Grants:TPS/Stephane (WMCH)/RightsCon

This Wikimedia Participation Support request was not funded. Reasons have been communicated with the request submitter on the Discussion page.

statusnot funded

Travel & Participation Support

RightsCon

summaryServe on the Access to Knowledge panel at Rightscon.

event locationSan Francisco

event websitehttps://www.rightscon.org

event date(s)March 30 to April 1st

amount requestedUSD 3,085.00

home countrySwitzerland

creator• Stephane (WMCH)

submitted on20:15, 3 March 2016 (UTC)

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Proposed participation

I represent Wikimedia Switzerland, which is leading the offline development project, a.k.a Kiwix. I've been invited by the WMF Policy & Partnerships teams to participate in a panel discussion on Access to Knowledge. Since the Swiss copyright reform is coming up and we have a site visit expected later this year and we would like to team with the Partnerships people to rollout Kiwix in select refugee camps, I would also spend time at the WMF office to discuss with the relevant teams.

Goal and expected impact

• Serve on the access to Knowledge panel, and an opportunity to showcase Kiwix to potential partners;
• Meeting with WMF Legal policy team to work on objectives and materials;
• Meeting with the WMF Communications policy team to draft "talking points" and "preferred terms" to be used in policy work;
• Meeting with Resources team to prepare upcoming site visit;
• Meeting with the Partnerships team to discuss potential rollout of Kiwix as part of a pilot project in Jordan.

Budget breakdown

• Travel (round trip airfare from GVA to SFO): CHF 2'050.- (USD 2,068.00)
• Accommodation: USD 68 per night x 4 nights = USD 272.00
• Conference ticket: USD 495.00
• M & IE.: 50 USD per day x 5 days = USD 250.00

Other instructions

It would be great if you guys could book the conference ticket for me (since I'll serve on the panel I don't think I'll have to pay, but just in case).

Endorsements

• Stéphane is a "lead volunteer" in European policy initiatives. His expertise and vast network have proven helpful at key moments in the past. His involvement really helps Wikimedia's professional behaviour and we can only gain from his participation in public policy and digital rights events. Dimi z (talk)
• Stéphane is a specialist of such events and I'm sure his insights will be valuable for the movement. Pleclown (talk) 18:01, 5 March 2016 (UTC)
• Stéphane has been Wikimedia CH kingpin for the last 12 months. He played and still play a preponderant role in Wikimedia CH Kiwix program development. Kiwix outreach has increased of more than 60% during that time. Kiwix is an important technology to fight censorship and is therefore already deployed by many third part organisations. His venue to the RightsCon is essential to open new partnerships with NGOs able to make large scale deployments. It's also a good opportunity to strengthen the collaboration between WMCH & WMF on the offline solutions topic. Kelson (talk) 11:49, 6 March 2016 (UTC)
• Kiwix is a major project with fantastic potential for global impact that requires international visibility to develop further. In today's ever complex society, access to knowledge is fundamental and the solution to Wikipedia Offline is key to carry on diffusing free knowledge. I strongly agree with the above comment that this would be a major opportunity to build a deeper relationship between WMF & WMCH. Furthermore, Stéphane is a long time contributor to the Wikimedian projects as well as a key figure for Wikimedia CH so I can only support this grant.--Gabrielle Marie WMCH (talk) 10:11, 7 March 2016 (UTC)
• I am a new Wikipedian. I find it fascinating all topics on Wikipedia, though I still do not master completely the contours of its operation. I am a computer teacher and trainer in the modeling process for 3D printing in schools in Togo. Certainly I perms me to take the opportunity to participate in this event Wiki because it will allow me to present difficulties for students and even students in Togo and in Africa in general to have access to computers and training basic computer, which has become very essential for their school or university education. In addition to this, Internet access difficulties, does not facilitate research for learners. Until things improve, we need to find alternative solutions. And I believe that with the establishment of Wiki computer in rural schools is just starting to introduce children to the computer and educational games from the primary. This will improve their level of knowledge etc. Aldoc007 (talk) 02:08, 16 March 2016 (UTC)