Wikimedia Deutschland’s latest project, Wikidata, has made some exciting announcements regarding funding and the project’s planned development. According to a new release, “The initial development of Wikidata is being funded with a major donation of 1.3 Million Euros, granted in half by the Allen Institute for Artificial Intelligence ([ai]²). The institute supports long-range research activities that have the potential to accelerate progress in artificial intelligence. It was established in 2010 by Microsoft co-founder Paul G. Allen, whose contributions to philanthropy and the advancement of science and technology span more than 25 years.”
It continues, “Google, Inc. provides another quarter of Wikidata’s funding. Chris DiBona (Director, Open Source) says: ‘Google’s mission is to make the world’s information universally accessible and useful. We’re therefore pleased to participate in the Wikidata project which we hope will make significant amounts of structured data available to all.'”
The release adds, “Wikidata will be developed in three phases. The first phase is expected to be finished by August 2012. It will centralize links between the different language versions of Wikipedia in one place. In the second phase, editors will be able to add and use data in Wikidata. The results of the second phase are scheduled to be released in December 2012. The third and final phase will allow for the automatic creation of lists and charts based on the data in Wikidata. This will close the initial development process for Wikidata.”
Hear more about the Wikidata project at SemTechBiz San Francisco, June 3-7, where Dr. Denny Vrandecic and Dr. Mark Greaves will present “Wikipedia’s Next Big Thing: The Wikidata Project.”
Image: Courtesy Wikimedia Deutschland
