Through crowdsourcing organisations address customers to help thinking about innovation and a product, i.e. WEbook and Wikipedia. Crowdsourcing has its roots in user generated content and open source.
It happens more and more often that companies use crowdsourcing to develop a product together with customers. Nokia, for example, develops a new product called Morph (a video about Morph here). This way, Nokia tries to have interested people and specialists participate in the process of innovation. The fact that the company stays close to the customer is a huge advantage. And of course, ten people know more than one.
The American car producer Local Motors uses crowdsourcing for product development. They combine crowdsourcing with social networks to create new cars. Then people can comment on and vote for the new ideas. Eventually, the best design is produced and positioned in the market. With this ambitious goal the company hopes to stimulate the economic growth in several regions by using an online network platform.
For more information about crowdsouring see: Creative Crowds, Mashable: WEbook and Mashable: Local Motors.
For those people interested in crowdsourcing, there is an event mainly about this subject on September 18th. Emerceday will be held in De Doelen in Rotterdam. Among others Jeff Howes, crowdsourcing guru, will speech.
