Second Wikimedia Technology Summit Brings Together Knowledge and Technology Experts

Hyderabad, March 2023…….: International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad (IIITH) and the Wikimedia Foundation, the non-profit that operates Wikipedia and different free-knowledge tasks, efficiently concluded the 2nd Wikimedia Technology Summit at IIIT Hyderabad campus at the moment.

The one-of-a-kind occasion enabled discussions round growing the way forward for the web, forging enduring alliances, and partaking in open discussions concerning the cohesion between know-how and open entry to data. It was organized by IIITH’s Indic Wiki Project – an initiative funded by The Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MEITY), and supported by the Government of Telangana, to boost the net presence of Indic language encyclopedias.

The second Wikimedia Technology Summit aimed to foster collaboration and innovation within the discipline of Indic language know-how, with a selected emphasis on selling open-source options and constructing a group of like-minded people and organizations.

Speaking on the opening ceremony Prof Vasudeva Varma, Centre Head, Language Technologies Research Center (LTRC), IIIT – Hyderabad mentioned “We have numerous individuals talking Indian languages however the quantity of ‘helpful’ digital content material out there in these languages doesn’t characterize our cultural and linguistic richness. It is our quick must make data out there in our languages. Crowd-sourced encyclopedias like Wikipedia make big contributions to enhancing the data, consciousness, and rationality of individuals. This summit addresses essential points in enriching content material and data out there in human languages and the methods to beat challenges.”

The occasion kicked off on 2 March with a full-day mini-hackathon that introduced collectively quite a few open-source builders and programmers engaged on Indian Wikimedia tasks to deliberate, create instruments, and collaborate on MediaWiki to additional the know-how out there for engaged on Indic Languages.

Following the mini-hackathon, the Summit featured a collection of talks, and panel discussions on 3 and 4 March on matters reminiscent of the way forward for open data, the creation of sustainable data techniques, digitization of content material, and digital humanities – all with a concentrate on Indic languages. It additionally featured keynote addresses by main specialists from the sphere of Indic language know-how, studying researchers, and know-how platforms.

During her digital keynote speech, Selena Deckelmann, Chief Product and Technology Officer on the Wikimedia Foundation, mentioned “As we take into consideration methods to extend digital adoption and participation, it will be significant for us to acknowledge the significance of native languages. Since multilingualism is a lifestyle, it must be represented and celebrated!” She added, “So a lot good work is being carried out throughout the South Asia area that deserves recognition. This Summit is a chance to be taught from and join with one another on all of those efforts.”

Over the course of the occasion, which introduced collectively prime researchers, open know-how lovers, Wikimedia volunteers, and members of WikiGolf equipment (a venture that goals to kind youth golf equipment at academic establishments to allow the creation of free and open content material) – over 150 attendees had the chance to take part in a variety of matters to debate finest practices and set the longer term course of information entry in regional languages on the Internet.