(photo by Sebastiaan ter Burg)
On the 2nd of November 2013 I was invited for a short talk about open policy in relation to Wikimedia platforms at the annual Wikimedia Conference in Utrecht (the Netherlands). Below follows a translation of the Dutch programme introduction of the talk "Open policy: opportunities for people and organizations in less developed regions".
Open policy can be described as the unlocking and cross-pollination of (multimedial) policy of governments and corporations and other stakeholders. Currently the technological and knowledge gap between people and between organizations is getting smaller and policy is being more adequately distributed (on the basis of subsidiarity) and is better validated (best practices, lessons learned) in which case an open policy process offers opportunities for improved policy in less developed regions (for example Sub-Sahara Africa). These are regions which are often not able to have sufficient(ly) qualified personnel and have little means at their disposal. Cheaper policy options whose effectiveness have been proven could now be explored and implemented there faster and at the right level.
Could and/or should we in the Netherlands make our knowledge and experience in the field of policy more available to less developed regions? And could this be done using certain Wikimedia platforms? Various options (Wikipedia, Wikiversity) will be presented with some room for discussion afterwards.