The fourth edition of WikiConference India 2026 (WCI 2026), the regional conference for volunteer contributors of Wikimedia projects such as Wikipedia, Wikimedia Commons, and Wikisource among others,hasbeensuccessfullycompletedin the Southern Indian state ofKerala. The conference brought together over 220 Wikimedia project volunteers, thought leaders, partners, and advocates of free and open knowledge from across India and South Asia, said a statement from the organisers. This included nearly 100 participants from India and 25 participants from Bangladesh, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutan who received scholarships to participate in the regional conference.
At the centre of the conference was the role of the Wikimedia movement: the volunteer communities that create, improve and share knowledge on global Wikimedia projects. Their contributions have become even more vital in today’s age of Artificial Intelligence as AI and Large Language Models continue to train on human-created, multilingual knowledge from Wikimedia projects. Held from 4 to 6 September 2026, the conference explored how the Wikimedia movement could remain inclusive, resilient and forward-looking amid rapid technological and social change.
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“Hosting WikiConference India in Kochi has shown how local contributions can create a wider impact. From documenting places and cultural heritage to strengthening knowledge in regional languages, every contribution adds to a global commons of freely available knowledge,” said Jinoy Tom Jacob, Co-Lead of the Wikiconference India 2026 organising team, and member of the Kerala Wikimedia User Group. “The connections and collaborations built here will continue through Wikimedia communities across India and South Asia, keeping knowledge open, diverse, reliable and accessible.”
The conference provided a platform for communities working across regional Wikimedia projectsto share ideas, build collaborations and discuss the future of open knowledge. Key discussions focused on community leadership in the age of AI, empowering regional languages and local knowledge, creating new models for open participation, and bridging knowledge gaps through oral traditions, diverse media and cultural documentation.
“Wikipedia has become the backbone of knowledge on the internet. In a time of declining trust in online information and the rapid rise of AI-generated content, strengthening community-led, human-created knowledge becomes more critical than ever,” shared Lorenzo Losa, Chair, Board of Trustees at the Wikimedia Foundation. For 25 years, Wikipedia and its global volunteer community have navigated technology disruptions, regulatory changes, and growing mistrust across the information landscape, among other shifts. Through it all, they have — and will continue to – adapt and evolve to ensure everyone, everywhere can continue to access and share knowledge.”
The conference also marked a significant milestone for the broader open knowledge movement, with both Wikipedia and Creative Commons celebrating 25 years in 2026, added the organisers. These milestones were reflected through discussions and activities around Indigenous languages, community archives, cultural heritage and open knowledge, bringing together Wikimedians, archivists, GLAM practitioners and language activists.
Wikipedia is available in more than 25 Indic languages. This includes nearly all of the 22 scheduled languages of India, which is the largest number of languages represented from one country on the online encyclopedia. India contributes the fifth-highest number of views to Wikipedia in the world, with about 600 million page views per month.
