Crowdsourcing Social Change: A Contest To Solve A Complex Problem

I've written a lot lately about contests (Chase Community Giving and Pepsi Refresh)  here in the United States that are focused on "social media for social media."  The core of the design is "popular vote" - the group whose idea gets the most people to vote for them wins.   I've questioned whether or not this a good way to find the best solutions for complex social problems, although it can certainly add a halo effect and spread a brand's message.  How can these goals be balanced?

I've just returned from a trip to India where there is a different approach to solving complex social problems using social media and the Internet.  My new friend, Paritosh Sharma, pointed me to Ennovent, a for-profit company that promotes entrepreneurs who find solutions to help people at the Bottom of the Pyramid.  He told me about their crowd sourcing for social good strategy to find an affordable, and clean energy solution for India's poor population.

While Ennovent, a social enterprise, is very different from a major consumer brand in the US, I think we can learn a lot about the design of the contest. 

Let's unpack it:

(1) Use of Connectors:  They are reaching out to "connectors," people who may know of people working on projects ("solvers") who might be eligible to submit a winning proposal.   They are offering a small case incentive.   This is a smart idea because it leverages a networked approach to finding potential applicants.

(2) Submission Process: They are looking for companies to submit a proposal that they could fund to scale in India up to $500,000.   The submission form is simple.

(3) Vetting and Selection: Based on the submissions, Ennovent with local advisors will short-list ten projects to be presented to a panel of experts. 

The decision process is a closed and judged by experts, but they are using social media and networked approach to identify solutions near and far.

What is the best way to integrate social media into challenges and contests to find solutions for social change?

Comments

[Simon Mainwaring]

Hi Beth,

So glad you're teasing apart these issues as they are so critical to a non-profits success. I do believe using a networked approach to source potential partners is smart and effective because you get the extra reach and exposure you want and find those with the right core competencies. Often crowdsourced ideas are hit and miss or the onus of execution falls on the organization running the program. This example above seems a smart way to avoid both issues and has enormous potential.

Glad your trip was good and thanks for sharing, Simon

[www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=217943]

This is really interesting. I especially like the combined input from the community plus judges - neither alone provides the richness of feedback you get from both together.

A good example of crowdsourcing (albeit a limited "crowd") to solve a complex development problem is Stanford Design School's (the 'd.school') "Entrepreneurial Design for Extreme Affordability" which applies the design process to addressing a development issue. The feedback comes from real constituents, but oftentimes students leverage social media for quick feedback. You can learn more about the class here: http://extreme.stanford.edu/. I took the class in one of the first years and we had some real good output from the groups, including d.light (http://dlightdesign.com/home_global.php) which came out of one of our student projects.

[Julio Vasconcellos]

sorry, forgot to sign that last comment :-)
- Julio Vasconcellos