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CIS-A2K/Institutional Partners/Department of Language and Culture, Government of Telangana

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Background

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The Department of Language and Culture, Government of Telangana, has been supporting Wikimedia projects and the Telugu Wikimedia Community since at least 2016. The Access to Knowledge team has previously received support to organize several activities and events at Ravindra Bharati, thanks to the Department of Language and Culture.

During numerous conversations and discussions with Mamidi Harikrishna, Director of the Department of Language and Culture, Government of Telangana, various stakeholders including CIS-A2K, few members of Telugu Wikimedians, and WMF discussed and agreed upon initiatives to promote free knowledge, digitize cultural heritage in Telangana, and other related aspects.

In this context, the Centre for Internet and Society, the Department of Language and Culture of the Telangana Government, and the Wikimedia Foundation signed an MoU to further this partnership and begin active collaboration in digitizing cultural heritage and promoting free knowledge in Telangana.

Activities & Progress

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  • During the last week of March 2024, representatives of the Department of Language and Culture, Government of Telangana (DLC), the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS), and the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to work collaboratively on digitizing cultural heritage, promoting free knowledge through training, and making resources available under open licenses.
  • The Department of Language and Culture, Telangana, has released the cultural media archive it created over the last decade (2014-2024) and submitted the necessary documentation to the OTRS system of Wikimedia Commons.
  • By the first week of April 2024, the Wikimedian in Residence began prioritizing the media for upload, identifying labels and descriptions, and liaising with the Department, organizations, and the community.
  • As of September 2024, 6,500 media files have been uploaded under various categories to Files uploaded by the Telangana State DLC's Wikimedian In Residence.