What in the world is crowdsourcing? According to Wikipedia, the first example of crowdsourcing, it is ” the act of outsourcing tasks, traditionally performed by an employee or contractor, to an undefined, large group of people or community (a “crowd”), through an open call.” Therefore, those most fit to perform the task are the ones hired to solve the particular problem. It’s basically mass collaboration using Web 2.0 technology.

Web 2.0 is all about user-generated information. It is not a reference to a technical spec, it is more about the source of data coming from the crowd> If you understand Wikipedia, you’ll know that the content comes from the user-base. The benefits are a vast swell of information from many different angles and resources, covering a wide variety of topics, generated for free. The information is not static, but ever-changing. Examples of Web 2.0 include social networking sites like Facebook, Linked In, Twitter, YouTube, Blogs, Video Sharing, mashups, etc. The down side is that there can be many errors in the data collected, as there is no fact checking required for input.

Crowdsourcing is a change in the way we seek collaboration and manage projects using some of the best and brightest, but only for as long as we need them. The creation of crowdsourcing came from the understanding that there are many freelance developers, writers, desktop publishers, artists, etc., who might be passed by in the corporate hiring process, but who have tremendous capability. By using the power of the internet for more than just communication and research, and considering the benefits of Web 2.0, the business owner or project manager can draw from a talent pool at a cheaper price, and the freelancer is visible through crowdsourcing marketing efforts. It’s a win-win situation. The projects are often reported to be completed in amore timely manner, with more diverse expertise and more broad-ranging solutions, and its cheaper than the single solution for contract or permanent hire. The freelancer avoids huge overhead trying to be in business for themselves, as does the business owner, who doesn’t have to become bogged down in HR costs of a new hire.

So what say you? Do you use Crowdsourcing? Do you know some of the managing companies?