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(MENAFN - Muscat Daily) Wikipedia founder Jimmy Wales emphasised on the potential of individuals to engage as a community and harness tools like the Internet to help address needs in a speech delivered at Sultan Qaboos University on Wednesday.

He was speaking as part of the ceremonies for the Sultan Qaboos Award for Excellence in eGovernment which awards public and private sector organisations for their use of technology in providing services.

He said Wikipedia's philosophy is in empowering individuals and giving them access to knowledge they can use for the betterment of mankind.

"Wikipedia shows one path forward...having a system in which people come together and collaborate in a spirit of openness and kindness and thoughtfulness' he said. 'This gives us a really strong need to have a sense of responsibility in our community.'

Contrary to popular belief that random people edit Wikipedia entries Wales said that the organisation relies on around 8000 volunteers of whom 3000-5000 act as a 'core community' that monitors the site.

"These are the people who are really building Wikipedia' he said.

He distinguished Wikipedia from social media such as Twitter which he considers to be emotional reactionary and ineffective in creating change.

"Things like Twitter can be as much of a mob mentality as anything else. It's not a place for thought and reflection. It's a place for quick reaction with short pieces of information.

'If we're really looking for the opportunities for humankind on this planet it has to be about thinking really hard and using reason to come to solutions to our problems' he said.

'And that involves a lot more than the very simple acts of social media.'

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Internet can be a tool to address community needs, Jimmy Wales says in Muscat speech