CITIZEN

(SOCIAL)

SCIENCE

THE EXPLORATORY CHALLENGE

HOW CAN MASS PARTICIPATION ADDRESS

PERSISTENT SOCIAL CHALLENGES THROUGH THE

USE OF NETWORKED DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES?

CITIZEN SCIENCE

WIKIPEDIA

"the systematic collection and analysis of

data; development of technology; testing of

natural phenomena; and the dissemination of

these activities by researchers on a primarily

a vocational basis"

EXAMPLES ARE EMERGING ON

ALL SORTS OF AMAZING AND

UNLIKELY TOPICS…

GALAXIES…

GARDEN BIRDS…(RSPB)

INTERSTELLAR DUST…(NASA)

AFRICAN ANIMALS….

PROTEINS…

AND MANY MORE….IN SPACE

AND ON EARTH…

INNOVATION IN TECHNOLOGY

(KITS/SENSORS + WEB/MOBILE)

NEW COMMUNITIES ARE

FORMING..

BUILDING PLATFORMS TO

ENABLE PROJECTS TO HAPPEN

WE ARE OPENLY EXPLORING

HOW TO APPLY THIS APPROACH

TO SOLVING SOCIAL ISSUES…

#CITSOCSCI

Citizen Social Science

How mass participation

can address persistent

social challenges through

the use of networked

digital technologies

SOME

EXAMPLES…

REAL-TIME TRAFFIC

CITIZEN SOCIAL SCIENCE – VIA

CROWD-SOURCED MEDIA

POTHOLE MAPPING

VIA A MOBILE APP

IT SEEMS TO WORK BEST

WHEN….

THE ACTION REQUIRED IS ALMOST PASSIVE; LOW

BARRIER TO ENTRY

CAPTURE AND ENCOURAGE SERENDIPITOUS

DISCOVERY

DE-CENTRALISE CONTROL (FIND THE BALANCE

BETWEEN STRUCTURE AND CHAOS)

ACTIVELY ENCOURAGE FRIENDLY COMPETITION

PUT IN PLACE AN EFFECTIVE MECHANIC TO

CURATE/MAKE SENSE OF THE COLLECTION ACTION

AND ALLOW SMALL ACTIONS TO ADD UP TO SOLVE

BIG PROBLEMS

THERE IS A DIVERSITY OF KNOWLEDGE IN THE

CROWD

SOME PRINCIPLES

1. Need an emotive force e.g. help kill cancer

2. Need a problem that can be broken into

‘isolated’ chunks to be solved

3. Need a large dataset that can’t be analysed

by a computer OR that doesn’t exist

currently

4. Need a domain expert to help frame the task

5. Need a simple unit of work that doesn’t

require significant ‘expertise’

6. Need freely available technology

7. If it’s already been done, need to find ways

to improve usage, awareness and experience

COME AND GET

INVOLVED!