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Mapping Weak Signals

Inspired by: FP7 » A Soured Economy Prompted a Boom in Crowdsourcing

version: 1 / created: 2010-08-09
id: #945 / version id: #945
mode: VIEW

Originally submitted by: Vanessa Watkins
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Last changed by: Vanessa Watkins
WI-WE status:
submitted unpublished

Source of inspiration

European Commission Framework Programme for RTD (FP7)

Theme/activity of inspiration

Theme 8 - Socio-economic Sciences and the Humanities

Sub-theme/area of inspiration

Blue Sky Research on emerging issues and other research economies

Optional reference/s to FP7 project/s

Use the following format: Project Acronym (Project Reference No.). Use commas if more than one project is associated to this Wild Card, for example: ALFA-BIRD (213266), SAFAR (213374), LAPCAT-II (211485)
Source: INFU (225229) - http://www.innovation-futures.org/ http://www.businessweek.com/innovate/content/jun2009/id20090615_946326.htm Crowdsourcing Platforms http://www.innocentive.com/ http://www.topcoder.com/ http://www.utest.com/ http://www.crowdspring.com

Signal's headline

(max. 9 words)
A Soured Economy Prompted a Boom in Crowdsourcing

Signal's description

(approx. 150 words)
Please describe the Weak Signal (approx. 150 words)
The current global economic crisis has a pervasive impact on national economies and labour markets, resulting in increasing unemployment. Due to the fact that many unemployed workers do no longer have the chance to find a permanent position in their sector of expertise, crowdsourcing marketplaces such as InnoCentive, TopCoder, uTest, and CrowdSpring are booming.

Keywords

Crowdsourcing, research and development, employment,economy, innovation

Signal's first apperance

2005-now

Signal's potential evolution

It could lead to...
issue type of issue/development potential impact on society timeframe for the issue to become at least 50% probable
#1 Change in current innovation patterns new/emerging

Under what assumption the Weak Signal might evolve.

Crowdsourcing platforms might become an emerging form to stay in contact with the working world, sharpen own skills and get recognised by others. This will affect the working world in general and also innovative industries: More open innovation projects and changing academic career patterns.

Importance

please specify
please select
Level 4: important for the whole world

Key driving forces of this signal

Please use these boxes to provide up to 2 drivers of HIGH importance. Click on HELP to see examples:
Driver 1 Driver 2
Social The participation in crowdsourcing activities, particularly conducted in virtual environments as online communities, is associated with social rewards as friendship, social feedback and peer recognition.
Technological/Scientific Web 2.0. technology enables collective knowledge creation activities, the collaborative production of innovative ideas and solutions and also the “crowdsourcing” of simple as well as complex tasks.
Economic Prevailing problems in the international labour markets might give rise to new forms of working models and incentives for unemployed persons to increasingly engage in crowdsourcing projects in order to perceive monetary benefits.

Signal's relevance for European Grand Challenges

where? please justify:
particularly relevant Europe world
Economic prosperity/dynamics
Innovation dynamics

Signal's relevance for thematic research areas

please justify:
particularly relevant
ICT - Information & communication technologies
Research infrastructures
International S&T Cooperation

Pan-European strategies influencing the signal

please justify:
particularly relevant
Improving researchers mobility and career development by, for example, realising a single labour market for researchers. Crowdsourcing platforms might become an emerging form to stay in contact with the working world, sharpen own skills and get recognised by others. This will affect the working world in general and also innovative industries: More open innovation projects and changing academic career patterns.

Signal's relevance for future R&D and STI policies

Note: RTD = research and technology development; STI = science, technology and innovation
Does crowdsourcing represent the beginning of the end of creative organizations? Or does it herald the beginning of something bigger and transformational for those agencies—and for business in general?