{"id":30006,"date":"2018-11-12T22:15:45","date_gmt":"2018-11-13T03:15:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/digital.hbs.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/power-to-the-people-how-the-city-of-boston-is-using-crowdsourcing-to-drive-civic-innovation\/"},"modified":"2018-11-12T22:18:44","modified_gmt":"2018-11-13T03:18:44","slug":"power-to-the-people-how-the-city-of-boston-is-driving-civic-innovation-through-crowdsourcing","status":"publish","type":"hck-submission","link":"https:\/\/d3.harvard.edu\/platform-rctom\/submission\/power-to-the-people-how-the-city-of-boston-is-driving-civic-innovation-through-crowdsourcing\/","title":{"rendered":"Power to the People: How the City of Boston is driving civic innovation through crowdsourcing"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u201cNo matter who you are, most of the smartest people don\u2019t work for you.\u201d<\/strong> \u2013 Bill Joy, founder of Sun Microsystems<\/em>[1]<\/a><\/h4>\n

Crowdsourcing in the Public Sector <\/strong><\/h3>\n

How do you solve critical problems and drive innovative solutions when dealing with constraints of time, talent, and resources? Municipal governments have consistently faced this challenge in their attempt to serve their citizens.[2]<\/a> Big data has the potential to help cities improve operational efficiency, yet the public sector often lack the expertise and resources to use new data and methods effectively.[3]<\/a><\/p>\n

The public sector has begun to tap into their constituents to provide fresh ideas, gather data, and develop solutions, taking a page out of the playbook of the private sector, which has increasingly looked to crowdsourcing as an cheap alternative labor resource.[4]<\/a> Technology has \u201cturbocharged crowdsourcing\u2019s potency and application,\u201d allowing competitions and open calls for ideas to reach the masses through social media, mobile apps, and web platforms, such as Kaggle, TopCoder, and DrivenData.[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

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Figure 1. Kaggle Platform,\u00a0Source: Indico<\/p>\n

26% of municipalities have crowdsourced ideas from residents to address city needs[6]<\/a> \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The City of Boston has established itself as a leader among municipalities in leveraging crowdsourcing to solve civic problems. Founded in 2010 as the mayor\u2019s civic R&D team, the Office of New Urban Mechanics serves as the headquarters of Boston\u2019s efforts to use technology and data to improve quality of life in the city.[7]<\/a> One concern, however, is that a city will become over-saturated with data gathered through crowdsourcing while still lacking the internal capacity needed to analyze it and implement changes accordingly.<\/p>\n

Short Term Thinking<\/strong><\/h3>\n

In the short-term, the City of Boston is limiting its scope by leveraging crowdsourcing to improve delivery of existing services.<\/p>\n

In 2011, the City developed a smartphone app called Street Bump intended to help find and fix issues in the city\u2019s roadway infrastructure. The app uses sensors to detect sudden jolts as the resident drives.[8]<\/a> When multiple phones report a jolt in the same GPS location, the app sends notice of a pothole that needs repair.[9]<\/a> Street Bump helps the City optimize use of internal time and resources by creating \u201can army of volunteer pothole-spotters.\u201d[10]<\/a><\/p>\n

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Figure 2. Street Bump App, Source: Boston University<\/p>\n

In 2017, the City launched a new effort to gather data from residents to improve its \u2018311\u2019 service. The online interface asks users to describe their issue in one sentence or less. This information feeds into a machine-learning algorithm that sends users to a shortlist of applicable resources \u2013 a major improvement from the original system which listed dozens of potential resources. Each complaint is used as a data point allowing the City to quickly identify shared issues.[11]<\/a><\/p>\n

Medium Term Thinking<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Going forward, crowdsourcing will facilitate Boston\u2019s goal of improving citizen engagement and creating a more welcoming, equitable, and resilient city.[12]<\/a> In broadening the scope of its effort, the City risks being overwhelmed with data; however, by developing partnerships, the City is increasing its capacity and ensuring its ability to execute on new ideas.<\/p>\n

The City has partnered with ioby.org \u2013 a non-profit civic crowdsourcing platform \u2013 to support residents in projects intended to make Boston\u2019s communal \u201cthird spaces\u201d (e.g., parks, coffee shops, and churches) more welcoming, connected, and creative.[13]<\/a> Once residents submit their project idea, the ioby team connects them to a coach who advises on how to scope the project, write a budget, and use the ioby platform to fundraise.[14]<\/a><\/p>\n

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Figure 3. Boston Third Spaces Promotion, Source: Twitter<\/p>\n

Recommendations<\/strong><\/h3>\n

To use crowdsourcing in a high impact way, the City should do the following:<\/p>\n