At the Seoul Digital Forum recently, Google’s CEO Eric Schmidt was asked to define the term Web 3.0. While he got a few laughs for the initial response he gave (quoted below), he actually provided some interesting elements to think about.

“Well, the Web 2.0 is a marketing term, and I think you’ve just invented Web 3.0″
- Eric Schmidt

The short video can be found here. The key elements of his answer:

• Focus on a different way to build applications
• Applications that are pieced together
• Applications that are relatively small
• Applications can run on any device (multi-platform)
• Applications are distributed virally (social networks, email)

The exact term (web 3.0) is of less importance. What is important is that we keep track of what is happening in the broader online world, because these evolutions are fundamental drivers of what is and will be possible with respect to open innovation and crowdsourcing. Multi-platform Mass Collaboration and Mashups will be key elements.

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This week, Google launched a viral video-competition. The Gmail Team is now accepting 10 second video clips featuring the red envelope on the right (M-velope). The best videos will be strung together into a collaborative video that will be featured on the Gmail homepage.

Want to make some fun with your family, friends, or colleagues? Download and print the signature M-velope, record a 10 second video where someone hands the Gmail M-velope in from the left of the screen, does something, and then hands it off to the right, and then upload that video on YouTube. Clips are due by August 13, and the final video (set to music) will be released to the world on August 20, 2007.

It will be interesting to see how much buzz they can build and how many will take part. With respect to crowdsourcing, the M-velope initiative is not revolutionary though. It’s mainly a fun way to kill summer boredom.

As a lot of crowdsourcing initiatives are featured on blogs and websites, it may seem like many many companies have adopted strategies to tap into the wisdom of the crowd. In reality however, most companies have not yet developed such strategies. Therefore, organizing a fun video competition could be a first step in exploring what crowdsourcing is about, and how it could benefit your company’s business.

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This is the first edition of the new Open Innovation & Crowdsourcing carnival. You can read more about the carnival, future editions, and past editions, on the carnival home page.

Open Innovation

Carl Lens presents a brief introduction on open innovation. He explains both the outside-in flow (’not all smart people work for you’) and the inside-out flow of open innovation (’80% of all patents in companies is never used’). He also introduces Eric von Hippel’s user-centric innovation approach, which basically states that by involving (lead) users in the process of innovation, companies can develop products and services that have an inherent fit with needs in the market. The article provides a good introduction for people not familiar with both concepts.

I would like to add that user-centric innovation or crowdsourcing innovation could be integrated in a broader view on the outside-in flow of open innovation, in which companies look for external ideas and competences from universities, research institutes, lead users, competitors, suppliers, large crowds and others. It should be mentioned though that Henry Chesbrough (the founding father of open innovation) didn’t pay much attention to this role of users and large crowds in his original open innovation model. Nonetheless, I think this integration contributes to a better understanding of both concepts.

Crowdsourcing

Kiss 5000 Frogs is a follow-up analysis about Cambrian House. Carl Lens explains how Cambrian House shifted from a company that commercialised ideas from the crowds into a company that allowed the crowds to commercialise their own ideas.

When crowdsourcing is defined, open source software is often mentioned as a leading example. How entertaining is your 3D software explains how most open source programmers program for exactly the reason most artists paint. Because it’s fun. The greatest dis-service done to developers and programmers is to relegate them to the realm of well-oiled automatons. Samir Bharadwaj postulates that in order to have enthusiastic spokespeople and a motivated community of developers, your code base should be entertaining and fun to work with. Do all crowdsourcing initiatives require this ‘element of fun’ to be successful?

Applying crowdsourcing to public and development sector

Giulio Quaggiotto wrote two excellent articles about how crowdsourcing can add value in the public and the development sector. The first article, Crowdsourcing development data, discusses innovative business models for the public sector, based on the principles of the long tail and wisdom of the crowd. Public institutions should embrace the vision that “citizens can create, re-use and distribute [data] in ways that add maximum value.” In other words, the best collective knowledge may reside outside, not within the organizations themselves. The article is based on an interesting report sponsored by the Cabinet Office, calling for the UK government to embrace a new strategy for producing and disseminating public information.

The second article deals with the question how web 2.0 and crowdsourcing can change and improve development initiatives. Giulio Quaggiotto provides an inspiring post about how the Development 2.0 world could look like. Imagine, for instance, combining Google maps with crime data, just like Chicago Crime does, to help police authorities and citizens in developing countries.

The last article of this carnival edition gives an overview of three important influences that have contributed to the development of the OER movement (Open Educational Resources): open source sofware, open content, and learning objects. These influences help to understand how projects like Connexions, MIT OpenCourseWare, and Merlot, have developed.

To end, I want to thank all writers who submitted their articles. Reactions, thoughts, and other interesting articles can be shared through the comment section below.

Next edition

As of now you can submit your blog article(s) to the next edition of Open Innovation & Crowdsourcing! Use the carnival submission form, or send us the link to your article(s) through carnival@openinnovators.net.

Carnival Home Page: Open Innovation & Crowdsourcing
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