First draft for our working plan

Contributors: Peggy, Angus, Bowo, jp, deborah, Melinda, Juan, Camilla (please put your name here)

 

This document does not intend to select which language to translate WiserEarth into, but rather the overall plan for creating WiserEarth in different languages (go here for a discussion on "which languages and why").

 

Editing Instructions for Co-creating this document:

There are twelve sections in the document. Each has a corresponding wikipage where you can discuss ideas in the comment section, and post the summary into the about section and edit it further. Summaries from each wikipage will be reflected back in this page. If you would like to suggest a new section or comment on the document as a whole, please post in the comment section of this page.  

 

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Table of Contents

 

1. Executive Summary .................................................... (view | discuss and edit)
   
2. Vision for taking WiserEarth International ............ (view | discuss and edit)
3. Technical Platform ...................................................... (view | discuss and edit)
4. Governance Model ....................................................... (view | discuss and edit)
5. Content Generation ...................................................... (view | discuss and edit)
6. Partnerships Model ..................................................... (view | discuss and edit)
7. Brand Positioning ..........................................................(view | discuss and edit)
8. Marketing/Outreach .................................................... (view | discuss and edit)
9. Financial/Fundraising Plan ......................................... (view | discuss and edit)
10. Key Risks/Issues ....................................................... (view | discuss and edit)
11. Local Values/Customs - Country Specific ........... (view | discuss and edit)
12. Timeline/Phases of Implementation ..................... (view | discuss and edit)

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1. Executive Summary

We're still discussing and completing this document. Please feel free to join the discussion on each section and edit further.

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2. Vision for taking WiserEarth International

 

Reach out to a diversity of people who have significant knowledge and experience, and who could benefit from the WiserEarth community and other movements. Significant social innovation is occuring in such areas as Africa, the Indian sub-continent, South America, Southeast Asia and in the northern hemisphere; as-well-as within the networks of Aboriginal, Indigenous and Native Peoples. Increasing opportunities for dialogue and the sharing of information benefits everyone concerned with working towards a sustainable future.

 

Reach out to the multitudes of the people who speak the most prominant languages on earth, and whom can be reached via electronic means (i.e. internet or cell phone), and who can connect with other members of their communities who may not be able. Preliminary list can be found here

 

Reach out to those who could benefit from WiserEarth, such as places where existing electronic social network sites do not already exist; where partner organizations want to assist;  and, where participation with WiserEarth can exist to form the governance, administrative, and editorial basis for an expanded WiserEarth network.

 

Internationalize where a local community of users will steward the WiserEarth platform into the long term, and where, after a relatively short period of time, relatively few inputs will be required from NCI / wider-Wiserearth governance groups.

 

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3. Technical Platform

 

This section intends to identify all the technical needs for this endeavor

 

3.1 Data Center/Server

Currently the data center for WiserEarth is based in Texas, US. We may decide at first to put all the sites there, and analyze the performance. it may be necessary after to set up another data center in Europe (Europe has data privacy rules that would make it difficult) or Asia. Using a combination of Amazon EC2 (to augment processing power) and Amazon Simple DB or even FreeBase to track all user-generated translations.

 

 

3.2 Technical Features

 

- Ability to translate fields and dialog boxes from WiserEarth in English into local site, or vice versa.

- Ability for users to express language preference either through browser settings / and / or user profile

- Ability for users to toggle between different language versions of the same content

- Ability for users to select text-only or expanded graphics features.

- Ability for an administrator to send to an automatic queue of articles and key profiles that need to be translated so that any users can volunter to do some translations and work on them right away (see wiki where users vote for translation into specific language to gauge demand)

- Question of how the sites operate - separate instances (don't think so as that is too hard to manage updates), more likely same UI with translated fields and filter on what language content to show.

- Data sharing between all languages

- Facilities for teams to provide translations.

- Human-and-machine translation server to build a WiserEarth community translation memory and assist further translation effort (see discussion for more details)

- The translation would be displayed instead of the original item according to the preferences of the reader.  The type of translation (by author, by team or automatic) would be clear and a button would be available to see the item in the original or in another language.

- To develop a feature that allows organizations to create their profile withing wiserEarth platform. And allow them to have access to it, throught their own domain name. That would be a powerful step towards Wiser Commons.

