Wikipedia Gives New Life to Latin America Knowledge
March 6, 2008—Most of us are familiar
with Wikipedia, the free web-based
encyclopedia produced via
mass collaboration that has become one
of the 10 most used sites on the Internet
since its creation in 2001.
What you may not know is that some of
the regular contributors to this do-ityourself encyclopedia work in an office
just down the hall from you. They are
just one part of a virtual 'team' of more
than 75,000 contributors worldwide
working on some 9 million articles
in more than 250 languages.
Members of the Wikipedia pilot team (from left to right): David Gray, Nathalie
Giannelli, Almudena Mateos, Manuel Schiffler, Ana Nunez Sanchez, Rita
Cestti, Catherine Signe Tovey, and Aires Conceicao
Pilot Project: Water and Sanitation
Manuel Schiffler, a senior economist in the Latin America and the Caribbean Region (LCR), is one of these
“Wikipedians.”
Just over a year ago, he and his colleagues began posting water and sanitation country notes on Wikipedia,
building on Bank analytical work, other publicly available information, and rural water and sanitation topic
overviews from an earlier collaboration with the Water and Sanitation Program.
This was the beginning of the Wikipedia World Bank Pilot Project, which received an award for innovation at
the February 2007 LCR Knowledge Fair.
“The aim of the pilot project was simple: to share Bank country and sector knowledge in clear and
accessible language through the on-line encyclopedia Wikipedia,” said Schiffler. “We saw Wikipedia as a
way to overcome the shortcomings of other forms of knowledge management that are less interactive, less
structured and have less reach and visibility.”
Manuel Schiffler and Nathalie Giannelli at the Latinosan
conference in Colombia
Popular Knowledge
A year later, the Wikipedia World Bank Pilot Project has 47 country topic overviews in English, and 17 in
Spanish posted on Wikipedia. They received a total of 31,000 hits in January 2008.
These briefs are about the water and sanitation and electricity sectors in LAC countries, and on case of
water and sanitation, in some key countries in other regions. The briefs provide links to analytical work,
project documents and news items on both the Bank’s website and other websites. The pilot is currently
being expanded to include water resources management and irrigation in LAC.
“A key benefit of this initiative is that it is enabling us to break down institutional silos and share knowledge
across countries and sectors,” commented Laura Tuck, LCR sector director for Sustainable Development.
With support from management, Schiffler and his colleagues have secured more than $100,000 in funding
for the pilot from the LAC climate change fund.
How the Bank Benefits
The benefits of this initiative for the Bank are multiple. Staff can access Wikipedia get up to speed quickly on
a new country or sector, with the possibility of drilling down into details through a variety of analytical reports
linked to the articles. Managers benefit from a succinct, up-to-date assessment similar to briefing notes. And
the institution benefits from better dissemination of its analytical work.
“The Wikipedia pilot shows what the Bank can do in terms of using online collaboration to spread
knowledge,” said David Gray, head of the LCR knowledge and learning team which is supporting the pilot.
“In contributing in an honest, factual, and unbiased way to Wikipedia, the Bank can enhance its credibility
with outside stakeholders.”
How it Works
So what are the rules of the game? Almudena Mateos, a consultant, explained that while anyone can edit
virtually any page on Wikipedia, “contributors have to respect certain principles such as abiding by a neutral
point of view and providing references to ensure verifiability.”
Wikipedia has built-in tools that allow users to protect content accuracy and integrity. For instance, articles
can be put on a “watchlist” that enables easy monitoring of changes and all older versions of an article
remain archived so any “vandalism” can be undone with one click.
Mateos commented, “It is possible for biased, out-of-date, or incorrect information to be posted on
Wikipedia, but the large number of people monitoring the articles ensures that such information is usually
corrected quickly.”
In November, when the pilot project was presented at a regional sanitation conference in Colombia—
Latinosan 2007—eight counterparts from government agencies, universities, and NGOs volunteered to act
as focal points for their country pages, editing articles and adding their own local perspectives.
How Far Can We Go?
The pilot team could be replicated to other development topics and other regions. For instance,
there is currently a proposed initiative to work with Wikipedia in the MENA Region, led by Sridhar
Iyer, which would focus on a specific sector and build on the LCR pilot experience.
Ultimately, this could even lead to a “global knowledge platform” consisting of several thousand
interlinked country topic overviews, covering all developing countries and key development
topics.
“Whether the pilot will be replicated will depend on the motivation of staff and the encouragement they get
from management,” says Schiffler.
For more information on the Wikipedia World Bank Pilot Project, click here.
Contributed by Catherine Russell, communications associate, LCREA
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