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About this article: This write-up is (in a manner of speaking) a continuation of the previous write-up on mass collaboration. The basic idea remains the same: there is a large problem, capable of being broken into several small manageable parts. The task, though simple to humans, is difficult for computers to achieve (as yet). This idea is applied differently to achieve a variety of objectives. Some are commercial and then there are others which contribute to the growth of society as a whole.
Background:
The term ‘crowdsourcing’ as you may have already guessed, is a derivative of the words ‘crowd’ and ‘sourcing’. While this phrase was first coined by Jeff Howe in June 2006 Wired magazine article, you may be surprised to know that this concept was being commonly applied for several years before that. Few examples which have become huge:
Some lesser known examples:
- Brooke Bond/Lipton runs a slogan contest, the winner of the slogan gets a cash reward (and Brook Bond gets 1000+ new catchy slogans for future marketing — virtually for free);
- An ad agency organises photography contest. Contestants use their own cameras and film. They are given themes/concepts and come up with innovative ideas/snaps. The ad agency spends on promoting the event and some refreshments for the contestants. Post the contest the ad agency retains all the photos (1000’s of ideas — virtually for free);
- Very recently, two leading business houses in India announced in newsprint and media that they would invest in start ups. They invited entrepreneurs all over the country (and abroad) to register and share their ideas (basic idea, sample model, estimates for commercials). Everyone would be given the opportunity to make an ‘elevator’ pitch. Once again 1000+ ideas virtually for free.
And then there are some blacksheep . . . . . .
- Remember Speak Asia . . . . if you do some digging you may find that similar schemes were floated in the African continent . . . . very successful . . . . all stakeholders made money. Somehow the idea didn’t click in India.
- If you have seen Die Hard 4 — the villan uses the skill of amateur hackers to develop a code, this code is used to disrupt systems.
If you look at any of the above-mentioned ideas, you may agree that all of them were simple ideas, brilliantly executed.
What is crowdsourcing and how does it work:
Simply put, crowdsourcing is a distributed problem solving and production model. Typically, a problem is broadcast to an unknown group of solvers in the form of an open call for solution. The ‘users’ or the crowd (i.e., the online community) comes together and submits solutions. Yet another crowd sifts through these solutions and finds the more acceptable/better solutions. These solutions are then owned by the broadcasting agency (i.e., the crowdsourcer). The winning solutions are sometimes rewarded, sometimes monetarily, sometimes with a prize or recognition (i.e., the contributors are paid crumbs and the broadcaster keeps the cake).
Advantages of crowdsourcing:
Without getting in to the ethical aspect of the subject, one needs to appreciate that there are certain advantages that crowdsourcing can offer :
- Problems can be explored at a comparatively small cost, often very quickly.
- Possible to achieve a win-win proposition sans monetary compensation — best example is Luis von Ahn’s Recaptcha and the efforts to translate wikipedia’s German version.
- Crowdsourcing makes it possible to tap a wider range of talent (or prospective customers) than normally feasible — best example — auto industry has been using social media to source ideas from prospective customers — ideas about car design, features, accessories, etc.
- Resultant rewards have potential of spurring activities — more entrepreneurship, growth in business, investments, employment, etc.
Criticism about crowdsourcing:
- Once the crowd starts contributing, somebody has to sort and sift through the information. This is a costly affair, unless the right resources are used the costs outweigh the benefits;
- Given that there is no monetary compensation, increases the likelihood of the project failing. Without money one may face problems with fewer participants, lower quality of work, lack of personal interest in the project/results, etc.;
- Barter may not always be possible;
- Risks mitigation through contracts may not be possible since there are no written contracts, non-disclosure agreements or for that matter non-transparency about how the information will be used;
- Difficulty in managing and maintaining a working relationship with the crowd throughout the duration of the project;
- Susceptibility to faulty results and failure is still too high.
Though there are several pros and cons, so far the perception has been positive. With the success of ideas like recaptcha and the translation project, people have started believing in crowdsourcing’s potential to balance global inequalities. A rather tall statement, but its still a wait-and-watch situation.
I would like to end this write-up by sharing my experience with crowdsourcing. Sometime ago, I downloaded a free app on my phone called Waze. At the time I didn’t know that it was a crowdsourcing app. However after using the app, I have (kind of) started leaning in favour of crowdsourcing and hope to see more developments in this field.
Waze app:
Waze is a free iPhone app which tries to crowdsource real-time traffic and navigation data. The application has advantages because it provides information which is ‘almost’ real-time and updated. It is quite different from your navigation/GPS systems because apart from providing you information about routes, Waze also provides information about traffic, speed at which the traffic is moving (it’s been a mixed experience for me), information about roads under construction (this is based on user inputs and quite accurate) — if there is a obstruction or an accident and the road gets blocked, users can send an instant update and all users will be pinged instantly.
The best part is that most of the time the user simply has to switch on the application and leave it on. The software keeps tracking your speed (using GPS and your GPRS/3G bandwidth) and broadcasts this information to other users. If your car slows down the app sends you a prompt asking if you are stuck in traffic. The information is broadcast almost instantly (have noted that it is broadcast in 5-10 seconds).
I have been using the app intermittently and have found it quite useful to avoid traffic. Have benefitted from updates quite a few times and that’s why I rate it as a pretty good ‘time-saving app’. While the app is free, there is a downside — the constant tracking can drain your battery and unless you have a good data plan, it will also drain your wallet.
That’s all for this month. Next month is likely to be dominated with the budget proposals, but I promise that I will have some interesting ideas and stories to share with you.
Cheers.
