Grants:IEG/TOK - The tree of knowledge

status: idea

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project:

IEG/TOK - The tree of knowledge

project contact:

info@the-tok.com www.tok-thetreeofknowledge.com www.the-tok.com

participants:

summary:

TOK is a social knowledge network able to bring persons to map their knowledge and ideas development over time, sharing them with other users, in order to constantly improve ideas through confront.

engagement target:

New social network for ideas, not an existing Wikimedia project

total amount requested:

<!—Euro. 23.000-->

2013 round 1

Project idea

The basic concept of this idea is that human knowledge develops as the person grows and has new experience during life. For instance, as a student attends exams at Univeristy, as his knowledge develops. When the Student starts to work his knowledge improves and theory learned at school connects to real life. This experiences changes furtherly the person ability and creates new ideas. This path brings to knowledge innovation and to specialization. The aim of the TOK is to bring persons to map this ideas development and share it with other people, in order to constantly improve ideas through constant confronts. The social network works as a tree, the user fills its personal competence profile and then start to make the tree grows with new branches and leafs by adding new ideas and developing them over time.

Users interaction can be direct or indirect. User can interact directly with another user as they are in connection (rules about this connection has to be defined) or also as other social network there can be "followers". As users interact on an idea, the latter develops and improves thanks to the ability and knowledge sharing of users.

Project goals

The aim of TOK is to change the approach of ideas development and spread. Many people think that their ideas are good, but not share them with others because sometimes they are afraid that someone might steal it or sometimes because they think that this knowledge might not be useful for others. Otherwise, many of them have not enough money or right contacts to invest concretely in their ideas. Thus, what will happen? Many good ideas remain in the drawer locked. Economic growth theory states that growth increases as innovation develops, what if all the innovative ideas locked in many drawers be shared, maybe some of them will be improved, some may found funding with more probability and maybe this activity will also contributes to increase the innovation rate in the long run . On the concrete side, the main goal is to realize a free knowledge social network . Cooperation with Universities and Research Associations /Foundations is one of the main target in order to attract students and researcher to interact through this network. On the Wikipedia side, I think that this project may increase further Wikipedia interactivity. Moreover, this project has the potential to make Wikipedia also a support for knowledge innovation and knowledge diffusion.

Project plan

Scope:

Tools, technologies, and techniques

IT assistance. I think that I’m good with ideas, contents and on the management side. I have ha degree in International Economics and I had my first computer at six years. I’ve started surfing on the internet when google was not founded with 56K internet connection, but sure I’m not an IT technician. Thus, sure I need that kind of assistance. On a the management side, sure it would be nice to be able with Wikipedia cooperation and assistance try to organize users meetings/confronts/festival on common interest matters, also with a possible patronage/support of Universities and Foundations. To start sure it would be helpful to take part to some event and present the project idea with workshop (here in Italy we have several possibilities. In my neighborhood, Festival Letteratura in Mantova is an event that brings writers to present their books and writing experience to people by small workshops all free. This could be a nice example of event to take part to start promoting and have feedback from people about TOK idea.). With reference to Wikipedia gadgets, sure they’ll be very helpfull. Everybody know the contribution of Wikipedia to the free knowledge, I think that starting to also be part of the knowledge development would be a good opportunity for Wikipedia too. On the volunteers side, I was thiking that this users will have such a golden or founder profile on the TOK network, thus everybody will know that this people contributed to make the Tree of Knowledge grow.

Budget:

Total amount requested

Euro 23.000

Budget breakdown

Cost list: Website development: 5.000 Euro Public relation (gadgets, advertisement on the Web/Press) : 3.000 Euro Travel expenses (up to now only national travel to visit target institutions and public sector): 10.000 Euro I was thinking to manage all the content editing activity: Eu. 5000

Intended impact:

Target audience

Target Users are: students, university students, researchers, academic professors, universities and research Associations /Foundations

Fit with strategy

Increase Participation: TOK will change the Wikipedia (other) users behaviors. They’ll also have the chance to develop knowledge by their ideas. Improve Quality: Wikipedia will have its own social network Encourage Innovation: People sharing their ideas, will sure contribute to the birth of new innovative ideas, also thanks to the users interaction. TOK aim is to allow people to fix in words their ideas, this will allow maybe also to view them on a different light, to find other people able to solve any question which maybe can improve the basic concept. Finally I hope the TOk could be an instrument that will easier approach good ideas to company funds/venture capital. In other words, make sometimes dreams come true.

