Wikimedia Futures Lab/Dashboard/Documentation/Frankfurt 2026
Documentation: Wikimedia Futures Lab, 30.1 - 1.2, 2026, Frankfurt
[edit]Recordings
[edit]All the recordings can be found on Commons. Below is a list of all expert's inputs.
Day 1, Jan 30, 2026
[edit]Collectively Defining the Future of Knowledge
[edit]- Malka Older, Executive Director of Global Voices and science-fiction author
“I want you to remember that [the future] is uncertain and that those who are telling you things with certainty, are the ones that you want to be the most careful and sceptical about” - Malka Older
In this keynote, Malka Older inspired participants to consider desirable futures and their collective role in shaping them. By reminding them that future scenarios are not inevitable, she empowered participants to take ownership of their future and feel hopeful.
Content + AI Panel
[edit]“I already heard 3 times AI impact, I haven’t heard Wiki impact. I think it’s really important to flip it the other way because we are told all the time that we are being impacted by AI and it is in a way true but we can also impact the emerging AI ecosystem.” - Alek Tarkowski
- Alek Tarkowski, Strategy Director of Open Future Foundation and Board Member of Wikimedia Europe
- Bettina Warburg, Investor, Researcher, and Speaker on Web3, blockchain and emerging technologies
- Jason Tuohey, Editor-in-chief of the Encyclopedia Britannica
- Max Senges, Professor for Entrepreneurship at the University of the Arts Berlin and Entrepreneur in Residence at Entrepreneurship Foundation
Panel moderated by Selena Deckelmann, Chief Product and Technology Officier, Wikimedia Foundation
Lightning Talks: Content, Consumers + Reuse
[edit]- Global Trends, Maryana Pinchuk (slides)|(video)
- Changes in internet traffic, Selena Deckelman (slides)|(video)
- Insights on Awareness and Trust, Anusha Alikhan (slides)|(video)
Consumers + Reuse Panel
[edit]“Don’t worry about alienating your current audience. If what you’re doing is a great product for a great new audience and they see that, they will come along.” - Bourree Lam
- Bourree Lam, Executive Editor of Nothing Personal at the Mozilla Foundation
- Gerard Crichlow, Global Social Strategy Director at McCann World Group
- Jonathan Flesher, VP Business Development at Reddit
- Michael Sun, culture editor and writer at The Guardian
Panel moderated by Anusha Alikhan, Chief Communications Officer, Wikimedia Foundation
Day 2, Jan 31, 2026
[edit]Lightning Talks: Knowledge Contribution
[edit]- From attention to participation: what the contributor funnel is telling us, Kadeem Khan (slides)|(video)
- How Wikidata contributions are used outside the Wiki world, Raja Amelung (slides)|(video)
Knowledge Contributors Panel
[edit]“The world is full of people who should be contributors to Wikipedia but aren’t. But it’s also full of people who probably shouldn't be but are, or are trying very hard to be.” - Mako
- Benjamin Mako Hill, social scientist and technologist at the University of Washington and long-time Wikimedian
- Daniel Sigge, Programs Manager at TikTok and new German Wikipedia community member
- Nathan Matias, assistant professor at the Cornell University Departments of Communication and Information Science
- Sofia Ong'ele, developer, content creator and Director of Strategy at Gen-Z for Change
Panel moderated by Pacita Rudder, Executive Director, Wikimedia New York City
Shifts in Information Sharing: The Future of the Open
[edit]- Sarah Pearson, General Counsel at Creative Commons
“I think the goal should be to be as open as possible, and as restrictive as necessary” - Sarah Pearson
This keynote invited participants to question and rethink the concept of 'openness' in the light of recent development and global trends.
Day 3, Feb 1, 2026
[edit]Adjusting to Global Trends
[edit]- Udbhav Tiwari, VP Strategy and Global Affairs at Signal
Fireside Chat with Franziska Heine, Executive Director, Wikimedia Deutschland.
“If you had to teach a 10 year old 15 new topics every year, how would you teach them? What formats would you give them? How would they interact with it?” - Udbhav Tiwari
In this conversation, the speakers discussed a broad range of topics from policy to product, reflecting on possible ways of responding to global trends and ensuring relevance.
Wikimedia Lightning Talk: How to Design a Good Experiment
[edit]Presentation of some examples of experiments happening within Wikimedia:
- Adventures in Experiment Design: Two Way Doors, Marshall Miller (slides)|(video)
- Wikidata in the AI Web, Jonathan Fraine (slides)|(video)
Participant Evaluation
[edit]
Overall, the Futures Lab was highly successful in achieving its intended outcomes. Participant feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with an average experience rating of 4.81 out of 5 using a 1 to 1 Likert scale.
Key takeaways from the participant feedback:
- The Lab was particularly effective in creating a strong sense of connection and belonging across the movement, with 98% of participants agreeing that it helped them connect with other Wikimedians and feel part of a shared movement.
- Participants valued the inclusion of external experts, which was a new program component compared to previous such events, with over 90% satisfaction in the quality and relevance of expert contributions.
- Collaborative breakout sessions enabled participants to interpret trends in their own contexts, and co-design potential responses. Participants indicated that they were engaged by this approach, with over 90% expressing satisfaction with breakout sessions and likelihood to act on resulting experiments, suggesting that the Futures Lab succeeded not only as a space for dialogue, but as a catalyst for action.
- Areas for improvement were also identified. Participants expressed a desire for more clarity about how they might sustain momentum after the event, including stronger support and coordination structures for experimentation and clearer ownership of next steps. Feedback also highlighted opportunities to improve synthesis during sessions, pacing, and inclusivity in logistics and space design.
The full survey results and organizer's analysis can be found here.