students of <a class="external-link" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adikavi_Nannaya_University">Adikavi Nannaya University</a> in Rajahmundry between 6- 7 January,
2017. The participants were post-graduate students of the Telugu Department of
the University with a notable gender ratio of 13 male and 21 female
participants.</p>
<p>The aim of the workshop was to introduce students to
Wikipedia and contributing to Wikipedia projects. They were taught basic
Wikipedia editing and the usage of Google's advanced tools. This would also
help them create tertiary sources
using primary and secondary sources. The students improved articles about their villages using references available on the
Internet. The workshop,
conducted jointly by CIS-A2K and Telugu Wikipedia community members, was key to
increasing the base of Telugu Wikipedia across the Telugu-speaking region, to cities
like Rajahmundry. Says User:విశ్వనాధ్.బి.కె., "from initial days, Wikipedia offline activities
development is Hyderabad-centric and Wikipedia activities should be done in all
areas (of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh). As this event in Adikavi Nannaya
University helps in that aspect, I would like to offer all of my effort to
these kind of events."</p>
<p> Overall, the event saw the creation 32 new pages on Telugu
Wikipedia by 33 newly registered users with 99118 bytes being deleted/ added. </p>
<p>The link to event page on meta can be found <a class="external-link" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CIS-A2K/Events/2017/Adikavi_Nannaya_University_Telugu_Wikipedia_Workshop">here</a>.</p>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/adikavi-nannaya-university-telugu-wikipedia-workshop-1'>http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/adikavi-nannaya-university-telugu-wikipedia-workshop-1</a>
</p>
No publisherPavan SanthoshCIS-A2KAccess to KnowledgeWikimediaWikipediaTelugu WikipediaOpenness2017-04-16T08:57:21ZBlog Entry"Free-license Wings To Your Books" in Guntur
http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/free-license-wings-to-your-books-in-guntur
<b>"Free-license Wings To Your Books" event held at Annamayya Library, Guntur</b>
<p>The "Free-license Wings To Your Books" (<em>"Pustakaniki Rekkalu Swecha Nakalu Hakkulu"</em> in Telugu) event, an event aimed to bring more books and content onto Telugu Wikisource was conducted by CIS-A2K with support from Annamayya Library, Guntur on 5 February, 2017. The event was primarily intended to raise awareness about free-licensing among Telugu writers and involve them in content donation on Telugu Wikisource. Telugu Wikipedia community member, User:Nrgullapalli commented on the aptness of the event saying, "this is the right event in present situation." </p>
<p>As part of the event, Writer Bhusurapalli Venkateswarlu, who had previously released his book into CC-BY-SA license and writer Peddi Sambashivarao, who supported content donation drive by encouraging fellow writers, were felicitated. The first ever Telugu book released in print directly under CC-BY-SA license - Kodihalli Murali Mohan's "Andhra Sahityamulo Biruda Namamulu" was launched at the event. CIS-A2K Community Advocate Pavan Santhosh conducted a session on the importance of free-licenses as a better alternative in current Telugu publications. The writers engaged in a discussion on the same topic. However, the event lacked female participation.</p>
<p>The link to event page on meta can be found <a class="external-link" href="https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CIS-A2K/Events/2017/Free_Licenses-Wings_to_your_books_event_in_Guntur">here</a>.</p>
<div> </div>
<p>
For more details visit <a href='http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/free-license-wings-to-your-books-in-guntur'>http://editors.cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/free-license-wings-to-your-books-in-guntur</a>
</p>
No publisherPavan SanthoshTelugu WikisourceCIS-A2KAccess to KnowledgeWikimediaWikipediaTelugu WikipediaOpenness2017-04-16T10:53:51ZBlog Entry