Is there 'Past' Life on Mars? Crowdsourcing May Have the Answer

The question of where or not there was ever (or even possibly still is somewhere) life on mars has been asked long before David Bowie asked it in his 1973 hit. Explorations and findings of the last decade and a half has the scientific community excited and now crowdsourcing offers the next step in the ultimate search. NASA has teamed up with two science-led crowdsourcing platforms Drivendata and HEROX to launch 'Mars Spectrometry,Detect Evidence for Past Life' invites data scientists, researchers and academics to help find out if there really was life on Mars. 

Can Crowdsourcing Save Democracy?

Partisan political differences have transformed heated disagreements to something more abusive, and violent with all sides determined to silence the other. Democracy is in danger but what can be done to get both sides talking again and reduce anti-demoractic action? Academics at renowned American educational institution Stanford University have turned to crowdsourcing for answers. Headed by the Stanford and Polarisation and Social Change Lab this new initiative will collect and test a series of proposed interventions to reduce aggressive anti-democratic attitudes. This online experiment called The Strengthening Democracy Challenge'  will test 30,000 participants with the most successful models published and its developers awarded a cash prize.

Clickworker Announces Significant Steps in Growth and Expansion

One of the leading providers of paid crowdsourcing, Clickworker has announced changes to its management team that looks set to help the company expand as a market leader. Clickworker has also reached a significant milestone in the growth of its community of registered users potentially increasing the speed and quality of paid crowdsourcing services.

Clickworker has appointed Marc Ahr as the new company's Managing Director, effective from the beginning of April. Marc will be working with Christian Rozsenic, and together are responsible for pooling and utilising their expertise in sales, marketing and technology to accelerate the company's growth. Marc will bring his experience as Mobile Messaging Director for Berlin based  technology and media development leader YOC AG to the team, specifically in the areas of sales and product management. 

"The paid crowdsourcing approach fits in the globalised and networked working environment. The clickworkers are neither location nor time-bound, and can schedule work and free time according to their individual needs. For companies the use of crowdsourcing means overcoming the limitations of schedules, space or personnel. I am delighted to be part of a company whose business model not only focuses on the here and now, but is future-oriented instead." Marc Ahr, Managing Director, Clickworker

 In addition to expanding the company's management team, Clickworker has seen its community of registered users rise to 200,000 worldwide. The so-called clickworkers carry out micro-jobs for customers in wide variety of sectors including tagging, categorization, translation and web research. One of the benefits of crowdsourcing projects is the size and skill set of the knowledgeable and able crowd, high volumes of work can be carried out quickly. With a continually increasing community of micro-workers, Clickworker can process large orders speedily, virtually in real time, with high quality results. 

Image Credits; Daily Sunny

Help Durex Crowdsource a Cover for Their Naked Box

A young person's first sexual experience should be memorable, fun but most importantly safe, something that Durex are eager to promote. With the subject of safe sex still considered a little embarrassing for young people Durex's crowdsoucing campaign calls on the crowd to cover their "naked box" with a fun and innovative design.

Recently Durex carried out their Global Sex Survey which revealed that of the estimated 120 million young people per year having sex for the first time, only half of them actually use a condom for protection. Condoms are vital for safer sex, ensuring better protection, not only against unwanted pregnancies, but more importantly to prevent the transmission of STIs and AIDS. The survey also showed that young people still find talking about safe sex and purchasing condoms to be embarrassing. 

The Durex Naked Box Global Design Contest is inviting participants to get involved, by submitting a design that will feature on their latest soon to be launched condom package. The only requirements are for the design to be fun, innovative and exciting. Contestants can compose and upload their designs using their own software or visit the campaign's Facebook page for access to their  "Naked Tools". The closing date for submissions is 17th April 2012. 

From the submission 12 finalists will be selected to have their designs presented to a judging panel who will select the grand prize winner. Sitting on the panel will be MTV executive director Georgia Arnold, urban graffiti artist Smash137, professional snowboarder Silvia Muller and Chinese graphic designer Liu Zhizhi. They will be joined by Sue Daun, Worldwide Head of Brand Experience at the Brand Union, Durex’s Design agency. Each finalist will be awarded an iPad as well as a Durex goodie bag. The Grand Prize Winner will receive £2,000 as well as the opportunity to work the Durex design team, finalise the winning design before it is released.  

