After Wikimania 2007: What’s Next Step for Taiwan?
出自Taipedia
Wikimania 2007之後，下一步呢？ / After Wikimania 2007: What’s Next Step for Taiwan?
Wikimania 2007 8/5於台北落幕。這一場國際性的wiki會議為台灣推廣wiki的朋友，尤其是推廣Medidawiki的朋友帶來振奮的交流機會。觀察這次會議的協辦團體，台灣的資訊科學相關研究團體就有五個，甚至包含中央研究院資訊科學研究所、台灣大學資訊工程學系兩個高等的資訊研究單位；而與政府政策相關的國家數位典藏計畫、國家科學委員會也列名其中。顯示在台灣推動wiki的社群成員，共同的背景多半還是圍繞著資訊技術。
Wikimania 2007 at Taipei ended on August 5th. To members promoting wiki in Taiwan, this international conference is a wonderful opportunity for exchanging ideas. Among organizers and contributors, we can find five IT-related research institutes in Taiwan, including Institute of Information Science, Academia Sinica and Department of Computer Science and Information, National Taiwan University. National Digital Archive Program and National Science Council, which are strategic units from government, also provide their supports. It shows that most of the core members in wiki community of Taiwan share the same IT-oriented background.
以談論wiki的技術意義而言，wikimania讓台灣對wiki有興趣的資訊工作者有機會直接與世界wiki技術研發者面對面交換意見。例如在Mediawiki中一直讓人頭痛的雙位元字顯示問題，部落客Bobchao說，亞洲代表就在技術研討會中當面提出意見。這種對話的意義讓成員了解自己遇到的問題並不孤獨。在這樣的基礎上，這次會議讓參與推廣wiki的朋友有機會建構出一個密集對話的平台—特別是區域合作的平台，作為未來進一步發展的起點。
In wikimania, local IT workers in Taiwan take the chance to exchange ideas about the technical meanings of wiki with international wiki researchers. Take the display of double-bit words, which has been a plaguing problem to many, for example, participants from Asia brought out their suggestions in the technical conference, said local blogger Bobchao[Zh]. Through such dialogue, people came to realize that they're actually sharing the same problems with other people from around the world. This conference not only constructs a platform for intensive conversation and regional cooperation, but also a beginning for future development.
但另一方面，當談到公民新聞、分享經濟、創用cc等與社會高度相關的議題時， 台灣參與者的回饋相對於技術場次就比較不踴躍。事實上台灣地區參與wikimania 2007的部落客、社區工作者、學院內人士等的數量相當少。甚至在會議舉辦的時間前後，wikimania 2007都沒有成為台灣部落圈中的一個話題。這相當程度反映了台灣作為世界資訊產業的節點特色—工程掛帥，也反應了wiki所提倡的社會意義，對台灣來說 還相當新鮮—甚至有點格格不入。
However, when it comes to social issues like citizen journalism, sharing economy and creative commons, participants from Taiwan have far less feedbacks than they did in those technology-related workshops. In fact, the number of bloggers, community workers and academics from Taiwan attending wikimania 2007 is actually quite small. In Taiwanese blogosphere, wikimania 2007 is not even a hot topic before or after the conference. It kind of reflects that Taiwan, as a hub of global IT industry, is still an engineering-centric society. The social awareness that wiki promotes is quite new, or even alien to Taiwan.
從參與籌辦會議的現場志工裡就可發現這樣的落差。Michael Tang和Ivin Tsai都是大學生，他們是從AIESEC這個學生社團網站上看到招募志工的資訊。他們報名志工的目的，是認為可以看到更多形形色色的人，培養自己在這種國際會議的經驗。但對於會議主題：wiki的了解，僅止於在學校做報告時會透過wikipedia查找資料。
We can somehow notice this phenomenon by analyzing local volunteers that take part in this event. Michael Tang and Ivin Tsai are both college students. They find volunteer recruitment via a student club website, AIESEC[zh]. By being volunteers, they want to know different people and to have more experience in an international conference like this. However, their understanding toward wiki doesn't go beyond the research function that wikipedia can provide while they do assignments in school.
Ding Ding、Luchia與另一位匿名的女性志工對wiki的認識也同樣來自使用wikipedia。他們是從台灣最大的BBS站Ptt上看到招募資訊。Luchia參與的目的是覺得可以和一群友善的人一起籌辦活動。在這次會議裡學到最多的經驗是會議舉行需要做的事情，而非對於wiki的了解。Ding Ding和匿名女性志工進一步表示，絕大多數參與志工的目的都是會議的服務。他們認為對技術有興趣的人並不會來擔任志工，而是參與會議。
To Ding Ding, Luchia and an anonymous female volunteer, wikipedia is also all they know about wiki. They found the volunteer recruitment info from Ptt, the largest BBS in Taiwan. Luchia participated in order to work with a group of friendly people. Through the process, he learnt more about how to hold a conference than wiki itself. Ding Ding and an anonymous volunteer also pointed out, most volunteers are here for conference service. People who are interested in technology will not opt to be volunteer workers, but attendees.
