WikiProducts

This page is a proposal for the integration of an existing wiki into the Wikimedia Foundation.

Project description

WikiProducts is an internet platform upon which product knowledge can be gathered and structured. Product knowledge can be understood to include any information that is interesting to both consumers as well as manufacturers. The intention behind Wikiproducts is to promote a structured, public discourse with respect to consumer products.

WikiProducts will create a platform for information on products that is currently either inaccessible to the public or enjoys only restricted public access – this despite its potentially large influence on buying decisions. In this respect, political, environmental, social, and health related issues form the core of product descriptions.

On this wiki every product gets its own page. By use of "semantic wiki" and "Dynamic page list (DPL)standardized informations can be compared between products. For an example see an article on radiation of cell phones or an article on fuel economy and CO2-emissions of cars.

This wiki also includes and relates to Information on manufacturers, labels and national economies with their specific legal systems. In this way background information on ecological, social and health issues of products can be provided.

Although there are some similar projects, which were developed during the recent past(Amazon, Productwiki) we think it is important that such a platform does not pursue commercial interests but is organized as a non-for-profit organization.

The german version of WikiProducts is developing rapidly. There exists also a much smaller english version at http://en.wiki-products.org/Main_Page.