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Bridging the Wikipedia Divide: Wikipedia Academy

The logic is simple – only less than 0.1% of the Wikipedia readers contribute back, and my guess is that the percentage is even lower in India. The solution is Chennai Wikipedia Academy:

The Chennai Wikipedia Academy is NOT a brick and mortar entity. It’s a concept that embodies the spirit of sharing. It’s a simple initiative that anyone can start in their office, homes, community halls, schools or colleges. It’s simple. Arrange for a place where people who are knowledgeable about Wikipedia will help people who want to learn about Wikipedia.

We think the potential is immense in encouraging users in a country like India to engage more on Wikipedia. A quick look at the Wikipedia Contributor Stats shows that for the English language site, 52% of the contributors are from the US and majority of the contributors are from the English speaking countries Western world. 

The idea came out of a group session at BarCamp Chennai, a user-generated conference focused on technology start-ups. You can learn more about Barcamp here. And while you are it, also check out  Failcampa friendly unconference where people get-together to share and learn from failure


Vinay Ganti

Vinay is in his fourth year of a four year JD/MBA program at the New York University School of Law and the Leonard B. Stern School of Business in New York City. Prior to coming to New York, Vinay graduated from Brown University, worked in technology transfer as a consultant and also founded a financial literacy program for underprivileged youth. Currently, Vinay is an InSITE Fellow for Venture Capital and Innovation. His primary interests are in the social venture capital investing space and its role in transforming micro-businesses into globally competitive SMEs. After school, Vinay wants to create novel ways to provide clean energy & water to the world’s poor.

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  1. Elizabeth Baker