In Mexico, A Wiki Makes Corporate Secrets Public

Jessica McKenzie | WeGov | August 20, 2014

Earlier this year the Latin American NGO Poder launched Quién Es Quién Wiki (Who's Who Wiki), a corporate transparency project more than two years in the making. The hope is that the platform will be the foundation for a citizen-led movement demanding transparency and accountability from businesses in Mexico. Data from Quién Es Quién Wiki is already helping community activists mobilize against foreign companies preparing to mine the mountains of the Sierra Norte de Puebla.

The coordinator of Quién Es Quién Wiki, Fernanda Hopenhaym, tells techPresident that Poder began toying with the idea of a platform like this in 2011, although formal work only began 18 month ago. The public beta version launched May 13, 2014. A gamma version with an improved design and user experience is planned for release January 2015.  Hopenhaym explained to techPresident that Quién Es Quién Wiki is “unique because it uses wiki software which allows crowdsourcing of information...[this] is key from our perspective because we hope to help catalyze a movement, somehow, a citizen-led movement that will eventually hold corporations accountable.”

The current database—more than 800 profiles of companies and individuals—was assembled entirely by Poder and its partners. However, there is a wiki function through which users can add or change information in the wiki. Poder's editorial team can monitor those changes, check the public source and verify the information...