Jimmy Wales, Wikipedia Founder: First Sopa Protest, Now Advising Whitehall On Innovation
Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales is entering into politics with an unpaid position as an advisor to the British government to help civil servants develop new innovative technology, reported The Telegraph.
The agreement was announced Sunday night at the South by Southwest technology conference in Austin, Texas. Wales will be working on projects designed to increase transparency in government initiatives.
[Wales] will advise Government on developing innovative new ways technology can be used to give the public a greater say in the policy-making process, said a government spokesman.
The duration of his role or what projects he will be working on is not yet known.
This isn't Wales' first foray into politics. In January he protested the potential passage of the Congress led Stop Online Piracy Act or SOPA, by blacking out Wikipedia English for a day. Instead the website featured Wales' stance on SOPA and information to stop the bill. SOPA was later dropped.
Wikipedia is the sixth most visited website in the world, with more than 400 million visitors worldwide. Wikipedia English receives approximately 25 million visitors a day.
Wales founded Wikipedia in 2001 with Larry Sanger.
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