jueves, 9 de julio de 2009

Crowdsourcing: You Create!!

Let’s dig into the participation economy by exploring the concept of crowdsourcing. Crowdsourcing is the practice of opening up a business task to the public instead of keeping it in-house. As Business Week reported (June 15, 2009) crowdsourcing is the future of many sectors such as marketing, advertising and industrial design.

This concept comes from the assumption that creativity and talent outside the boundaries of the firm will be always bigger than the existing in-house. Businesses have the opportunity to link their needs to the competences of thousands and thousands of individuals to face company challenges.

Let me give you some examples to illustrate the concept. One of the best known crowdsourcing services is Innocentive, which is an open community of scientists and businesses working together on innovation. The business proposes a challenge, offering rewards up to 1 million dollars for who solves it. The challenges vary from Sustainable materials selection to Aroma & Flavour Enhancers. Henry Chesbrough coined the concept “open innovation” to explain the openness and community participation in the innovation process.

Another crowdsourcing example is Top Coder, a community of software developers and graphic designers operating on-line. Top Coder involves more than 200,000 developers, who compete for developing applications or designs. TC has its own working methodology which permits participants to work together on-line.

If you are looking for fresh ideas in design (logos, trademarks, corporate image,..) why don’t you visit CrowdSPRING, which define itself as an innovative marketplace for creative services. The functioning is simple; you just post your project, budget and deadline and wait for proposals. The community creativity always shifts expectations, if you do not believe me, just have a look of some of the works at CrowdSPRING.

Cowdsourcing is becoming a new way to work in the Open economy, competing globally and opening new opportunities for both, business and individuals.

Send your comments and opinions about pros and contras of crowdsourcing!!

If you want to know more about crowdsourcing try: Crowdsourcing: Why the Power of the Crowd Is Driving the Future of Business

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