Crowdsourcing week - blog post #1: Decentralization, Crowdsourcing and Trust

Crowdsourcing Week (CSW) Arctic // Europe 2018 is arranged in Luleå and Vuollerim on the 20 – 24 March. CSW brings the latest developments in crowdsourcing to centre stage, focusing around trending topics such as Finance, ICO’s & Green Bonds, Energy & Sustainability, Innovation and CrowdGaming, Agriculture, Farming, Travel & Tourism in the Sharing Economy. European and other international speakers from US and Asia will share how crowdsourcing is shaping their industries and is transforming organizations today.

Forum for Social Innovation (MSI) is an organizing partner at the conference and will publish a few blog posts for the conference that will be published here on our website.

Decentralization, Crowdsourcing and Trust – The Fundamental Shift Towards The New Crowd Economy

Decentralization is at the heart of the disruption we have seen brought about by new companies utilizing mass, personal connectivity in many business and industry sectors to let us transact directly with each other rather.

Decentralization does not mean it is a perfect system, actually it means restructuring existing organizational structures, and while we are restructuring we will see tension – maybe not all employees will accept change like they did at Zappos – and the fall of some large establishments.

But wait! What about blockchain? It is a decentralized, irrevocable system that records information on multiple computers and as such cannot be modified by any individual. It thus has the potential to not only bring disruption to more business and industry sectors, but also to disrupt the first wave of disruptors as well. In the age of the Internet of Things it will be possible for non-owners to gain access to items whenever they want them and for owners to earn an automated income from a multitude of underused assets.

In the meantime, until the use of blockchain is more prevalent, Trust remains the most important currency. While the tech world has its eyes set on ICOs – the funding frenzy of 2017 – an often overlooked currency seems to be shaping the way forward for tech giants. Trust is the most important currency and shouldn’t be ignored by individuals and organizations.

The Nordic region is regarded as a world leader when it comes to social trust among its population however the future of social trust in society is not determined by fate; in many ways, it lies in the hands of politicians and other decision-makers.

Johan Tiedmann, Nordic Council in Copenhagen will talk about Trust- the Nordic Gold report at CSW Arctic Europe, March 20-24 in Luleå and Vuollerim.

Other thought leaders and real practitioners in the crowdsourcing field will present at CSW Arctic // Europe 20-24th of March in Lulea & Vuollerim, Sweden:

StJohn Deakins, is a self-confessed “pragmatic Internet utopian, fascinated by the impact of new technology on human interaction and development as we enter the new Digital Era.” He is also CEO of the UK platform CitizenMe, a platform that helps prevent adverse issues arising from personal data being bought, sold and mashed together without the consent of the individuals concerned. In an age when online reputational management is a growing issue, errors can have far reaching repercussions. CitizenMe allows its users to sign up to an app and curate their online profile. Their data is stored on their smartphone and backed up via encryption to a personal cloud.

Xavier Damman, from New York, is an entrepreneur, an engineer in computer science, and the founder of US platform OpenCollective. The platform enables groups of like-minded people who collaborate on open source projects that will benefit various communities to make their costs and expenses publicly available online with total transparency, and for members of the relevant communities to contribute to project costs. Current projects include not-for-profit enterprises and the development of apps and web design tools. To-date, 5,408 backers have supported 511 projects to the tune of $1.82m. Xavier believes that we are living through a new renaissance of self-determination and enlightenment. “Technology empowers people to free themselves from wage slavery. We are not condemned to be mere consumers anymore. We can also be creators and do the things that we love.”

Anna Chojnacka is the founder of 1%Club, one of the first Dutch Crowdfunding and Crowdsourcing platforms and also the founder of GoodUp, a social enterprise that builds custom-made crowdsourcing Do Good platforms for companies and cities.
Decentralization is Crowdsourcing Week’s theme in 2018.