The Trajectory of Ibero-American Wikimedia Chapters: Open Knowledge and Peer Governance

Abstract

The Wikimedia movement is a global community of individuals and organizations that contribute to open, collaborative projects such as Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikidata. These projects operate under a non-profit model, led by the Wikimedia Foundation (WMF) and a network of local affiliates. In this context, this paper aims to characterize Ibero- American Wikimedia organizations with the goal of promoting the communities associated with these projects. More specifically, the study focuses on the Wikimedia chapters in Argentina, Chile, Colombia, and Spain, as well as the Wikimedia User Group in Uruguay. Using a quantitative and qualitative approach, data were gathered from various sources, including Wikipedia, Meta-Wiki, Wikimedia statistics, institutional websites, and articles from the Diff blog. In addition, semi- tructured interviews were conducted with key stakeholders. The findings indicate that the establishment of chapters and user groups enables local volunteers to create fairly complex organizations with resources, personnel, and action plans. These organizations provide a local and regional identity to the movement while maintaining collaborations among themselves and with the global WMF. Additionally, they build alliances with educational, cultural, governmental, and civil society institutions. In conclusion, the study demonstrates that Wikimedia affiliates have gradually expanded in the region, supporting local editor communities and enhancing the reach, diversity, and quality of project content.