Durex hopes that the campaign will break down the barriers of embarrassment and get young people around the world talking about the necessity of using condoms and the practise of safe sex. The campaign also looks to make purchasing Durex products fun and accessible without that shy awkward feeling. So if you think have the winning design then visit the Durex Facebook page for details of the competition, as well as to access the necessary tools, and even vote on other submissions.

DesignCrowd to Provide Exclusive Crowdsourced Designs to Australian Businesses

Australian based crowdsourced design platform, DesignCrowd have announced the launch of a new service provision exclusively for local businesses and designers. The new website will enable Australian businesses to exclusive court the skills of Australian designers. This is a unique initiative within the community of crowdsourcing service providers which generally offer their services globally. 

Based in Sydney, Australia, DesignCrowd was launched in 2008 and has since become one of the world'd leading providers of crowdsourced designs. Like it's contemporaries such as 99Designs, enables customers to post design projects onto the site. DesignCrowd's community of designers then submit their work and the customer chooses the preferred design. The platform's work spans 159 countries with a community of over 60,000 designers. The international success of DesignCrowd has put Australia on the crowdsourcing map.

Australians have been early adopters and heavy users of crowdsourcing but they also like to support local industry. Our new service will let Aussie businesses combine the benefit of crowdsourcing with the talent of the Australian design community. Clients in Sydney will be able to post a project on DesignCrowd and get 50-plus designs from designers in Melbourne to Mackay. If they want to they can also get designs from designers in places like Mumbai and Miami. - Alec Lynch, CEO DesignCrowd

The new service was launched in response to customer demands from customers for work to be sourced from their favourite local designers. Now Australian businesses will have the opportunity to engage the services of local talent, thus supporting their nation's design industry with purported annual value of over four billion dollars. The company hopes to increase its already 60,000 strong community with more local designers in order to offer more local businesses extensive choice through its new service. 

The last quarter has proved a challenging yet fruitful one for DesignCrowd, at a time when austerity measures and the recession continue to take their toll. In addition to securing three million dollars in capital investment, and acquiring the US owned Brandstack, DesignCrowd have also announced the appointment of Anthony Glenning, pioneer of Google Drawings to the company board.

Image Credits; Chad Magiera

CrowdControl Transforms Crowdsourced Sentiment Analysis with Latest A.I. Solutions

One of the leading providers of human sentiment analysis, CrowdControl has launched a new application providing businesses with crowdsourcing solutions designed to better manage vast chunks of data at a fraction of the cost. The new platform provides high quality results by combining human sentiment analysis with the latest artificial intelligence (A.I) technology to better help companies keep in a constantly changing market. 

Based in Seattle, CrowdControl was founded by Max Yankelevich who also helped establish the leading platform for cloud service management, Freedom OSS. Yankelevich, along with startup expert and co-founder Andrew Volkov, looked to address the shortfalls of manual and automatic crowdsourced data management and authentication processes. At a time when (potential) customers are making their views known on social networking sites every second, manual crowdsourcing solutions, even with an online of community of thousands of members, have difficulty processing vast amounts of information. Automated solutions cannot recognise and process data sentiment such as sarcastic tweets. 

The unique formula of CrowdControl blends state of the art high end A.I. technology with the power of human judgement, and makes conventional crowdsourcing platforms available to all. This combination makes it possible for systems to cope with large incoming data chunks, process them at speed and provide superior quality results, which is also cost effective.

Gone are the days of Wild West crowdsourcing. We're introducing manageability to the equation - and this ability to control large data sets will power businesses that aren't yet imagined. Companies build their businesses around pennies and we can give them that precision in high-quality data sets, cheaper and quicker than alternatives on the market today. - Max Yankelevich, co-founder CEO CrowdControl

CrowdControl's innovative solution gives businesses a significant competitive advantage over others by providing manageable quality data, which can be used to enhance and expand their operations. This type of next generation marketing for a rapidly increasing digital age provides the sort of data that can help businesses to better under how bonds between humans and brands are formed. 
Image Credits; Brew Books

Indian Crowdsourcers Selected as Finalist for South Asian Recognition Award

Jade Magnet, India's most prominent provider of crowdsourcing services for design and marketing  SMEs has been selected as a finalist for the 2011 Manthan Awards. These recognise some of India and South Asia's prominent organisations for their best practice in e-Content and creativity in the digital market. 

