“Human computing” has appeared in economic science in 2003 as a description of the calculation process. “Human computing” is expected to use only human mind resources and it was meant as a force that should beat a computer. The official “crowdsourcing” name was taken from English, where crowd – “crowd” and sourcing – “use of resources”. Crowdsourcing was first formulated in Wired magazine in 2006 and provided the idea of mobilizing the resources of individuals through IT. It used to solve the problems of science, business and society.
In March 2017 ABBYY launched a project to translate Coursera’s online educational courses from English to Russian. The project involves over 5000 people: professionals, ordinary people with good English and it really increased efficiency and helped create a unique product, Max Polyakov says in his scientific work.
One of the best examples is Wikipedia. The project lacked resources for advertising, and even a business model. Thousands and even millions of participants connected to the Internet took part in the process of adding information to the encyclopedia. As a result, Wikipedia became one of the most visited sites in the world.
Most sophisticated example is the AirBnB rental network. The founders of the service connect all those who rent out housing and who want to rent it. Thus customers have created their own content and advertise the AirBnB business.
Crowdsourcing is an effective process of interaction between society and technology. It helps solve the most complex tasks by spending less and attracting whole continents to cooperate. Often such projects use the principles of gamification. This is borrowed from games, which try to involve participants in the deep levels of the research or business process. Gamification works mostly with young audiences that have been using computers since childhood and hanging out in games all the time. Gamers can literally rise businesses to the top of the market. “And it applies not only to the entertainment industry but also serious scientific research, where for example participants decode the human genome or trying to find new variants of protein synthesis,” Max Polyakov clarifies in his scientific work.
Low cost of does not mean unprofessionalism. Participants can be highly educated and curious. Furthermore, such projects can have people as business consultants, engineers, writers, designers and scientists.
Сrowdsourcing can be extremely effective to improve the brand of a company and increase the involvement of their customers. In his research Max Polyakov argues that companies will be able to accumulate ideas, opinions, strategies, new employees and become closer to their clients. These ideas were proven by cases like MacDonald’s, Starbucks, SAS and others. Certainly, the future lies behind common decisions and teamwork.