Welcome to the individual "flow funding" portal of West.andrew.g:
- More about flow funding: The Flow Funding Initiative (FFI), currently in its pilot stage, is a component in the larger WMF grant structure. Relative to other funding avenues, FFI is unique in that it: (1) Decentralizes the funding process by placing large amounts of discretion/responsibility in individual "flow funders", and (2) Is a process with a (hopefully!) minimal amount of bureaucracy (e.g., no fixed deadlines, little formal paperwork) that is most appropriate for small monetary needs (i.e., <= $2000 USD).
- The purpose of this page: Here, I provide a public portal by which community members can submit funding ideas for my consideration. I hope to achieve some clarity on the research/funding plan, come to an agreement on any expected deliverables, and make public my funding decisions.
- My funding interests: Since I have funding discretion, I would prefer to oversee ideas that are *broadly* related to my research/editing interests. This will also prove helpful when I must report on how my funding decisions have furthered WMF strategic objectives. My userpage and C.V. should give you some idea of my expertise. I would love to see requests pertaining to: (a) Wiki security, (b) traffic analytics, (c) machine learning, (d) tool development (especially involving increased editor efficiency), (e) quantified wiki research, and (f) other efforts in the computer-science/HCI realms. That being said, I emphasize that this is a pilot project and encourage submissions that challenge these expectations.
- Eligibility and other notes: My position only allows me to fund requests that meet WMF eligibility criteria. I also cannot grant any more than $2000 USD in any single instance (although one can re-apply at a later time). Funds cannot be used purchase labor that should normally be performed as the result of volunteer work. Given my computational focus, I would expect computing resources and corpus tagging (e.g., MTurk) to be among the requests; but as this is a pilot, please challenge the system. If I turn-aside/reject your request, you are free to contact another flow funder and try your luck with them.
To submit a request, please copy the "example section" below and populate it with your data: