Open innovation and crowdsourcinng are concepts that have
taken the research and strategy gurus by storm. NASA and DigitalGlobe are using
similar concepts to help solve problems such as finding a missing plane and
developing better asteroid algorithms. Using and hedging knowledge to solve
problems, improve services, reduce costs, and be more effective is the main
goal. The organizations have put forward two different but interrelated
programs.
NASA and Planetary Resources Inc. have teamed up to put more
eyes on the sky. They are offering $35K in prizes to citizen scientists that
can improve upon existing algorithms for asteroid hunting. Participants can
sign up on Top Coder . The
goal is to help NASA find, derail, or destroy asteroids that could threaten
Earth.
According to Tom Kalil, the deputy director for technology
and innovation at the White House Office of Science and Technology, "I applaud NASA for issuing this Grand
Challenge because finding asteroid threats, and having a plan for dealing with
them, needs to be an all-hands-on-deck effort. (2)"
Citizen scientists have a lot of
knowledge and helping them engage in important.
NASA hopes to find better patterns in the data. By analyzing
information people naturally see different things based upon their problem
solving schemas and personal abilities to connect information. Some will see
patterns where others see only a bunch of numbers and data. Bringing in multiple
perspectives helps raise the chance of finding something new.
NASA is not the only one using open innovative concepts to
solve problems. Colorado based DigitalGlobe (3)
is using crowdsourcing to help find the missing Malaysian Flight (4).
They are asking participants to scour 1,200 square miles of ocean to find objects on the
water’s surface that may indicate the location of the missing plane.
Each participant picks an area covered by satellite photos.
They look through these pictures to find items that may indicate wreckage. If
an area is scattered by floating debris they can alert authorities. Their
process takes corporate citizenship to the next level. In previous projects,
volunteers have highlighted up to 60,000 items.
There is a difference between open innovation and
crowdsourcing. Open innovation is using stakeholders and other individuals an
entity doesn’t normally engage with to encourage greater product development.
Those who have knowledge to offer are generally invited. Crowdsourcing focuses
more on using the power, skill, and knowledge of a crowd to improve upon a
concept or problem. Crowdsourcing is generally open to anyone who desires to
participate.