The Manthan Awards was launched in 2004 by Digital Empowerment Foundation. It was formed in partnership with the World Summit Award and the Indian Government's Department of Information Technology as well various stakeholders made up of civil society members, media organisations, and groups promoting digital content inclusiveness for develop in South Asian countries. 

In the two years since it was formed, Jade Magnet, India's first crowdsourcing service provider has gained prominence servicing SMEs in South Asia which is recognised by being nominated for the Manthan Award. It's reputation also looks set to help the company establish a presence in the UK SME market through its partnership with UK crowdsourcing company Wanobe.

The winners will be decided upon by a jury made of prominent figures from India's digital field including Ravi Shanker, Joint Secretary for the Department of Information Technology, Dr Subho Ray, Director of the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IAMAI), Deepak Maheshwari, Director of Microsoft India. The winner will be announced in Delhi on 2nd December 2011. 

Image Credit; eyeliam

InCrowd Platform Uses Crowdsourcing for Real Time Feedback on Medical Research

A new platform aims to tap into the wisdom crowd to help provide instant answers to questions concerning the latest development of healthcare products and services. Developed by a group of entrepreneurs with extensive backgrounds in medicine, business and technology, InCrowd looks set to replace existing platforms that normally take weeks to provide vital data. 

InCrowd, was established in March 2010 by Janet Kosloff (CEO), Diane Hayes PhD (President) and Kathleen Poulos (Senior Vice President). With over 60 years of experience in the medical, business and technology market, the co-founders have developed a do it yourself market research research platform for use by healthcare companies. Pharmaceutical companies, medical device developers & manufacturers, and life science companies can use the platform to obtain feedback from a carefully selected crowd of healthcare professionals on the relevant markets. 

Imagine the power of crowdsourcing a group of physicians within hours of product launch and initial detailing by your sales representatives. You now have access to market information that was previously untappable for several weeks. Think of the advantages your company can realize simply by accessing and acting on real-time data. We see this is a game changer for our clients - Janet Kosloff CEO InCrowd

Ordinarily companies would have to wait 2-6 weeks before receiving market information which can soon be out of date given that the market could easily change in a matter of days. InCrowd's easy to use platform provides access to its community of healthcare workers eager to share their knowledge with companies. With so many clinicians and other healthcare workers eager to contribute, in the hopes that such feedback would greatly improve their practice and the quality of patients' lives, InCrowd provides real time answers in a rapidly changing market. 

The wisdom of a vast community of healthcare workers streamline instantly to it's clients InCrowd looks set to provide its clients with an advantage over competitors who continue to use traditional research methods. 

Image Credit; Tulane Public Relations

Crowdsourced Media Site Lets Authors Award Prizes

ViewsHound, a user generated content site attributes its success through incorporating crowdsourcing in the search for high quality articles, awarding cash prizes to its community of authors. Now the media site has taken its use of crowdsourcing to the next phase by allowing authors to decide on how best to award the cash prizes.

Based in the UK's capital, ViewsHound was launched in May 2011 and invites authors to compete for daily cash prizes up to $120 by simply submitting an article. ViewsHound accepts commentaries and opinion-based posts covering a wide variety of topics such as politics, business, art and culture, travel, sport, and technology. Registration is free, and articles are subject to human editorial and plagerism checks, unlike other user generated content sites. 

We see huge potential in crowdsourcing as a means of revolutionizing journalism by bringing in a whole new style of writing and reporting. We’re always looking for ways to involve our users in what we do, and this new prize will further help us to identify and showcase the very best writing on the web - Ian Howlett, Editor in Chief, ViewsHound

ViewsHound prides itself in maximising benefits for its community of writers. In addition to the $120 prize awarded to winning authors, contributors can earn 50% of the site's advertising revenue. The latest development will see a further $10 per day up for grabs with the introduction of the Authors Prize. Even if no prizes are won contributors can benefit from ViewsHound's intensive promotional efforts to further expand its increasing readership. Anyone who contributes and publishes an article can link the piece to their own site or blog thus benefiting from ViewsHound's traffic.

