Some analyses of crowdsourcing have described it as a form of “social” network. But is crowdsourcing really social? Can paid work be social? Government, nonprofit, and even some commercial firms use volunteers for crowdsourced tasks. Volunteer-based crowdsourcing is inherently more social than the semi-anonymous piecework of commercial crowdsourcing, because the
At IEI, we’re intimately familiar with the “demand side” of public information. It’s rare, though, that we get a glimpse of the issues facing public sector managers on the front lines of supplying that information. That’s just what we got when we were asked to participate in the City of
During this pandemic, the value of accurate data has never been more obvious. Without reliable information derived from the mountains of data being generated by fast-moving events the actions necessary to slow the outbreak are impossible to make. From the data-gathering process to the intelligent analysis of that data by
Like the aria of a grand European opera, the hype surrounding the imminent implementation of GDPR* has reached a fevered crescendo. Now that the GDPR deadline (May 25th) has passed, it’s worth taking a moment to cut through the fog of frenzied activity to take a realistic look at where
Information Evolution is proud to sponsor HCOMP 2016, the world’s premier event for unveiling the latest research on crowdsourcing and human computation. The HCOMP conference, run by the Association for the Advancement of Artificial Intelligence, is hosted at the University of Texas School of Information this year and will take
Over the years I have seen (and designed) a few successful new business models. A few years ago I came up with one that is fast becoming my favorite: the idea that companies can generate revenues with a 100% margin by simply rejecting work that they cannot do. Imagine that
The term “crowdsourcing” is not aging well. Maybe it was a bit too folksy to begin with or, more probably, its slow evolution caused it to seem passé before it ever even hit its stride. Whatever the reason, the meaning of “the crowd” has morphed into two distinct things at
The distribution of work around the globe, what is generally called ‘outsourcing’, has been a fact of life in the information business for a long time. More recently though, information companies have taken an interest in applying the employment rules, climate change targets, and other sustainability goals that are in
The rise of the agile workforce – where freelancers, “cloud labor,” and business process outsourcing firms augment the work of full-time employees– has given many types of companies a way to be more productive with lower operational expenses for salaries, rent, and benefits. Information services and other data-driven firms in
When your company’s product is a database information service you are familiar with having “holes” in your offering. Must-have fields are populated 100% of the time, “need to have” fields are 95% complete, and there is a slippery slope of “nice to have” fields like URLs, phone numbers, and email
Have a data challenge? IEI has probably seen it, analyzed it and solved it before.
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