Sustainability

I hope that once the beta version of TOK is realized, there will be so many users that will require a proper IT editing activity of TOK social network … who knows, maybe a new facebook or linked in… Hope so! I hope that Wikipedia will like so much this idea that will consider to realize it as a brother of the most known social networks. If I imagine it in my country, I hope that Public institutions will recognize that TOK can be a social utility network and all University will encourage their students to have and develop their own accounts, because they finally wants to make public the message that quality lead to good results and knowledge is the key of growth and success (as you sure know here in italy knowledge development and research activity is not so considered a key factor in which invest, public funds are low and private sector has an old approach to high skilled persons. Finally, innovative ideas have a hard and long path to do to reach money and make themselves known .In many cases, people with good ideas have not the funds or the instruments to go through it.. I think that internet is a very precious way for that, and TOK could be the right instrument to start )

Measures of success

I think that the main measures of success could be the number of users, their composition and the number of interaction between users. On the public relation side, the involvement of University/Foundation could be also a big success.

Participant(s)

Up to now, I’m alone with this idea. I think that maybe I will need assistance on the IT side, and on this I count on Wikipedia members. Anyway, if will be required I have also some friends of mine which have a degree in Computer Engineering and Website editing, thus I can involve also them. About myself, I can say that I have a degree in International Economics and a passion for IT in general. I had my first computer at six years old (I think it was 1990), I was sitting by my father side watching him working with LOTUS 123 for work. I wanted to play also videogames, thus to do that I learned how to turn it on and play. Then my father thought me how to write on Lotus 123, thus he could dictate me. I was very happy of that. Then I started by myself in doings things such as realizing graphs just for fun, just to learn how to do that! This was my method, try once try twice… until I reached the target. Then, came Windows (nothing against Apple, I never had it, for us was too expensive..) and the internet and the story was the same for all the version since now. Anyway, I never studied IT, it is simply a passion. And that brings me where I am now… I have a work and I’m married. I had this idea one day (the TOK idea), thus I decided to try to develop it. Thinking (and writing for now) costs only time and nothing else. Sometimes I imagine how it would be if one day I will have my own TOK account, I would love to use it! I’m sure! The idea comes from the fact that after my degree I had this big final report which was much theoretical. I started working in the public grants to company sector, and my final report theoretical work remained closed in my library. I said to myself, I like my current job (which now is changed, now I work for an import export company), but what a pity all that work abandoned after months of researches. Maybe if I share the contents, the ideas, theory would be usefull for other people. It wasn’t a money or a copyright matter, it was a knowledge waste! Furthermore, as my work experience developed over time, I had new ideas that might additional develop my degree work. Thus the matter were basically two: share knowledge and trace idea path. Answer: the tree of knowledge!If you want to learn more about my professional profile, I invite you to visit my profile on Linked in (just search for Marta Castellini, Italy. If you not find me, write me an email and I will send you!)

Discussion

Community Notification:

Please paste a link to where the relevant communities have been notified of this proposal, and to any other relevant community discussions, here. http://progettokublai.ning.com/

Endorsements:

Do you think this project should be selected for an Individual Engagement Grant? Please add your name and rationale for endorsing this project in the list below. Other feedback, questions or concerns from community members are also highly valued, but please post them on the talk page of this proposal.

• Community member: add your name and rationale here.

Discussion

Community Notification:

Please paste a link to where the relevant communities have been notified of this proposal, and to any other relevant community discussions, here.

Endorsements:

Do you think this project should be selected for an Individual Engagement Grant? Please add your name and rationale for endorsing this project in the list below. Other feedback, questions or concerns from community members are also highly valued, but please post them on the talk page of this proposal.

• Community member: add your name and rationale here.

Discussion

Community Notification:

Please paste a link to where the relevant communities have been notified of this proposal, and to any other relevant community discussions, here. http://progettokublai.ning.com/

Endorsements:

Do you think this project should be selected for an Individual Engagement Grant? Please add your name and rationale for endorsing this project in the list below. Other feedback, questions or concerns from community members are also highly valued, but please post them on the talk page of this proposal.

• Community member: add your name and rationale here.