So whether it is simply a hobby or a platform from which to launch a writing career, if you are interested in becoming a contributor then visit the site for more details.

Trans Continental Partnership Give SMEs Boost with Crowdsourcing

UK based website, Wanobe.com, a leading provider of business solutions has announced its partnership with India's crowdsourcing leader Jade Magnet. The partnership aims to provide small and medium sized business (SMEs) in the UK and the rest of the world with cost-effective creative services.   

Wanobe.com is a web based platform that provides SMEs with definitive answers on all aspects of business. Whether it's finding a friendly bank that will provide that all important loan or advice on how to build a client network, Wanobe.com can help find the answer through its community of business people. The company was founded by former journalist, broadcaster, and writer David Nobel to help businesses by providing real time human answers to business concerns, in place of vague and unhelpful search engine results.

India's first crowdsourcing platform Jade Magnet provides crowdsourced marketing services across various media. Over 450 brands have benefited from Jade Magnet's community of 5000 service providers working in advertising, branding, graphic design, and product design. Within three years the company aims to become the top provider of creative crowdsourcing services for SMEs across the world. 

This transcontinental partnership is the first of many with solution based providers to help build Wanobe.com's Solution Centre. The move is in response to observations of numerous user requests for trusted service and technology providers. Wanobe.com look at potential partners' key indicators such as quality of work, history, and branding. Wanobe.com founder David Noble has praised Jade Magnet's reputation for high quality web-based design and marketing services that are also cost effective.

As we grow, we are adding providers from the across the globe to create an ecosystem that has multi-cultural understanding and is capable of providing creative solutions for various kinds of audiences. The UK is one of the world’s most important markets and Wanobe.com is helping us to reach out to the country’s millions of small and medium sized businesses. - Manik Kinra Co-Founder and CMO Jade Magnet

To celebrate the launching of this partnership, Jade Magnet has also announced a promotional offer. Any SMEs coming through Wanobe.com can claim a discount of 20% on Jade Magnet's web design and marketing crowdsourced solutions. This can be claimed by quoting the promotional code JMAM131. 

Image Credit; Josh Staiger

Crowdsourcing Variations on the Classic Nokia Tune

Mobile phone giant, Nokia has launched a crowdsourcing challenge for people from all over the world to create their own composition of their famous ringtone. The winning composition will be awarded a cash prize and feature as the ringtone of choice on selected models.

The Nokia tone which originated from the Spanish composer Francisco Tárrega's famous Grand Vals, has become the most famous tune since it first featured on the Nokia 2100 series in 1994. It is instantly recognisable and has become the centrepiece of all Nokia advertising campaigns. It has even been lampooned by the likes of British comedian Dom Joly. Reports estimate that the Nokia tune has been listened to over one billion times a day.

Nokia have launched the campaign in partnership with AudioDraft, a crowdsourcing platform that enables its users to easily build a crowdsourced music contest. Nokia are looking for a new sound  that is distinctively Nokia, and encourage entrants to experiment with the Nokia tunes. Those participating can create new parts, sounds, and even insert new arrangements. Compositions should have a running time of no more than 30 seconds and must be submitted by 2nd October 2011.

The entries can be submitted via Nokia's AudioDraft page, where visitors can listen to the entries and vote on their favourite tunes. Five finalists will be chosen from those who receive the most "likes", with a further five by a jury, made up by some of the biggest names in audio branding including TED and SoundCloud. The winner will be awarded a cash prize of $10,000 and their composition featured on over 100 million Nokia devices. The tune will also be freely available for download in the Ovi store, along with the works of five runners who will also receive a $1,000 cash prize.

Further details about the contest can be viewed by clicking here.

Image Credit; Top Gold

Crowdsourcing Makes Online Shopping Easier with Get.com

Shopping online may have taken the hassle and stress from the hustle and bustle of the high streets. Yet finding the right product at the right price can still prove frustrating, trundling through endless mixed reviews and recommendations. Get.com, a new web platform launched today, utilises the power of the crowd to make searching online for goods more reliable.

