[okfn-nl] Welcome to the Dutch OKFN mailinglist

Fri Feb 3 09:36:06 UTC 2012

Welcome to the Dutch OKFN mailinglist.

A few people have shown interest in a Dutch chapter of the Open
Knowlegde foundation in the recent past.
This is the first action to fire things up.

There are a few reasons why I think there should be a Dutch chapter of
the Open Knowledge Foundation:

A. Bundling: There are a lot of local, regional and national open
knowledge initiatives in the Netherlands. They focus on open data,
open content, etc. Currently there is not a central source where
information about these initiatives is gathered. (1)

B. Sharing: The best (and worst) practices of open knowledge are not
only of practical use within The Netherlands, they are relevant to all
open knowledge initiatives around the world. And it also works the
other way around: someone in another country may have tried to invent
the very same wheel you are working on.

C. Institutionalize: the chapter structure has proven to be a succes.
Joining an existing network can contribute to the recognizability and
effectiveness. Other organizations like the Wikimedia foundation have
been using this strcuture for several years. This lead to some great
international projects, like the European Wiki Loves Monuments
competition. (2)

And yes, I am aware of the fact that the Netherlands is filled with
foundations, associations, unions, etc. But none of them, or should I
say none of us, have taken up the role of connecting with other
international initiatives and organizations. So let’s start this
chapter and do this together.

For this reason I would like to invite you to:
- subscribe to this mailinglist by visiting
http://lists.okfn.org/mailman/listinfo/okfn-nl
- share your thoughts on a Dutch OKFN chapter by replying to this e-mail
- send your open knowledge related news in English to okfn-nl at lists.okfn.org
- attend the first meetup on the 1st of March, 8:00 pm, Oudegracht 183
in Utrecht: http://www.meetup.com/OpenKnowledgeFoundation/Utrecht-NL/594962/

Best,

Sebastiaan ter Burg

Links
1. A first attempt can be found on the OKFN wiki:
http://wiki.okfn.org/Chapter/Netherlands
2. http://www.wikilovesmonuments.eu/