Global Reach/MEA

Ongoing projects

Pilot for Wikipedia Fan Club in Nigeria [Awareness] [Private Sector]

Description

We are working with Eskimi (a mobile social network platform) with 37 million monthly users in Nigeria to create a Wikipedia Fan Club to educate users and engage with them. This opportunity would allow us to chose what audience we want to target (youth and students), their age range, and their locations (rural vs urban). We have included our Nigerian community by offering them co-ownership of this Fan Club for them to manage the localized content shared.

Status updates

• May 2016: Met CEO and Director of Business Development of Eskimi at the Mobile West Africa conference in Lagos, Nigeria. We discussed exploring ways to promote Wikipedia on Eskimi's channels and other areas of collaboration in Nigeria.
• July 2016: PoC share a presentation deck showcasing our Wikipedia Fan Club details.
• August 2016: We agreed on piloting this Wikipedia Fan Club and using this pilot as a case study.
• November 2016: Introduced the idea of a Wikipedia Fan Club to increase reach and awareness to the Nigerian Wikimedia User Group and they show a lot of interest.
• December 2016: Shared details, presentation, and idea of Wikipedia Fan Club with the Nigerian community on their main email list serve.
• December 2016: The community is excited about managing the Nigerian Wikipedia Fan Club on Eskimi.
• January 2017: Spoke to Eskimi PoC and requested partnerships agreement template.
• February 2017: PoC shared template contract agreement. Will share it with legal for review.
• March 2017: Shared template agreement with legal.
• April 2017: Legal is currently reviewing the agreement.
• May 2017: Reached out to PoC to ask for more details in the contract agreement. No reply.
• June 2017: PoC has gone silent.

Current Status

Waiting for PoC but have not heard back.

Pilot for Wikipedia educational content in Kenya via SMS messaging [Education] [Offline]

Description

We are working with Eneza (the most widely used mobile education platform in Africa) on an education pilot to share local content to their subscribers via SMS messaging in Kenya. Students can access locally-aligned tutorials, Wikipedia text, and live teacher chat through USSD/SMS. Individual parents, students or teachers can buy can subscribe to Wikipedia via SMS for a low weekly or monthly fee.

Status updates

• July 2016: Met Eneza's Director of Business Development at the GSMA Mobile 360 - Africa conference in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. We discussed exploring potential ways to partner in their markets in Africa, starting with a pilot in Kenya.
• August 2016: PoC introduced CTO and we continued to discuss our pilot plans.
• November 2016: Introduced our Senior Technical Parter Manager to the conversation to ensure WMF and Eneza are technically integratabtle.

Current Status

Waiting on Eneza to discuss next steps after sharing our (Wikipedia) API with their CTO.

Pilot for free access to Wikipedia via SMS and voice in Tanzania [Awareness] [Offline]

Description

We are working with ONEm (a global private platform that enables Mobile Operators to provide a new channel for users to experience a new kind of internet but on traditional voice and SMS). We have been discussing a potential partnership to provide free access to Wikipedia to their partners via their “Explorer” platform in Africa.

Status updates

• July 2016: Met ONEm's CEO at the GSMA Mobile 360 - Africa conference in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. We discussed exploring potential ways to partner in their markets in Africa, starting with a pilot in Tanzania.
• October 2016: Reconnected with CEO at the GSMA Mobile 360 - Middle East conference in Dubai, UAE. We continue our discussions and ONEm offered to share a presentation deck of how Wikipedia would be showcased on their platform.
• November 2016: ONEm share the presentation deck and requested to meet with Jimmy Wales in London (where they are based). I am following up to see if we can schedule a meeting soon.
• December 2016: Informed PoC about a potential invitational event in London, will update her once I have more details.
• February 2017: Working with PoC to share template agreement to begin looking at partnership details.
• March 2017: Planning a conf call to discuss partnership in detail.
• April 2017: PoC just shared a template agreement. Will review and share with legal.
• July 2017: Scheduled a conf call with new PoC to discuss next steps.

Current Status

Reviewing details with new PoC.

Wikipedia educational content with Edraak [Education] [Non-profit]

Description

The Queen Rania Foundation (QRF), as well as Edraak.org, the Arabic language MOOCS platform the QRF launched almost two years ago, offers Arab learners across the region access to high quality online courses, free of charge. The platform was launched in partnership with edX, but at this point the vast majority of its content is produced by Edraak. The Arabic Wikipedia community has shown interest in this partnership to agree on suitable Edraak course materials to be translated and contributed to Wikipedia in Arabic for the offline use of Edraak students in the refugee camps. I will be working closely with the Arabic Wikipedia community from Jordan on this project.

Status updates

• March 2016: Jimmy Wales introduced us to the office of Queen Rania in Jordan and the CEO of Edraak.
• April 2016: Met with CEO and Edraak staff and explored areas of collaboration.
• May 2016: Had a follow up meeting with CEO and he introduced the CCO.
• June 2016: Introduced the idea of Arabic Wikipedia community collaboration.
• October 2016: Shared this opportunity with the Arabic Wikipedia community during the Global Reach MENA Office Hours. The community responded positively and showed interest.
• November 2016: Spoke to community from Jordan (Levent user group) and agreed to join me in an in person meeting with Edraak in December to understand what is required from the community.
• December 2016: Agreed with PoC to reconnect and meet up in person during the first week of January, 2017.
• January 2017: Looking into suitable time to schedule an in person meeting to continue our discussions and introduce Mervat Salman from the Jordan User Group.

