Wikimedia Foundation elections/2021/Candidates/Douglas Ian Scott

Douglas Ian Scott (Discott)

Discott (talk • meta edits • global user summary • CA • AE)

Candidate details	Douglas at the 2018 Wikimedia Conference. Video statement Personal: Name: Douglas Ian Scott Location: Cape Town, South Africa Languages: en-N, af-2, cmn-2, python, R Editorial: Wikimedian since: 2006 Active wikis: English Wikipedia, Commons
statement (Not more than 450 words)	President of Wikimedia South Africa (2015-2020), lead organiser of Wikimania 2018 in Cape Town and co-organiser of the first Wiki Indaba conference in 2014. I have been an active editor on English Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons since 2006. Currently I am deeply involved in trying to get South African copyright law amended to include Freedom of Panorama and Fair Use against much resistance from major industry stakeholders. The proposed legal conventions and terms will make editing Wikipedia much easier in South Africa. I am involved in and supportive of expanding the community in emerging countries, most specifically in Africa, a part of the world that I strongly feel will play an increasingly important role within the free knowledge movement. This, along with my experience working with a wide and diverse range of community members from many different Wikimedia projects (both online and offline) has equipped me with a good understanding of the many different views within our diverse community. My professional background as a criminologist has developed my skills in conflict mitigation and resolution in  different environments. As a local community leader I have found this to be a useful skill in maintaining and strengthening community health within the South African chapter. I feel that my career as a researcher and technologist has given me a strong grounding in many of the technical aspects of our movement. I strongly believe in the importance of expanding the community's presence on the board through direct elections. If elected I will consistently work for a stronger community role on the Board of Trustees by calling for a greater ratio of seats to be occupied by elected community members instead of appointees. My vision as a member of the board, should I be elected, is to see greater inclusion of, and support for, our community in emerging countries. I would also like to see the board become more transparent and have a deeper level of engagement with the community. Additionally, I would strive for the decentralisation of community resources in the WMF and a stronger role for the community in WFM decision making.
Top 3 Board priorities	1. Expanded engagement between the WMF organisation and the board with the Wikimedia community whilst increasing transparency. 2. Hire and onboard the new WMF CEO – who ever occupies this role will have a very large and long lasting impact on the movement. A person with a deep and genuine belief in the free knowledge movement and the collaborative inclusionist non-commercial volunteer culture of the community is very important. 3. Re-balancing WMF/Community relations so as to strengthen the role of the community within the WMF
Top 3 Movement Strategy priorities	1. Increased representation and support for emerging communities 2. Improved community health and board governance 3.Sustainable and innovative development of new technology to support the community
Verification	Identity verification performed by Wikimedia Foundation staff and eligibility verification performed by the Elections Committee
	Eligibility: Verified Verified by: Matanya (talk) 20:38, 1 July 2021 (UTC)	Identification: Verified Verified by: Joe Sutherland (Wikimedia Foundation) (talk) 18:18, 29 June 2021 (UTC)

Trustee Evaluation Form
Trustee Evaluation Form Years of Experience <1 1–2 2–5 5–10 10+ Wikimedia experience. The candidate is a dedicated contributor to the Wikimedia movement. Eligible contributions include: contributions to the Wikimedia projects, membership in a Wikimedia organization or affiliate, activities as a Wikimedia movement organizer, or participation with a Wikimedia movement ally organization. 10+ Board experience. The candidate has served on the board of trustees/directors or other similar governing body of a nationally- or globally-focused organization (non-profit, for-profit, or governmental). 7 Executive experience. The candidate has worked at an executive level for an organization, department, or project of comparable (or greater) size, complexity, and scope to the Wikimedia Foundation. Subject matter expertise. The candidate has worked or significantly volunteered in an area relevant to the work of the Foundation and the Board. Such areas will be determined on an annual basis and may include areas such as Global movement building and community organization, enterprise-level platform technology and/or product development, public policy and the law, knowledge sector (e.g., academia/GLAM/education), human rights and social justice, open Internet/free and open source software, organizational strategy and management, finance and financial oversight, non-profit fundraising, human resources, board governance. 6 Diversity: Background The candidate belongs or belonged to a group that has faced historical discrimination and underrepresentation in structures of power (related to, for example, gender, race, ethnicity, disability, LGBTQ+ identity, social class, economic status, or caste). No Diversity: Geography The candidate would contribute to the overall geographic diversity of the Board of Trustees, based on the geographic regions where they have lived. Yes Diversity: Language The candidate is a native speaker of a language other than English. No Diversity: Political system experience The candidate has substantial experience living in and/or working to share knowledge in a non-democratic, state-censoring, or repressive context. Yes

Interviews

Here is a short list of some of the discussions and interviews I have given about my candidacy.

• WikiAfrica Hour : Episode 3: WMF Board Demystified (25 Jun 2021)