於是當談到他們對於wikimania的瞭解與台灣看待這次會議的問題時，Ding Ding特別指出會議舉辦的這幾天，台灣媒體只概略地介紹wikipedia，並將焦點鎖定在現場展示的OLPC上，並沒有深入wiki的精神來報導wikimania 2007。他認為這樣對於加強台灣對wiki的了解並沒有什麼幫助；匿名的女性志工則以他參與unconference關於公民媒體場次的討論作為例子，當與會的外國人士侃侃而談公民媒體時，台灣的參與者的關注焦點則是「公民媒體是什麼？」。而問到他自己觀點時，他表示他依舊在摸索公民媒體的意義。
When asked about what they know and how they see wikimania, Ding Ding noticed that during the conference, local media only introduce wikipedia in a general way. Journalists focus more on the OLPC on display than the spirit of wiki, which is not helpful in promoting people's understanding toward wiki, he said. An anonymous female volunteer takes citizen media session in the unconference as example. While international participants discuss every aspect of citizen media, local attendees still focus more on the definition of citizen media. While being asked about the point she stands in this issue, she confessed that she's still trying to figure out the meaning of citizen media.
這些志工都還是台灣的大學生，除了Michael Tang來自逢甲大學電機系這個理工科系之外，其餘接受訪問的志工背景為企業管理、經濟，甚至法律。看起來他們很能夠站在自己所學的角度參與會議，他們都沒有參與編輯wikipedia的條目，對於wiki的計畫也不熟悉。不意外的，他們最常使用的網路服務是BBS，而不是部落格。
These volunteers are all local college students. Their majors range from electrical engineering, business administration, economy, law, etc. They ought to have different perspectives towards this conference. However, they never take part in editing wikipedia, and they are not familiar with any wiki projects. Unsurprisingly, they use BBS more often than blogs.
關於這一點，參與會議舉辦工作，本身是台灣早期部落客，也任職於中央研究院資訊科學研究所的ilya認為，台灣少有類似wikimania這樣，國外發表者佔絕大多數的國際會議。而Wikimania對台灣網路圈的影響不在會議本身解決了什麼問題，而是藉著這次的會議讓多少人見了面。他指出參與會議的志工表現得體，但感覺起來並不太享受融入整個會議中。如果把這樣的會議當成一個開眼界的過程，那麼對這些志工，甚至是台灣的網路圈來說，該好奇的是這些全世界的參與者為什麼會參與、他們彼此之間的關係，以及下一步台灣能回饋些什麼。陳啟亮藉著wikiversity這個進一步思索教育的有趣議題，強調wiki社群本身的國家色彩其實相當淡，往往開啟的計畫是世界性的。因此問題就不只是台灣的觀點是什麼，而是台灣如何擺脫過往參與國際社會種種形式化的限制，以什麼樣的態度和議題走入國際社會。
Ilya[Zh], researcher of Academia Sinica and long-term blogger in Taiwan, is deeply involved in conference preparation. He pointed out, conferences like wikimania 2007, which are with international presenters as majority, are rare in Taiwan. To online community in Taiwan, the major impact that wikimania 2007 provides is not what we have solved, but who we have met. Volunteers are doing well, he says, but they seem not that enthusiastic in actually participating in the conference. If internet community and volunteers are eager to reach out through wikimania 2007, they should be curious about why people come, the connection between participants , and what feedbacks Taiwan can have. Through the topic of wikiversity, which looks into its potential in education, Mr. Chen pointed out that, since most of the wiki projects that have been initiated are rather international, wiki communities are rarely limited to just one country or a certain region. Therefore, the main question here is not what Taiwan's perspective is, but how Taiwan can go beyond the restrictions that have be holding Taiwan back from taking part in international events and in what kind of manner that we would participate in this international community.
於是，在wikimania結束後，下一步呢？也許並不是發生在會場裡，而是會場之外。Issac Mao在會議進行的這幾天與Carol, KEN, Vista…等台灣部落客的夜間聚會，在Carol發表到部落格後引起一陣迴響；tmas68也受wikimania 2007啟發，認為未來台灣網路圈應該出現更多不限主題不限身份的聚會，了解彼此在做些什麼，為未來可能的合作做準備；Wiki foundation與iCommons在會議閉幕前宣佈的要進行地區性的推廣計畫，更讓人期待wiki在社會關係上的發展。於是，對台灣來說，wikimania 2007的結束，可能只是下一階段漫長努力的開始。
What's next for Taiwan after wikimania 2007 ? What would happen may not be in the venue, but out of it. During the conference evenings, renowned blogger Issac Mao[Zh] from China had several gatherings with local blogger, including Carol, KEN, Vista, etcs[Zh]. Several feedbacks come from blogosphere after Carol narrated those gatherings on her blog. Another local blogger tmas68 is also inspired by wikimania 2007. He believes more unrestricted gatherings of any kinds are needed in Taiwan. These will help bloggers to know the current trends and enhance future cooperation. In the closing ceremony, regional promotion plan by wikimedia foundation and iCommons is disclosed. This makes people more eager to know how wiki will develop regarding to social relations. To Taiwan, the end of wikimania 2007 may be just another starting point of a long journey.
-- 註解： Wikimania是由Wikimedia Foundation Inc. / 維基媒體基金會所主辦的活動。雖然Mediawiki可說是最廣為人知的wiki系統，但事實上這只是Wiki社群裡的一部分。關於諸多社會議題的推廣，主要還是因為Wikimedia Foundation在wiki社群中的特殊地位而來。詳細資料可參閱[1][Zh]；[2][Zh]；[3] [Zh]這三條目。