Odia and Odisha Wikimedians participate in WikiConference India 2026 in Kochi, discussing open knowledge, AI, regional languages and Wikimedia projects
OdishaPlus Bureau
Several Wikimedians associated with Odisha and the Odia-language Wikimedia community participated in the fourth edition of WikiConference India, held in Kerala’s Kochi from September 4 to 6.
The three-day conference brought together more than 220 Wikimedia volunteers, researchers, educators, technologists and community leaders from India and other parts of South Asia. Held under the theme “Reimagining the Knowledge Commons,” the conference focused on the future of open knowledge, regional-language content, community participation and the impact of artificial intelligence on the creation and consumption of information.
Participants from Odisha included Subhasis Panigrahi, Gyan Ranjan Sahu, Aliva Sahu, Sangram Keshari Senapati, Chinmayee Mishra and Ramjit Tudu. Sailesh Patnaik, Senior Program Officer at the Wikimedia Foundation and a member of the Odia Wikimedians User Group, also participated. Khaatir, who primarily contributes to the Urdu and English Wikipedias, was another participant associated with Odisha.
Chinmayee Mishra was part of the organising team and worked with Wikimedians from Kerala in conducting the conference.
A major focus of the conference was the growing influence of artificial intelligence and large language models. Participants discussed the importance of reliable, community-maintained information as AI systems increasingly use publicly available and multilingual content. Sessions also examined issues related to information reliability, community participation, regional languages and the changing ways in which people access knowledge.
Regional-language Wikimedia projects were another area of discussion. Contributors examined the challenges of creating, maintaining and expanding knowledge resources in Indian languages.
The conference also marked the 25th anniversary of Wikipedia and Creative Commons, with discussions touching upon cultural heritage, community archives, indigenous knowledge and freely licensed content.
Among the sessions involving participants from Odisha, Subhasis Panigrahi and Ramjit Tudu, along with Sanjib Kumar Chaudhary from Nepal, conducted a session on audio and video documentation through the OpenSpeaks project. They also organised a workshop ahead of the main conference. The initiative focuses on recording voices, stories and community knowledge through multimedia formats, particularly for preserving oral traditions and histories.
Gyan Ranjan Sahu, a member of the Indic MediaWiki Developers User Group, contributed to the technical aspects of the conference and assisted participants with technical issues. Discussions during the event also covered Wikimedia tools, platforms and emerging technologies.
Sangram Keshari Senapati delivered a five-minute lightning talk titled “How #100WikiDays changed my Wiki Journey.” The presentation focused on his experience with the #100WikiDays challenge, which involves creating at least one Wikipedia article every day for 100 consecutive days. He also participated in a panel discussion on Wikipedia Asian Month.
The conference also highlighted the history of Odia-language participation in Wikimedia projects. Odia Wikipedia was launched on June 3, 2002, about a year after Wikipedia itself was launched. Volunteers have since contributed content in Odia across subjects including history, literature, culture, science and geography.
WikiConference India 2026 also saw participation from Wikimedia communities in Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. The event provided a platform for contributors from different language and regional communities to discuss common challenges and exchange experiences.
The conference concluded on September 6, with discussions centred on the continued role of volunteers and communities in creating, verifying, maintaining and preserving freely accessible knowledge in an increasingly technology-driven information environment.