Hello Everyone,
My name is Pavan Santhosh and I work as the Program Manager for Access to Knowledge Program at Centre for Internet and Society, Bangalore. CIS-A2K team will be pausing all of its programmatic activities until further notice as the FCRA renewal application submitted by CIS has been rejected. CIS-A2K team is actively exploring possible solutions. A2K team which has worked for over 12 years to advance the open knowledge movement in Indic languages, has to now halt operations. Over the past 12 years, the A2K program has played a crucial role in growing the open knowledge movement in India. Some of our key contributions include: - Built and conducted Train-the-Trainer [1], one of the largest and longest-running leadership programs within Wikimedia, with around 250 Wikimedians participating in nine iterations between 2013 and 2024. This initiative nurtured movement leaders who continue to contribute in various capacities. - Contributed significantly to awareness, policies, and practices to Bridge gender gap in the Wikimedia movement.[2] Our efforts included action research, gender sensitivity training, building partnerships and leadership-building programs for the cause. - We invested in studies on revitalizing Underrepresented Indian Languages,[3] consultation on the Future of the Commons,[4] envisioning the National Education Policy’s framework on Open Knowledge,[5] and research on the Open Movement in India.[6] - Collaborated with over 50 libraries, memory institutions, and volunteer communities to digitize and make available over 2,500 public domain books and magazines, as well as approximately 500,000 folios in Indian languages, including Marathi, Konkani, Telugu, Tulu, Assamese, and Odia. - The Access to Knowledge team made significant efforts [7] in research, capacity building, strategic conversations, and programmatic experimentation to build a three-year program called “Deepening the impact of Open Knowledge projects for sustainable Knowledge practices across Indian language communities” [8] and received full funding for its execution recently. These are just a few highlights from the vast amount of work and several achievements made possible by our dedicated past and present team members, along with the invaluable support of volunteers, communities, and partners. We are grateful to everyone who contributed to our programme during the last 12 years. We request your kind understanding during these difficult times. As the CIS-A2K staff are currently navigating several ongoing matters, we kindly ask for your patience in case of any delays in communication. Thank you for your support. Best, Pavan Santhosh, Program Manager, CIS-A2K. [1] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CIS-A2K/Events/Train_the_Trainer_Program [2] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CIS-A2K/Verticals/Gender_Gap_Bridging_Initiatives [3] https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/using-wikimedia-sphere-for-revitalization-of-small-and-underrepresented-languages-in-india [4] https://cis-india.org/raw/report-on-the-future-of-the-commons [5] https://cis-india.org/a2k/envisioning-role-of-open-knowledge-in-implementation-of-national-education-policy [6] https://cis-india.org/a2k/blogs/open-movement-in-india-idea-and-its-expressions [7] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/CIS-A2K/Reports/CIS-A2K_Report_2023-24/Executive_Summary [8] https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:Programs/Wikimedia_Community_Fund/General_Support_Fund/Deepening_the_impact_of_Open_Knowledge_projects_for_sustainable_Knowledge_practices_across_Indian_language_communities_steered_by_Access_to_Knowledge,_Centre_for_Internet_and_Society
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