 

 

3.3 Localized homepage

 

- Ability to automatically queue / rotate content on homepage based on AOFs so that there is minimal actual management required

 

3.4 Ongoing maintenance of code/debugging

 

Having a multilingual version of WiserEarth under a single platform, thus hosted on the same server, enables the maintenance process to be done by the same team. There may be the need to provide specialized features to reflect upon cultural divesity such as the need to enable a more oral-oriented participation. The development of the technical specification/requirements for the feature can be done by the local/regional community of users, but the actual coding can be done by the core team of developers to ensure the quality and consistency of the code.

 

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4. Governance Model

 

We need to define here the governance model for each international site

 

4.1 Community Building 

Partner org(s) who sponsor the project locally

Admins - minimum number at start (5?)

Editor community - minimum number at start (20?)

Representation from all sectors - especially social, conservation, indigenous

Outreach through associations and professional groups

 

4.2 Commitee creation

What is this?

 

4.3 Content Commitee (to monitor content)

Start small: i.e., culture, ecology, economy

Aren't these editors?

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5. Content Generation

 

5.1. Pre Launch

TRANSLATION NEEDS

- Site label and basic templates that allow the navigation across the site. This would entail the navigation bar, all the forms for viewing and entering new pieces of information on WiserEarth.

- Areas of focus may need to be reviewed and modified to reflect culturally-specific concerns, and will need to be translated in the context of the country of the language.  We also need to consider translating the new taxonomy structure in database developed for Solutions piece.

- Key FAQs around Groups, Solutions etc

DATA/INFO GATHERING

- Find existing database of organizations (NGOs and non-profits), both online and offline [books, publications, United Nations NGO Observer Status organizations, Independent Media Center <http://indymedia.org/>, Oneworld.net <http://www.oneworld.net/>, etc.]. Offer partnership to integrate the database to be used by both parties (WiserEarth for the WISER COMMONS, and commercial sales for the origional owner).

- Find existing info centre for events, resources, etc. if any exist (both online and offline).

INFORMATION PRESENT AT LAUNCH

- Identify mimimum data set (X number of organizations, events, resources) to be translated or provided right before launch - focus on organizations as this will be part of outreach effort and is a signal of data quality

- Pre set the governance groups: editors group, help desk, group support

- Define strategy around the growth and maintenance of data set (identify potential content partners for example).

5.2. After Launch

- Funding for periodic gatherings of key community members, and attendance at key NGO gatherings, etc

- Contact listed organization periodically to encourage content creation/addition from their organization's reservoir of knowledge (or simply from content already published in their website). Thus, we need to ensure that at least the email address of each organization is up to date.

 

- Identify and promote WiserEarth in active online communities (yahoo groups, irc channels, facebook, etc.) for progressives (environmentalist, social justice activists, indigenous rights advocates). Specifically, invite them to cross-post their info on resources, events, and jobs in WiserEarth.

- Define a metholodogy and create a team to teach people on how to use WiserEarth platform properly. This team will encourage them to publish their activitiies, resources to share and create spaces for organizations to meet, share and learn together.

 

6. Partnership Model

 

Part of community building

- Require a lead NGO to manage WiserEarth in selected language, a conduit for funding, an achor for the governance struture. a location for meeting/convening etc

- Seek out organizations as partners that are aggregators of Non-profits and Non-profit professionals

- Seek out organizations as partners that represent key WiserEarth constituencies - particularly indigenous/first nation groups

 

Cost sharing 

- Provide significant up front funding in first year 75%, then scale down to 50% in year two, and 25% in year 3 and 4.

- Create projects that generate economical suport  to Wiser Earth and the organizations that operate it.

 

7. Brand Positioning

 

TAGLINE

Toward a just and sustainable world created by community

 

TARGET

For those who are committed to taking collective action to advocate for the environment, indigenous people or social causes.

 

VALUE PROPOSITION

We will connect you to communities of action where your work can become more effective, coordinated and visible.

 

BARGAIN

Each time you use WiserEarth, you are invited to give back to the community. We hope you will:

• Share your knowledge
• Add or edit information
• Join discussions
• Rate or recommend content
• Engage in community groups
• Share resources

We rely on you to contribute, shape, and improve our community - so it reflects your passions, interests and issues.