Current Status

Exploring the best way to move forward with a pilot around Arabic content involving our Arabic Wikipedia community and other potential ways to introduce Wikipedia to refugee camps in Jordan.

Educational Wikipedia content in classrooms across Syrian refugee camps Jordan [Education] [Non-profit] [Offline]

Description

Mercy Corps is interested in finding ways to collaborate in their many classrooms across Zaatari and Azrak camps. They have up to 20 PCs at each lab. I am finding out how many labs there at in total. As there is no internet connectivity at all, we are exploring offline solutions together.

Status updates

• August 2016: Amanda Bittaker introduced me to Mercy Corps via email
• September 2016: I had an introduction call with Mercy Corps Middle East manager and discussed possible collaborative efforts in classrooms at refugee camps in Jordan.
• October 2016: Due to the lack of internet connectivity at Zaatari and Azrak refugee camps, offline solutions will be the best option to move forward.
• December 2016: Informed PoC that until we have a more defined strategy to move forward, we are putting these types of partnership efforts on hold for now.

Current Status

On hold until we have a more defined offline strategy to move forward.

Wikipedia Zero in Iraq with Asiacell [Affordability] [Private Sector]

Description

Asiacell is the first and largest mobile network operator (MNO) in Iraq with a subscriber base of over 12.2 million. Asiacell Telecom Company is a Kurdish telecommunications company that offers mobile phone services and Mobile Internet mainly in Iraq. With the help from our Iraqi community, we finally have our Wikipedia Zero agreement signed with Asiacell.

Status updates

• October 2016: Asiacell signed the Wikipedia Zero agreement.
• November 2016: Technical integration and testing to be completed by mid December, 2016.
• November 2016: Official launch to be targeted around the mid of February, 2017.
• November 2016: WMF to coordinate with Asiacell to share all high resolution logos for materials used to promote the Educational Programs in Iraq.
• December 2016: Both WMF and Asiacell Comms teams to coordinate on all press releases, local / regional / international media outreach, and video efforts.
• December 2016: Asiacell will share feedback on video script and marketing plan this week.
• January 2017: Asiacell confirmed attendance at the MWC in Barcelona and agreed to a launch event.
• January 2017: Aiming for Tuesday Feb 28th anytime between 11am - 2pm for the MWC launch event. Introducing WMF Comms team to Asiacell's Comms team via Skype meeting.
• January 2017: Confirmed launch event date - Tuesday Feb 28th.
• February 2017: Working on final logistics and event details with Comms and Asiacell.
• February 2017: Wikipedia Zero launch was a success at MWC in Barcelona with CTO of Asiacell and WMF ED.
• March 2017: Marketing roll-out began with 8 million Asiacell subscribers receiving SMS blast. Video production is ongoing and contract agreement for video product will be sent to media house.
• March 2017: Had cof call and discussed marketing plan, social media campaigns, and video production. This week is a holiday in Kurdistan, so all Asiacell employees are off.
• March 2017: The video production contract has been signed by both sides. Hama will be sharing the invoice soon.
• April 2017: Storyboard shared and feedback is positive. Video production ongoing.
• May 2017: Video was shared on social media in Arabic and Kurdish.
• June 2017: Videos were viewed ~3million times (10% of Iraqi population).
• July 2017: Following up with production house to receive all materials, music files, etc.

Current Status

Videos were viewed ~3million times (10% of Iraqi population).

Wikipedia Zero in Nigeria with Smile [Affordability] [Private Sector]

Description

I recently completed a Wikipedia Zero agreement with Smile in Nigeria as part of a framework agreement with Smile Communications Group. Smile Communications provides 4G LTE mobile broadband in Nigeria with additional affiliates in Uganda and Tanzania. Smile is a new operator in Nigeria and is unique with their approach to education, youth target market, and high rates of student penetration.

