MIT’s Centre for Collective Intelligence has launched a platform for user created plans on how to save the world, basically. Thomas Malone refers to the Climate Collaboratorium Project as “Electronic democracy on steroids”. The web-based system allows for users to suggest plans and thousands of other people from diverse background debate the feasibility of the plans as well as lend suggestions and vote on ideas. The most promising plans get filtered to the top of the list. So far over than 2,000 users have visited the site, with 350 registered users, who have contributed 22 finalized plans with another 35 in progress.
Malone, the Director of the Centre says that the overall goal of the project is somewhat aligned with what happened with Wikipedia– where thousands across the globe create a huge, high-quality intellectual project with almost no centralised control. He asks, “How can people and computers be connected so that collectively they act more intelligently than any person, group, or computer has ever done before?”
Hopefully, we’ll soon find out.
Katherine Hui is currently the Social site editor at Green Thing, a web-based public service in London that inspires people to lead greener lives through creative content.
Before this, she worked as the Development Manager at Social Innovation Camp, an organization that encourages people to use web and mobile-based technology to mobilise social change. She oversaw 300 ideas submission and helped build 20 prototypes – five of which have gone on to get further funding or investment.
Katherine’s came over to the UK form Canada in 2007 for an MSc program at the London School of Economics. Before arriving in London, she managed a small environmental start-up in Vancouver called the Canadian Climate Change Alliance.
Katherine is football mad. She is a loyal supporter of Arsenal FC, plays for Islington Borough Ladies FC and coaches for Gunners in Islington in her spare time. Her second favourite hobby is kite surfing and she can sometimes be found chasing the wind.