BENEFITS

• Quickly and easily search the most extensive international directory of social justice and environmental organizations in the world to find out who is working on what and where
• Gain greater visibility for your initiatives, expertise, and knowledge
• Draw upon and contribute to a global knowledge base within the fields of environmental and social justice
• Find working solutions and avoid replicating efforts
• Build your network and coordinate efforts
• Read daily content about new ideas, innovations, solutions that are changing the world for the better
• Stay current with what’s happening in your field of interest
• Connect with people doing similar work in your interest area or geographic region
• Create, edit and improve content on WiserEarth
• Build awareness on cutting-edge topics or timely issues
• Collect reviews and testimonials about your project
  

KEY DIFFERENTIATION

WiserEarth creates the space for civil society, the private sector, and governments to collaborate in defining, addressing, and solving social and environmental problems. Unlike other social networking sites like Change.org, Facebook, Idealist, or Ning, we are free to use, non-commercial, community-driven, global, and action-oriented. 

 

REASON TO BELIEVE

The reason to believe why is because:

• We house the world's largest free and editable directory of  organizations working towards social and environmental justice 
• We provide easy to use group creation and management tools that foster collaboration and sharing of information and solutions, not just within groups, but also between groups.
  
• We are a non-commercial, transparent, and self-governing community, where the content is driven by 110,000 organizations, 15,000 people, and 700 groups
  
• We provide access in your language (AP)
  

BRAND CHARACTER

Helpful, transparent, respectful, trustworthy, and collaborative.

 

 

 

 

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8. Marketing/Outreach Efforts

 

Through partners
Through power-users

Language/country-specific marketing/outreach plan (modified from and build upon WiserEarth Community Outreach Strategy)

 

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9. Financial Plan

 

Design internationalization with a big up front costs subsidized by the center and smaller ongoing costs paid for by local stewards

 

Step down the funding support from the center - 75% first year, 50% second year, 25% third and fourth year

 

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10. Key risks/Issues

 

No community

No users

No groups

No content

Site is used for non-Wiser purposes

Site is used for illegal purposes (will differ depending on a country's laws)

 

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11. Local Values/Customs

 

Consider the importance of accessing WiserEarth via computers and via cellphones. Many countries have very limited computer access, especially at broadband speeds. Need to make WiserEarth accessible and relevant via multiple means, i.e., mobile phones.

 

Consider that many cultures, particularly in Africa, are oral in orientation and tradition. May need to allow for podcasts/mp3/WAV contributions to WiserEarth, and for WiserEarth distribution via CD's/DVD's that can be utilized in any area.

 

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12. Timeline/Phases of Implementation

 

Example from taking WiserEarth into Spanish

 

Phase I: Translation of WiserEarth platform into Spanish

• Review all widely spoken languages to generate a short list - could be these here
• Seek out partners and power-users to guage interest / funding in the short list languages
• Seek out US based funders for languages on short list where there is a prospective partner and power-user base
• In parallel develop Indigenous language localization plan (which would be a separate less onerous but similar process)
• Set goals - # of users, # of resources, # of groups, # of org edits etc
• Sign MOU/MOA with key partner org(s)
• Get power users to agree to be Admins / Editors
• Summit of key players at NCI or in-country - culture transfer, community building, q&a, support etc
• Translate fields / FAQs / FOAs with help of key partners and power users
• Assure all organizations are listed and correct with help of key partners / internets / paid external party
• Partner org builds outreach efforts - key conferences / training for NGOsetc.
• Review progress against goals

Phase II:  Integration Infrastructure to successfully implement social networks.

1) Research and Development

• Research and Analysis of best practices and success stories for building successful social networks
• Development of a guide for the successful creation of social networks

2) Strategic Alliances
Define and sign up agreements with key organizations to start the development of social networks within the selected organizations.

3) Infrastructure.

• Create two new legal entities devoted to the creation of social networks (for profit and non profit) in order to assure sustainability in the mid term
• Define Governability structure
• Define the integration of three main centers to foster the creation of social networks

    - Center for Technology Development
    - Center for Education and Social Technologies
    - Center for Social Innovation

• Hire and train the personal

Phase III:         Implementation of the selected Social Networks

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