Get.com was founded by Steven Fruchter and and Jake Gold, whose successful entrepreneurial  track record lie in the development of online communities and technologies. The two founders served as CEO and CTO respectively of Stickam.com, the first live video streaming network, which under their helmsmanship has seen the network grow into the most active online streaming provider to over 8.5 million registered users. The idea behind Get.com stemmed from having identified a gap in the e-commerce market. Whilst the likes of Amazon ably provide purchasing services, the process leading to the purchase decision was found to be lacking.

This is just one of those obvious services the web needs. Where people who are passionate and have experience in an area, form communities around helping others figure out what is the best choice for their needs. It just makes sense: Tailored needs answered by smart, unbiased people. - Steven Fruchter, co-founder, Get.com

The principle behind the site is simple. A shopper searching for a product types in a question, for example; what is the best electric toothbrush for sensitive gums under $100? A crowdsourced answer is then provided based on suggestions, reviews and recommendations made by the site's vast community or crowd. 

Whereas such information is scattered throughout the web by way of consumer sites, forums and blogs, Get.com acts as a one stop centre for consumer data. It is also a hub for individuals with mutual tastes and interests to get together sharing views and discovering new products. Get.com was launched today at DEMO 2011, an exhibition being held in Silicone Valley, California designed to showcase the latest technological developments. 

Acknowledgements: Thanks to Steven Fruchter
Image Credit; Get.com

Using Crowdsourcing to Predict Terrorist Threats

New ways are constantly sought to better predict and tackle terrorist threats, and thanks to the advent of social technology, crowdsourcing could potentially play an important role. Research is being carried out by a team of academics, Applied Research Associates (ARA) based in Raleigh North Carolina to determine how crowdsourcing can be used to collect data hence make accurate predictions and spot trends.

Working in partnership with seven universities around the US, the ARA are testing and developing technology systems that can efficiently collect and process different opinions on topics such as politics, the economy and disease control. This information is then passed onto the intelligence agencies to help them make predictions.

The ARA have considerable experience in the field of threat assessment having already developed the Federal Security Risk (FSR) manager. This sophisticated software carries out detailed threat assessments examining likely attack scenarios and analysing possible vulnerabilities. FSR is regularly used to carry out assessments for military facilities, government offices, court houses and industrial estates.

For its latest venture the ARA are using Forecasting Ace, a platform still in beta stage. The general public are invited to register and then render their opinion on any subject matter giving details as to their reasoning. It also allows people to include additional information such as their background and expertise be it politics, technical, academic, or industrial fields. 

Various crowdsourcing have been used in the past. In general they take an average of everyone's opinion and come up with predictions. But there is very little research on whether these methods work. We think we can do better by weighting people's opinion based on their rational for making their predictions. - Dick Warnaar, Principle Project Investigator ARA 

Whilst the concentration is on predicting possible terrorist threats, the ARA team hope to use it to predict other outcomes such as fuel and energy prices, and performances on the stock market.


Source; Investors.com
Image Credit; Josh Satiger

Crowsource Latest Update Fuels Worker Competition

One of the leaders in the provisions of crowdsourcing services, Crowdsource LLC has announced the launch of a new update to its Scaleable Workforce platform. Currently a beta release, worker profiles acts as a motivational mechanism to encourage friendly competition amongst its workforce as well as provide an effective tool for performance measurement.

Consisting of a team of twenty workers based in Swansea, Illinois, Crowdsource LLC provides exclusively to Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk), a Scaleable Workforce platform designed for better project and workforce management. MTurk from Amazon has become a leading marketplace providing a diverse on-demand workforce. MTurk also provides workers with a range of tasks to perform that suits their skills and expertise, and performed around their own personal timetable. Crowdsource has, through their platform, recruits thousands of workers to compete up to 100,000 tasks per month which include product categorization, editorial tasks, and transcription.

There has been some controversy concerning MTurk, especially with regards to pay, however Crowdsource boast workforce satisfaction as a key focus of its operations. Crowdsource workers are reported to earn above minimum wage, with some even earning up to $15 per hour,  and feedback from the workers is encouraged. The worker profiles addition will allow workers to measure their performance against the fellow members. This encourages them to set their own personal benchmarks, and facilitates friendly competition amongst the worker members.

