WMIN's grant report
World War I edit-a-thons
Re: [Wikimediaindia-l] [Languages]...
Asaf Bartov
Hello, everyone. Wikimedia India has recently submitted its latest grant report, which we have now reviewed. It is here: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:PEG/WM_IN/Program_Grant_April_Decemb… We are still awaiting some more concrete information on impact and outcomes of some of the work (see talk page) before we approve the report and close the grant, but I thought it might interest some community members to see, as one additional piece of input, in the context of the other conversations about the future of work in India. Cheers, Asaf -- Asaf Bartov Wikimedia Foundation <http://www.wikimediafoundation.org> Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! https://donate.wikimedia.org
Pranav Curumsey
22 Apr 22 Apr
Thank you, Asaf! The chapter has always promoted transparency and welcomes community input. It would be excellent if you could share the original CIS MoU and all their reports submitted to you in the same spirit as you shared this. Unlike some others out here, we are not trained to make reports which look snazzy. We are Wikipedians and not non profit professionals for whom this is business so we like to keep it simple and to the point. We will try to answer all questions to the best of our ability. On Tue, Apr 22, 2014 at 5:24 AM, Asaf Bartov &lt;abartov(a)wikimedia.org&gt; wrote:
Hello, everyone. Wikimedia India has recently submitted its latest grant report, which we have now reviewed. It is here: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:PEG/WM_IN/Program_Grant_April_Decemb… We are still awaiting some more concrete information on impact and outcomes of some of the work (see talk page) before we approve the report and close the grant, but I thought it might interest some community members to see, as one additional piece of input, in the context of the other conversations about the future of work in India. Cheers, Asaf -- Asaf Bartov Wikimedia Foundation <http://www.wikimediafoundation.org> Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! https://donate.wikimedia.org _______________________________________________ Wikimediaindia-l mailing list Wikimediaindia-l(a)lists.wikimedia.org To unsubscribe from the list / change mailing preferences visit https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimediaindia-l
attachment.htm
Ravishankar
Asaf, Thanks for informing about this. Pranav, //It would be excellent if you could share the original CIS MoU// +1. It is interesting that CIS-A2K makes ceremonial media reports about the MoUs it signs with institutions but the MoU it signed with WMF is not public yet. See: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:CIS-A2K_MoU_signing_ceremony_wi… CIS-A2K grant is expring this year and WMF has assured of no never ending renewals but CIS-A2k goes on to make "3 year long" MoUs. Quote: Signed an MoU with Goa University Goa University entered into a three year MoU with CIS for building Konkani Wikipedia. As part of this partnership, Goa University and CIS-A2K will work together to help build Konkani Wikipedia and community. http://cis-india.org/openness/blog/work-accomplished-konkani-wikipedia So, I hope both WMF and CIS will honor the community by making the MoU they signed a public record. Thanks, Ravi P.S. Here is another instance of a request for the same - https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Forum/Archives/2013-08#Terms_.2F_…
On Tuesday 22 April 2014 10:29 PM, Ravishankar wrote:
It is interesting that CIS-A2K makes ceremonial media reports about the MoUs it signs with institutions but the MoU it signed with WMF is not public yet. See: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:CIS-A2K_MoU_signing_ceremony_wi… CIS-A2K grant is expring this year and WMF has assured of no never ending renewals but CIS-A2k goes on to make "3 year long" MoUs. Quote: Signed an MoU with Goa University Goa University entered into a three year MoU with CIS for building Konkani Wikipedia. As part of this partnership, Goa University and CIS-A2K will work together to help build Konkani Wikipedia and community. http://cis-india.org/openness/blog/work-accomplished-konkani-wikipedia So, I hope both WMF and CIS will honor the community by making the MoU they signed a public record. Thanks, Ravi P.S. Here is another instance of a request for the same - https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Forum/Archives/2013-08#Terms_.2F_…
Dear Ravi, CIS has earlier stated on this mailing list itself that it does not have a problem sharing the agreement of the WMF's existing grant and Asaf has clarified WMF's stance on this matter. With regard to the other MoUs CIS-A2K has signed with various institutional partnerships... please note that the term is often determined by the institutional partner and we do not insist on changing the institutional systems, which anyhow does not productively contribute the programmatic aspect. Also all our MoUs have an exit clause with one months notice by either of the parties. So CIS-A2K is extremely clear what it would do if the further phase of support does not come through. Trust this helps. Best, Vishnu
