From 14-19th of August, I had the pleasure of participating in the Wikimedia movement’s annual conference, #Wikimania2023 , held in Singapore. The conference was hosted at the Suntec Convention and Exhibition Centre located within Suntec City.
The conference was brilliantly organized by the ESEAP team. Kudos to Butch & the entire team for their outstanding work. It was a delightful experience reuniting with friends, especially after 2 online editions and a 4-year gap since the last in-person Wikimania Stockholm 2019.
At the convention, we were accommodated at a hotel situated in the vibrant and picturesque Arab Street neighborhood, offering a stunning perspective of Masjid Sultan.
During #Wikimania2023 , I had the pleasure to team up with my friend Houcemeddine Turki to present ‘How to use Wikidata to build web tools for the social good.’ You can check the slides here via this link on Commons.
During this presentation we introduced our amazing tool Sawtpedia, allowing users to listen to Wikipedia in their language via QR code scanning. Sawtpedia recently has been used in Tunisia with the listed monument the Ribat of Lamta.
Sawtpedia unlocks boundless possibilities for museums, linking exhibited objects with WP articles. Visitors can immerse themselves in the content while exploring museums. And it’s not just for museums, think historical cities, where you can connect monuments to their WP articles!
Other exciting times at Wikimania2023 ! I Joined forces with Emmanuel Engelhart for the Hackathon showcase, demonstrating how Kiwix and Wikidata can craft a mobile application for museums by using the amazing tool Wikipedia 1.0 Server (WP1 server) to generate a Zim file.
We even generated in a few clicks an app in French for the Bardo Museum in Tunisia that can be consulted by installing the Kiwix Custom App! Check out our slides here.
The use of Wikidata with Kiwix’s Wikipedia 1.0 Server marks a huge stride towards putting in place our future platform: Makumbusho that should allow any museum (documented on Wikipedia) to have its own free multilingual mobile app with just a few clicks!
The use of Wikidata with Kiwix’s Wikipedia 1.0 Server can be used also to boost OER initiatives by generating open educational apps, leveraging the fruits of the project Wikidata for Education.
In addition to the sessions I was involved as a presenter, Wikimania2023 offered a chance to attend and learn from some fantastic sessions, such as:
-the one hosted by Nassima Chahboun: “Creative Uses of Wikimedia Commons for a Deeper Understanding of Heritage“.
-the SPARQL Challenge presented by Nicolas VIGNERON.
-the panel “ChatGPT vs. WikiGPT: Challenges and Opportunities in harnessing generative AI for Wikimedia Projects“
-the session presented by Houcemmedine Turki: “Empowering Wikidata and Wikipedia with Generative AI“.
Attending Wikimania2023 was not just about learning and sharing but also forging connections! It was a good opportunity to meet with members of our thematic user group Wiki World Heritage to discuss exciting future projects and collaborations.
Plus, I had the privilege of joining other fantastic meetups – Wiki Cemeteries, Wiki Franca, and the vibrant African community meetup #proudlyAfrican!
Nevertheless, the most unexpectedly delightful and memorable moment of this edition for me was the amazing impromptu Wiki Wedding at the wonderful Gardens by the Bay during the closing party! Here’s how it unfolded:
During a casual Wikimania 2021 COT meetup, I was sharing with Lodewijk that, thanks to Andrew, I had the incredible chance to meet my wife during a Wiki Conference. He playfully asked me, “Well then, why didn’t you invite him to your wedding?”
My response was simple: we didn’t have a wedding ceremony due to COVID restrictions. So Andrew said let there be a ceremony during this Wikimania and so a ceremony we had. And here we are at the Gardens by the Bay during the closing party, surrounded by our second family celebrating our wedding (still can’t believe that it’s the same place as the wedding from the movie Crazy Rich Asians).
One condition my wife had for this wedding: Andrew had to be the officiant. So please meet our Wiki minister, whose speech was heartwarming, and who had the brilliant idea of using QuickStatement to officially marry us on Wikidata!
We cherish these unforgettable moments and extend our heartfelt thanks to everyone who left us messages in the incredible book. Your words mean the world to us!
Thank You Andrew, Butch, Nanour, Nada, Manar, Meherdad, Lorenzo, Florence, Nicolas, Houcemeddine, Chinmayee, Gisca, Remy, Emmanuel, Shani, Gopa and All the friends who made this Wikimania memorable and unforgettable!
Wikimania2023 Thank you for this amazing edition, Terima Kasih !
See you next year in Kraków for Wikimania 2024!
Can you help us translate this article?
In order for this article to reach as many people as possible we would like your help. Can you translate this article to get the message out?
Start translation