Worker satisfaction is a major focus for our team. We believe that in order to keep our workers happy, we need to provide an online environment filled with all of the same motivational mechanisms found within the traditional workplace. Friendly competition and desire to reach the front of the pack are important to overall worker fulfilment. - Stephanie Leffler, CEO Crowdsource

Worker profiles also allows worker members to review their past work, collate and analyse moderator comments, and find work that is more in line with their interests. In their continued efforts to make the online workplace more competitive, the worker members have something to strive for. There also talks of a complete career system to be implemented rewarding workers for hitting benchmarks targets, all of this making the workforce marketplace even more attractive.


Image Credit; Total Aldo

Crowdsourcing Your Own Fantasy Shops

The Nation of Shopkeepers interactive illustration was launched on 2nd August 2011 from the Peckham Space art venue. The exhibition allows visitors to the venue to create their own fantasy shop over a carefully sketched outline of Peckham's Rye Lane shops. However following the riots  which hit many parts of the UK, the organisers have extended the invitation to people at home to create their own row of Pechkam shops.

Garudio Studiage is a Peckham based collective of creative individuals who specialise in a variety of artistic skills. The group also participates in an array of art exhibitions and events as well as building props, displays, and an assortment of products which include the Wildlife of London Tote Bag and the Flat Pets range. The studio's most recent project, Hidden Cameras examined the multiple meanings of the sign "Hidden Cameras in Operation" and featured their most bizarre product, the Paparazzi Mirror.

The Nation of Shopkeepers exhibit was initially an interactive exhibition only, forming part of Peckham Space's free summer Art Clubs for young people. It's purpose is to celebrate the architecture of Peckham's Rye Lane shops, and generally have fun with a blank canvas. The exhibition features large scale line drawings of the Rye Lane shopping area. The shop fronts and signs are left blank for visitors to the exhibition to fill in the spaces with their own fantasy shops. The recent London riots, however, which spread to Peckham saw some of businesses on Rye Lane fall victim to arsonists and looting. The team at Garudio Studiage have urged for a more positive response for the community.

Garudio Studiage have released a Nation of Shopkeepers colouring book which can be purchased from their online shop. The book, which only costs £5.00, consists of 10 drawings from the exhibition. All proceeds from the sales of the colouring book will be donated to Peckham Space who are currently raising funds for their winter Art Clubs. The riots have done much damage to property and morale in Peckham, and Garudio Studiage hope that by supporting Nation of Shopkeepers and Peckham Space, the wounds of the community will begin to mend. 

Image Credit; Garudio Studiage

Siemens Invite You to Change Your City for the Better

German technology giants Siemens, in partnership with Zooppa, have launched a crowdsourcing film competition centred around the question of how technology can have a positive impact on the future. The campaign, named Changing Your City for the Better is calling for film makers to produce a short piece on the positive impact technology has today and could have in the future to improve urban life, and will award a generous cash prize for the winning entry.

With over 116,000 members forming a global social network of talented creatives, Zooppa specialises in managing successful crowdsourced campaigns for many blue chip companies such as AT&T, Nike and Best Western hotel group. Once a participant registers to become a member they are eligible to take part in any of the competitions available. 

Zooppa is calling for film makers to register as a member and produce a video with a running time of at least two minutes but no more than five, depicting the every day challenges of urban life in any one of three areas specified in the brief. The film can be a personal examination of how technology can have a positive impact in their city or any city around the world for the better. Alternatively the film maker can focus on the positive impacts technology currently has on urban life. The film must feature or be based on real people and authentic stories. 



Participants from all the over the world are invited to enter and can make the film in any language as long an English transcript translation is provided. All entries will be judged by Siemens representatives who will consider if it is a compelling story, judge the production values (must be in HD), whether it captures spirit of the brief, and of course accuracy & authenticity. A total of $40,000 (£25,000) in cash prizes will be awarded with the winner receiving $15,000 (£9,200). Second and third place runners up will be awarded $7,500 (£4,600) and $4,500 (£2,700) respectively.

For more information about the competition visit the Zooppa website, register as a member and download the brief. It is imperative to read the terms and conditions found in the submission agreement as well make note of the technical requirements. 


Image Credit; LHOON