Wikimedia Australia and Wikimedia Aotearoa New Zealand launch 2023 Wikidata Fellowship

{{blog post
 | date        = 2022-10-28
 | image       = Wikidata-logo-en.svg
 | author      = James Gaunt
 | mode        =<!-- draft, featured, or hidden -->
 | keywords    = <!-- comma-separated list -->
 | description = We're offering Wikidata fellowships grants worth $1000 each
}}
Wikimedia Australia and Wikimedia Aotearoa New Zealand launched their 2023 Wikidata Fellowship program today. 

They are offering two creative fellowships grants of $1000 (AUD) and one of $1000 (NZD) to curate a data set, develop a prototype or undertake an investigation using Wikidata. Fellows will be matched with a Wikimedian who will mentor you throughout your project offering resources, feedback and support.

We are open to applicants from all backgrounds and skill levels, and support proposals that involve investigations. We are looking for proposals that are enthusiastic and innovative as opposed to requiring pre-existing technical skills.

Wikidata is a free and open knowledge base that can be read and edited by both humans and machines. Launched in 2012, Wikidata acts as central storage for the structured data of its Wikimedia sister projects including Wikipedia, Wikivoyage, Wiktionary, Wikisource, and others.

The inaugural Wikidata Fellowships were run in early 2022, and included [[Bringing the whole zoo to Wikidata|populating Wikidata with Australian animals]], [[Mapping the Barassi Line|mapping the football divide in Australia]], and [[Growing the representation of Australian Women in Religion through Wikidata|exploring women in religion through data visualisations]].

For 2023's Wikidata Fellowships Wikimedia Australia is excited to be partnering with Wikimedia Aotearoa New Zealand. Together they will present a series of Introductions to Wikidata beginning in January.

Fellowship applications open '''Monday 9 January 2023 and close midnight Sunday 26 February 2023''' (whatever timezone you are in).

[[Wikidata_Fellowships|More information on the Wikidata Fellowships is available here.]]

'''About Wikimedia Australia'''

Wikimedia Australia formed in 2008. It is the Australian chapter of the international Wikimedia Foundation. As an independent, not-for-profit organisation and registered charity, we support our members, the broader community and partner organisations to contribute to Wikipedia, Wikidata and other Wikimedia platforms through events, training and partnerships.

'''About Wikimedia Aotearoa New Zealand'''

Wikimedia User Group of Aotearoa New Zealand is a Wikimedia user group of Wikimedians who are interested in organising and participating in outreach activities in New Zealand. It was formally recognised by the Wikimedia Foundation in 2019 and supports the Wikimedia Foundation’s mission in New Zealand to empower and engage people to collect and develop educational content under a free licence, so it can be shared and reused freely for any purpose.