Task force/China

From Strategic Planning

Relevant Wikimedia-pedia Articles

Participants should be sure they're familiar with the relevant background material. They should also work to identify gaps and collect and summarize more information as it becomes available.


Mandate

The goal of this task force is to help set the strategy for realizing the full potential of the Wikimedia projects among the 300 million and growing online users in China, addressing challenges of openness and competition. The Wikimedia projects underperform in China both in terms of reach and participation, primarily because of the presence of local "competitors" (Baidu and Hudong) and because the projects have often been inaccessible in China.

The goal of the task force is to develop 2-4 recommendations by January 12, 2010 on how Wikimedia projects can increase reach and participation inside China. This task force will focus solely on Chinese people who have internet access.

The task force should develop answers to these questions to help guide their work:

  1. What are the underlying causes of Wikimedia's limited take-off in China?
  2. How is Wikipedia performing in comparison to Hudong and Baidu? To what extent, does Wikimedia have unique assets or advantages that would fill needs that competitors cannot?
  3. How should Wikipedia position itself in relation to Hudong and Baidu? Are there partnership opportunities either with Hudong/Baidu or with others?
  4. What are the priority needs of editors and readers of the Chinese Wikipedia?
  5. How should Wikimedia deal with censorship and protection of its readers and editors in China?
  6. What 2-4 strategic opportunities for investment in growth and community health would help to propel Wikimedia in China?
  7. Who is needed to support this strategy (e.g., Wikimedia Foundation, chapters, individual volunteers, external partners), and what do they need to do?

Work Summary

This Task Force spent the past several months discussing the mandate above and collecting and synthesizing research:

Based on its work, it's drafting the following recommendations: