MANILA, Philippines – In an event sponsored by Smart Telecommunications and the Wikimedia Foundation on Thursday, October 23, the two groups discussed how their combined efforts were helping to bring information to more people in the Philippines.

Smart launched a Wikipedia Zero offer in the Philippines last September, giving the 68.9 million users of Smart, Talk ‘N Text, and Sun Cellular unlimited access to Wikipedia via m.wikipedia.org, zero.wikipedia.org and the Wikipedia app, as well as the Wikimedia sites via their mobile devices.

The program, which will initially run until February 3, 2015, is expected to gain traction among students, as well as professionals and those looking for up-to-date information at a glance.

In addition to the Wikipedia Zero initiative, Smart and Wikimedia Philippines have also been working together on the “Tap and Learn: Tablets for Education” and WikiExpedition projects.

Under the Tablets for Education project, Filipino Wikipedia editors will train educators from public elementary and secondary school across the country about using Wikipedia to enhance the learning experience of students. The training will also be useful for the educators’ professional development.

The WikiExpedition activity, on the other hand, aims to map the cultural heritage of the country. WikiExpedition aims to promote heritage sites, museums, and other places of interest in the country by making information on those locations more readily-accessible.

The first WikiExpedition activity took place last September in Santa Ana, Manila. The activity saw 23 Wikimedia Philippines representatives and volunteers taking photos and mapping some 40 heritage sites in the area, with the Photos and articles uploaded to Wikipedia and Wikimedia Commons. GPS coordinates were also plotted onto a Philippine Heritage Map.

Ramon Isberto, Smart’s Public Affairs head, noted that “Wikipedia Zero and our other programs with Wikimedia fit perfectly into Smart’s overall drive to promote digital inclusion, particularly through the use of mobile technology for learning.” – Rappler.com