“THE MILLION WIKI” INITIATIVE LAUNCHED FROM DUBAI TO PROMOTE ARABIC CONTENT ON WIKIMEDIA PROJECTS
An innovative project by the Wikimedians of UAE user group and the Emirates Literature Foundation
Dubai, United Arab Emirates, November 1: The WikiArabia conference concluded its sixth edition, held in Dubai, by announcing the launch of the “The Million Wiki” initiative from Dubai to enhance digital content available in Arabic and enrich open resources available to the Arab public in the region and the world. The project is organised by Wikimedians of UAE user group in cooperation with the Emirates Literature Foundation and with the support of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Global Initiatives with the aim of adding one million contributions to Arabic content within the various Wikimedia projects, especially Wikipedia, over a period of three years.
The initiative was launched during the annual conference held for the first time in the GCC region, in the presence of the leaders of the Wikimedians of UAE user group, the Emirates Literature Foundation and elite members of the Arab Wikimedia community. The aim of the initiative is to bridge the gap in Arabic content within Wikimedia projects, including Wikipedia; as the content of the online Arabic encyclopedia relies on the contributions of volunteer editors.
The Million Wiki initiative is based on several main themes, the foremost of which is the focus on enriching the content and quality of Wikipedia articles in Arabic and other Arabic-language Wiki projects such as Wikiquote, Wikidictionary, Wikisource, Wikinews, and Wikivoyage. These contributions include editing articles, uploading images, adding authoritative references, digitizing texts, adding quotes from important figures, and much more.
Commenting on the topic, Ahlam Bolooki, Director of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature and Leader of the Wikimedians of UAE user group, said: “We believe in the importance of enabling future generations to innovate and use sustainable solutions to facilitate access to knowledge and information. Given the long-standing, rich history of the Arabic language and the number of speakers around the world, we realized that the online presence of Arabic content required joint efforts and targeted initiatives, such as “The Million Wiki” initiative, which is launched from Dubai, the model city for future knowledge-based economies and societies, and benefits from the support of leading institutions, such as Mohammed bin Rashid Global Initiatives, in launching translation projects, producing, and disseminating knowledge and empowering societies. It is the responsibility of all of us, as institutions and individuals, to support arabic content and preserve the Arab heritage and identity, especially in our world today, which is dominated by digitization. That is why we, in the Emirates Literature Foundation and the Wikimedians of UAE user group, were keen to play an active role in motivating the Arab communities of Wiki project users to enrich Arabic content, by focusing on quality in research and publication, and to develop, and translate Arabic content to raise the percentage of Arabic digital content globally and achieve a stronger presence for our mother tongue.”
The initiative also includes the establishment of a fund, managed by the Wikimedians of UAE user group, to finance individuals and Arab user groups and non-governmental organizations concerned with developing and enriching Arabic content. The individuals and groups will submit proposals and key performance indicators on organizing various competitions, training and motivational courses and working groups to reach the desired goal of achieving one million contributions. Organizing committees dedicated to each project will study the proposals, review the contributions, and divide them annually among the different projects according to a three-year timetable.
The WikiArabia conference was launched under the patronage of the Wikimedia Foundation and the Emirates Literature Foundation at the Mohammed bin Rashid Library on 28 October 2022 in Dubai, with the attendance of more than 100 participants from 20 nationalities, and 45 speakers from 16 affiliation representatives. The three-day conference had 50 sessions covering various aspects of work within the Wikimedia community, from the explanation of regional Wikimedia hubs to the public to the analysis of the current challenges of knowledge sharing and the brainstorming of potential solutions and many more.