Asaf, I will appreciate if you can answer the following questions regarding the MoU between CIS and WMF. I have placed these questions at https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants_talk:APG/Proposals/2013-2014_round2/… where we can continue the discussion. - What was the budget allotted for former Wikimedia India programs? Can you provide details of the amount transferred to India for executing this program? After the shut down of this program, how much was left and how much was transferred back to WMF's US account? Did you face procedural and regulatory difficulties in transfering this amount back to US? - What was the rationale for the grant amount given to CIS-A2K? I assume they were given the grant and staff first and then asked to work on a plan? - Was CIS asked to work on specific plans that were part of the Wikipedia India programs' agenda? For example, was CIS asked to work on Wikipedia education programmes? - Are there donors to WMF who specifically demand that their money be spent on specific geographic area or program like Wikipedia Education program? - What was the need for transitioning an existing team of WMF contractors to an external partner? Why was it a condition for selecting a partner? Why not just shut down the Wikipedia India programs and leave? Don't organizations close operations and fire people? - What is the need for renewing this partnership which is based on a model that won't be repeated again? - How many years have been specified in the MoU about the continuing partnership? What is the exit clause? Does exit have to be mutually agrred?
10 May 10 May
Asaf, I will appreciate if you could honor your promise about answering specific questions on the CIS-WMF MoU. The questions can be found at https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants_talk:APG/Proposals/2013-2014_round2/… Please let me know if I have failed to take note of your responses for these already. Thanks, Ravi
We have said before that WMF does not generally share its legal contracts with partners, and that the CIS MoU will not be shared by us. This has not changed. I am willing to answer any specific questions about the relationship with CIS, as I have been, both in the current conversation and in previous ones. That said, I would urge you to focus on providing the clearest and most insightful input on CIS's concrete proposal, to assist the FDC in its deliberations. Pranav: your comment about the prettiness of the report is a straw-man. No one has brought it up in the first place; what's more, in all the WMF's grant program history, you will not find a single instance where we have complained about a grant report's prettiness or lack thereof. This is, and always has been, a complete non-issue. Ravi: CIS's three-year commitment to the Goa university is indeed a risk. Some Wikimedia organizations have taken similar risks with their own local partners. In a way, this is hard to avoid, with the structure of our funding system, where funding is given in single-year allocations. A. On Tue, Apr 22, 2014 at 7:27 AM, Pranav Curumsey &lt;pranav(a)wikimedia.in&gt;wrote;wrote:
Thank you, Asaf! The chapter has always promoted transparency and welcomes community input. It would be excellent if you could share the original CIS MoU and all their reports submitted to you in the same spirit as you shared this. Unlike some others out here, we are not trained to make reports which look snazzy. We are Wikipedians and not non profit professionals for whom this is business so we like to keep it simple and to the point. We will try to answer all questions to the best of our ability. On Tue, Apr 22, 2014 at 5:24 AM, Asaf Bartov &lt;abartov(a)wikimedia.org&gt;wrote;wrote:
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-- Asaf Bartov Wikimedia Foundation <http://www.wikimediafoundation.org> Imagine a world in which every single human being can freely share in the sum of all knowledge. Help us make it a reality! https://donate.wikimedia.org
Asaf, Can WMF present the MoU to FDC privately? FDC has representation from global community and this will ensure better transparency at the same time preserving WMF's adherence to legal protocols. It will also make more sense for the FDC members to take an informed decision while assessing the past activity of CIS-A2K. Then, I can place my questions there to be answered by FDC members in the proposal talk page. If this is not possible, I will place my questions about the MoU here. ravi
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