Crowdsourcing is a model in which a company or institution outsources the solution of a problem to the public.

For example, the public may be invited to develop a new technology, carry out a design task, refine an algorithm or analyse large amounts of data.

Here are some of our favourite examples of Crowd Sourcing are.

Proctor and Gamble are one of the companies behind InnoCentive,  which offers large cash rewards to more than 90,000 "solvers" who make up this network of backyard scientists.

Cambrian House applies a crowdsourcing model to identify and develop profitable software ideas. Using a simple voting model, they attempt to find sticky software ideas that can be developed using a combination of internal and crowdsourced skills and effort.

The Canadian gold mining group Goldcorp made 400 megabytes of geological survey data on its Red Lake, Ontario property available to the public over the internet. They offered a $575,000 prize to anyone who could analyse the data and suggest places where gold could be found. The company claims that the contest produced 110 targets, over 80% of which proved productive; yielding 8 million ounces of gold, worth more than $3 billion.

Threadless, an Internet-based clothing retailer that sells t-shirts which have been designed by and rated by members of the public.

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