Wikiprogress.org:About
From Wikiprogress.org
Overview
Wikiprogress is a global platform for sharing information in order to evaluate societal progress. It is a place to find information and statistics to facilitate the exchange of ideas, initiatives and knowledge on “measuring the progress of societies”. It is open to all members and communities for contribution– students and researchers, civil society organisations, governmental and intergovernmental organisations, multilateral institutions, businesses, statistical offices, community organisations and individuals – anyone who has an interest in the concept of “progress”.
It is also the official platform for the OECD hosted “Global Project on Measuring the Progress of Societies”. For more information on the contributing organisations to the Global Project and Wikiprogress, see Correspondents and Associates.
Mission
The core mission of wikiprogress is to create a global information tool supported by a world wide partnership of organisations and individuals wishing to develop new, smarter measures of progress. Wikiprogress aims to provide a health check for all societies that enables every citizen to better understand the economic, social and environmental factors that determine whether or not their lives are getting better.
Wikiprogress is...
- a global platform for sharing, measuring and evaluating social, economic and environmental progress.
- the main area where initiatives are shared, which exist around the world on the measurement of progress, as well as their use for raising awareness amongst stakeholders, informing them on key economic, social and environmental trends and allowing them to discuss relevant issues based on solid evidence and statistics on an interesting and wide range of topics.
- the best place to find answers the following questions:
- who is developing initiatives on measuring progress (well-being, quality of life, freedom, etc.)?
- what type of taxonomy does this initiative use?
- which Indicators are being used to measure the different dimensions of progress?
- how are countries (or regions/communities) achieving progress over time and in comparison to other similar territories?
- the focal point where both experts and practitioners share practices on indicators design, calculation and dissemination, as well as where stakeholders interested in developing initiatives in this field can find reference documents and assistance on how to establish measuring progress initiatives.
Wikiprogress is not:
- a place for lobbying, marketing, selling or imposing ideas,
- only limited to already published materials or to information from academics, governments and other official agencies.
The Wikiprogress community
The wikiprogress community consists of all organizations, initiatives and individuals interested in alternative indicators to GDP for measuring progress. Specifically, we are for:
- Academics, researchers and statisticians: to find information and/or data, share knowledge and receive feedback/discussion
- The general public, Intergovernmental organisations, Non Governmental Organisations, Nation Statistics Offices and independent progress initiatives: to promote their work, find information from similar organizations, collaborate on projects and network
- Established networks: to centralize information on a web platform, have work edited/discussed
What is the goal of the Wikiprogress community?
The wikiprogress community seeks to foster the discussion on indicators of progress and promote the use of these indicators at regional, national and international levels.
Quality of content on Wikiprogress
The wikiprogress team along with the community control the quality of the content of articles (see guidelines). For questions regarding the content, Global Project members are able to assist. If the question is not resolved, we will consult the Friends of the Wiki. Eventually, with a larger community, a specific editorial role will be allocated to active users with relevent backgrounds.
What is in it for me if I participate?
Wikiprogress
- By adding an article, progress publication or initiative users are able to promote their work and events to the progress community and receive feedback via editing and discussion
- By viewing the site users can stay up to date with progress news with the community portal, view a list of progress events, see new progress initiatives and publications and interact by discussing articles
- Users already working in progress can network with other members of the community
- By participating in online debates and forums users can have real-time interaction with progress experts and discuss current issues with other community members.
Wikiprogress.stat and eXplorer:
- Users who upload their data into wikiprogress.stat can draw cross sections with a range of prestigious data sources (World Bank, UN etc) and visualize their query in an embeddable vislet. These vislets can then be seen on the users website, blog or in a wikiprogress article.
How does Wikiprogress determine it's success?
- The interactivity of the community, the articles produced and the stories created from the data with wikiprogress.stat
- The number of new articles, number of edits, number of hits, time spent on the site, discussed articles (via Google analytics)
- Media coverage and feedback from progress community
- Interaction with the community via social media (number of fans/followers/friends on facebook, twitter, youtube, flickr etc)
Background
Wikiprogress was presented in beta on the 26th of October, 2009 at the OECD World Forum on Staitstics, Knowledge and Policy in Busan, Korea. Wikiprogress is the communication tool for the The Global Project on "Measuring the Progress of Societies".
The Global Project chose to use a wiki platform as it enables a collective intelligence to develop, with experts, governments and citizens contributing their knowledge to a single repository on measuring progress. Information is created and shared by the community, allowing for a discussion on the measurement of environmental, social and economic well-being.
It is not just about developing progress indicators, but developing a collaborative community that works together to determine what and how we measure the well-being of societies. Such knowledge can not be determined by a single organisation or NSO, but by working with initiatives, governments, organisations and individuals all over the world.
See also
- Get started
- Guidelines for content on wikiprogress
- The Global Project on "Measuring the Progress of Societies"
- Progress
- Wikiprogress.stat
- Associates
- Correspondents