Technology for collective intelligence
Internet has enabled a large quantity of people on this planet to work togeather in new ways, with new connections developing everyday -to define new intelligence between people and technology. There is a strong need to understand these connections so that we can use them intelligently to work for the benefit of humanity.
How can we use web data, social network updates, and agents which are everywhere on the network? Can it be used to solve real-life problem? Can we use this data to predict human behavior in coming years? Can technology decide anything for us? Can technology talk to each other without human involvement -for human benefits. After super computing, cloud computing -now with crowd computing we have people working on data and providing information.
With more and more people getting engaged online manipulating data on the web -they are becoming a part of over-all digital network and working as an extension of the same. Semantic technologies and social media could enable a future where web and new media will play an important role in human destiny.
According to Don Tapscott and Anthony D. Williams, collective intelligence is mass collaboration. In order for this concept to happen, four principles need to exist;
Openness Sharing ideas and intellectual property: though these resources provide the edge over competitors more benefits accrue from allowing others to share ideas and gain significant improvement and scrutiny through collaboration. Peering Horizontal organization as with the ‘opening up’ of the Linux program where users are free to modify and develop it provided that they make it available for others. Peering succeeds because it encourages self-organization — a style of production that works more effectively than hierarchical management for certain tasks. Sharing Companies have started to share some ideas while maintaining some degree of control over others, like potential and critical patent rights. Limiting all intellectual property shuts out opportunities, while sharing some expands markets and brings out products faster. Acting Globally The advancement in communication technology has prompted the rise of global companies at low overhead costs. The internet is widespread, therefore a globally integrated company has no geographical boundaries and may access new markets, ideas and technology.
Research performed by Tapscott and Williams has provided a few examples of the benefits of collective intelligence to business:
Talent Utilization At the rate technology is changing, no firm can fully keep up in the innovations needed to compete. Instead, smart firms are drawing on the power of mass collaboration to involve participation of the people they could not employ. Demand Creation Firms can create a new market for complementary goods by engaging in open source community. Costs Reduction Mass collaboration can help to reduce costs dramatically. Firms can release a specific software or product to be evaluated or debugged by online communities. The results will be more personal, robust and error-free products created in a short amount of time and costs.