Status updates

• October 2016: Completed the Wikipedia Zero frame work agreement with signatures from all Smile affiliates in Nigeria, Uganda, and Tanzania.
• October 2016: Agreed to begin technical integration and testing in Nigeria first.
• November 2016: I shared this news with our Nigerian community and they are thrilled and have shown a lot of interest in this partnership.
• December 2016: With technical integrations tested, we are about to agree on a launch date in Nigeria.
• December 2016: Spoke WMF Comms and they suggested an in person launch event with Smile Nigeria and the Nigerian community. Comms also committed to help with press releases with Smile Nigeria, blog post, and to post on our social media sites targeting Nigeria.
• December 2016: Spoke with PoC on Skype and agreed on a tentative launch date of end of January. We scheduled for an introduction call with Smile Nigeria's communications team to kick off our launch and marketing plan.
• December 2016: Had Skype call with Smile Group PoC and Smile Nigerian PoC. Smile Nigeria will confirm launch date by next week. The next steps will be to discuss possible event, blogs, press releases, social media partnerships and to put timelines in place.
• December 2016: Checked in with PoC to ask for updates about potential launch dates for Smile Nigeria.
• January 2017: Aiming for Nigeria launch in mid February, 2017.
• February 2017: Working with new PoC on marketing plan and launch date.
• March 2017: Conf call to be scheduled this week.
• April 2017: Smile Nigeria Wikipedia Zero launch 1st or 2nd week of May. Smile team wants to use this as an big promotional opportunity. Target audience: students. Subscriber base: 200,000 active.
• May 2017: Visited Smile in Nigeria and discussed launch plans, marketing and communication.
• July 2017: Officially launch WP0 on July 4, 2017.

Current Status

Officially launch WP0 on July 4, 2017.

Wikipedia Zero in Senegal with Tigo [Affordability] [Private Sector]

Description

Tigo is part of the telecommunications company Millicom and international media, with over 50 million customers in 13 countries in Africa and Latin America. Tigo is a leading mobile service providers in Senegal with over 3 million subscribers launched in 1999. We are currently exploring signing a Wikipedia Zero agreement with Tigo in Senegal.

Status updates

• June 2016: Tigo Senegal showed interest in become Wikipedia Zero partners.
• July 2016: Had a Skype call and shared the partnership details with my PoC.
• August 2016: My PoC asked for me to share the Wikipedia Zero template agreement.
• September 2016: Tigo Senegal request some data on Wikipedia page views. They shared their IP address range.
• September 2016: I introduced our Senior Technical Partner Manager to answer technical integrations questions and to create a portal for them.
• November 2016: We shared access to (and usernames) to the portal he created for Tigo Senegal.
• March 2017: PoC reached out after 4 months and interested in finalizing the agreement.
• April 2017: Working out some misunderstand of the WP0 partnership with MNO. Tigo Senegal's legal team made minor changes to the agreement. Reviewing.
• May 2017: Agreement countersigned and technically integrated.
• June 2017: Shared access to the portal for their access to the backend.

Current Status

Waiting on MNO for their action plan.

Wikipedia Zero in Burundi with Smart [Affordability] [Private Sector]

Description

Smart is a mobile and Internet services provider based in Burundi and is interested becoming a Wikipedia Zero partner.

Status updates

• September 2016: Smart Burundi reached out to us via the answers@wikimedia.org email and showed interest in becoming a Wikipedia Zero partner.
• September 2016: Schedule a Skype call and introduced myself and answered all the questions they had.
• October 2016: I shared the Wikipedia Zero template agreement with my PoC.
• December 2016: Waiting on their legal team for comments and next steps.
• December 2016: PoC shared signed agreement. Next steps to follow.
• January 2017: Shared countersigned agreement with Smart and introduced technical parters manager for integrations
• January 2017: Looking into Opera PoC to introduce to MNO to discuss agreement due to high Opera traffic on network.
• February 2017: Still looking for Opera contact to begin agreement talks with Smart Burundi.

Current Status

Working on technical integrations and Opera discussions.

Wikipedia partnership with Misk Foundation in Saudi Arabia [Awareness] [Nonprofit] [Education]

Description

I've developed a new relationship with the Misk Foundation, a Saudi non-profit organization. Their overall mission is to empower Saudi youth in the areas of culture, education, and technology. They currently have partnerships with big names like CNN, Bill Gates, and Harvard University, just to name a few.

Status updates

• November 2016: Spoke to Misk Foundation PoC about a potential partnership in Saudi Arabia and eventually the Middle East.
• December 2016: We are discussing the details of a partnership in Saudi Arabia (and the Middle East as a whole) around enriching Arabic content, establishing and enabling a culture of volunteerism, and connecting Saudi youth to their global peers.
• December 2016: I met with their secretary general and head of development earlier today in Amman and we agreed to move forward.
• December 2016: I was invited to meet the Misk Foundation team and discuss our partnership in more detail. I am currently looking into the visa process.
• January 2017: I obtained the Visa to Saudi Arabia.
• January 2017: Met with PoC at HQ in Riyadh and we laid out details for our partnerships plan. Misk Foundation will share MOU outlining intended goals.
• February 2017: Waiting on PoC to share MOU and outline for next steps to continue partnership details.
• March 2017: PoC shared MOU for review and planning to sign during UNESCO event in May.
• March 2017: Reviewing MOU internally and looking into reaching out to community in Saudi Arabia and Middle East.
• March 2017: Discussing MOU internally and reached out to Arabic speaking community to meet at WMNCON in Berlin.
• May 2017: Met with PoC in Riyadh at the UNESCO NGO forum and agreed to continue working on MOU.
• June 2017: Spoke to Arabic community about next steps and agreed to invited Misk to WikiArabia in Egypt in October to discuss the partnership with the entire community.
• July 2017: Call scheduled to talk about next steps and updates.

Current Status

Call scheduled to talk about next steps and updates.