Annual Report 2023/Story: New Opportunities for Open Access through the UN

Access

Use

Community

Enabling

Access

2023

This story focuses on how collaboration with several intergovernmental organizations have deepened during 2023 through various international conferences, letters of intent, and new opportunities. These collaborations have significant potential to, among other things, result in large amounts of material being released under free licenses, to secure funding, to open doors to international events where we can reach new networks and target audiences, and to engage experts on the Wikimedia platforms.

During 2023, collaboration with several UN agencies and other intergovernmental organizations (IGO) has deepened. The smaller group of intergovernmental organizations that have led the way have become even more engaged in sharing content via the platforms, and at the same time, the number of organizations embarking on the journey to collaborate with the Wikimedia movement and share knowledge and information via the Wikimedia platforms has increased.

The initiative with our Content Partnerships Hub continues to open new doors to exciting collaborations, whether formalized or not, which in itself means that both the intergovernmental organizations and us within the Wikimedia movement need to examine and develop our processes. From our perspective, this has involved presentations about the IGO work at several Wikimedia conferences, nationally and internationally. For instance, we hosted a discussion about the IGO work on the main stage at Wikimania, and FAO and IEA participated (virtually) in our annual Wikipedia day.

One of the highlights of the IGO collaboration this year was participating in the workshop with the open access working party within the UN and IGO sphere. This provided an opportunity not only to explain in more detail how Wikipedia and the Wikimedia platforms work, but also to give a presentation on the process of becoming a Wikimedian in Residence (WiR) and the value WiRs bring. Following the presentation, a large number of UN agencies and other IGOs have shown interest in hiring or contracting WiR positions within their institutions.

The growing interest has also further highlighted the need to structure the process on our side. There is a small group of Wikimedians who get the opportunity for WiR positions, and it is often the same individuals rotating through the different positions. This is a problem from a diversity perspective but also regarding innovation and re-thinking. Moreover, it is not particularly scalable. We have been working on a structured process for WiR positions within UN agencies and other IGOs for some time now, and during the fall, we were able to share a draft with several Wikimedia associations and experienced Wikimedians. This is a valuable next step in working towards a professionalized collaboration with the UN agencies.

Throughout the year, several inquiries to the Helpdesk have also highlighted the intersections between IGO work and the work with the Helpdesk. With more WiRs at intergovernmental organizations and an increasing number of inquiries to the Helpdesk relating to the content of intergovernmental organizations, it becomes increasingly apparent that there is a need for a contact within the Helpdesk to manage this intersection. This is also an important starting point for future discussions about the administration of the hub since the Helpdesk is prioritized by a formalized expert committee while hub proceedings are primarily driven by the Wikimedia Sweden office and based on an internal concept paper.

As more WiRs are appointed, the importance of establishing connections between WiRs and the Helpdesk increases, as well as considering how contacts within the framework of the Helpdesk can serve as support functions for individual WiRs.

In 2023, we began an active collaboration with OECD to support them in their process towards a policy for open access, compatible with the Wikimedia platforms' licenses, as well as with EIB, with whom we signed a letter of intent with for increased collaboration during 2024 and onwards.