Leveraging the Collective Intelligence of Online Communities for Public Good
Start: Oct 08, 9:30 a.m.
End: Oct 08, 10:30 a.m.
Location: 101 (Auditorium) (map)
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Technologies such as the Internet make it possible to effectively distribute problem solving and production among a large and globally dispersed labor pool. Open source production, crowdsourcing, and other distributed online models make use of this online talent network in astonishing ways. The results of these various processes include Web browsers, operating systems, and even television commercials, t-shirts, and scientific research.

But we should expect more from these tools. As Eric S. Raymond wrote in “The Cathedral and the Bazaar,” “Any tool should be useful in the expected way, but a truly great tool lends itself to uses you never expected.” Distributed online production models can — and should — be transformed for new uses, to solve real human problems. We can tap the collective intelligence of online communities for the public good.

In this keynote, I look at some of the ways online models like open source and crowdsourcing can be used in a variety of democratic and charitable ways. Drawing upon recent research and case studies, such as Peer to Patent, Next Stop Design, Financial Explorer, and experiments in open source government, this keynote ultimately asks: how will Utah’s open source community use their skills for the greater good?

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Outline of presentation

* Tools for thought :: A refresher on history's hope for computing as an extension of human abilities

* Given enough eyeballs... :: The philosophy of open source and the wisdom of crowds

* Moving the crowd :: Case studies and research into the motivations and processes of productive online communities

* Now that we can do anything, what will we do? :: Translating online distributed models into public problem solving applications

* A challenge for Utah :: What are today's most pressing social challenges locally? And how can we apply open source principles to improve those conditions?