Global Reach/India Partnerships plan

The awareness and usage of Wikimedia projects in India are extremely low compared to the population, internet penetration, and the number of people seeking content in their native languages in the region.

Even though India covers around 17% of the world’s population, only ~4% of Wikipedia page-views come from India
Our phone survey covering 12 Indian languages showed that even though 64% of the respondents used the internet, only 25% of the respondents had heard of Wikipedia
Based on unique devices accessing Wikipedia from India, we computed that not even 1% of native speakers in each Indian language might be accessing their language’s Wikipedia.
Out of 462M internet users in India, even with the most conservative estimate, at least 70% are Indian language speakers, but not even 10% of Wikipedia page-views in India is for Indian language Wikipedias.

Aligned with New Readers program target countries, we will focus our efforts in India. To address this issue:

In India, based on insights gained during the New Readers research done in India in 2016-2017, we aim to put Wikimedia projects in front of new readers through strategic partnerships with government, media, private entities, and nonprofits.

Goal

Increase the awareness and readership of Wikimedia projects in India, covering both native languages and English.

Outcomes

Indian language speakers become aware that Wikipedia exists in their own languages, and understand what Wikipedia is.
More Indian language speakers become Wikipedia readers.

Activities

Build partnerships with media houses and state governments in India to introduce Indian language speakers to Wikimedia projects at scale, by surfacing WP content through mass media and government channels.
Build partnerships with private entities and nonprofits in India such that new readers start using Indian language Wikipedias, by surfacing our content/site in the partners’ user experience.