17 March 2015
Crowdsourcing for National Security
Executive Summary
The understanding of national security has expanded beyond the traditional state-centric responsibility to include more players in the society. One of the key arenas of national security operations is now the internet, where user-generated content in the social media combines with offline operations to form crucial intelligence information. Rather than passively looking out for operational information, however, national security practitioners now have the option to invite the public to jointly ensure security by contributing their expertise and knowledge through the internet The notion of crowdsourcing, first applied to business models, is an open call for contribution from a previously unknown pool of contributors that has proven extremely workable in the information age.
The first part of this paper will discuss several benefits of crowdsourcing. Crowdsourcing is widely believed to be able to provide solutions for any problems an organisation may face in a cost-saving and efficient manner. Furthermore, crowdsourcing through internet helps to find experts and manpower that would otherwise need a degree of effort to find offline. As an added bonus to national security operations, crowdsourcing operations may be done confidentially.
The second part of the paper will follow up by listing some common crowdsourcing platforms and discussing the ways in which they had been employed in recent disasters and national security operations. Many third-party crowdsourcing systems are available on the web, but organisations may opt to customise crowdsourcing systems for their usage. Available case studies show that crowdsourcing has been widely used as a source for intelligence in national security operations. It is also increasingly used to find innovative solutions to challenges to national security such as seeking international experts’ assistance in finding solution for securing the cyberspace.
The final section of the paper concludes by discussing possible limitations associated with crowdsourcing in general. Among others, data gleaned from crowdsourcing operations are of varying quality, giving rise to challenges in utilising such non-expert data. It also means challenges in establishing effective incentive mechanism and giving rise to costs, especially in the area of human resource. Decision-makers should also be aware that deploying crowdsourcing essentially means a loss of control over user behaviour and the direction in which the operation may be headed. In interpreting the data, it is also important to note that participation in crowdsourcing operations is generally limited to the middle class who are technologically savvy and educated.
About the Author
Jennifer Yang Hui is an Associate Research Fellow at the Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS), a constituent unit of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University.
Executive Summary
The understanding of national security has expanded beyond the traditional state-centric responsibility to include more players in the society. One of the key arenas of national security operations is now the internet, where user-generated content in the social media combines with offline operations to form crucial intelligence information. Rather than passively looking out for operational information, however, national security practitioners now have the option to invite the public to jointly ensure security by contributing their expertise and knowledge through the internet The notion of crowdsourcing, first applied to business models, is an open call for contribution from a previously unknown pool of contributors that has proven extremely workable in the information age.
The first part of this paper will discuss several benefits of crowdsourcing. Crowdsourcing is widely believed to be able to provide solutions for any problems an organisation may face in a cost-saving and efficient manner. Furthermore, crowdsourcing through internet helps to find experts and manpower that would otherwise need a degree of effort to find offline. As an added bonus to national security operations, crowdsourcing operations may be done confidentially.
The second part of the paper will follow up by listing some common crowdsourcing platforms and discussing the ways in which they had been employed in recent disasters and national security operations. Many third-party crowdsourcing systems are available on the web, but organisations may opt to customise crowdsourcing systems for their usage. Available case studies show that crowdsourcing has been widely used as a source for intelligence in national security operations. It is also increasingly used to find innovative solutions to challenges to national security such as seeking international experts’ assistance in finding solution for securing the cyberspace.
The final section of the paper concludes by discussing possible limitations associated with crowdsourcing in general. Among others, data gleaned from crowdsourcing operations are of varying quality, giving rise to challenges in utilising such non-expert data. It also means challenges in establishing effective incentive mechanism and giving rise to costs, especially in the area of human resource. Decision-makers should also be aware that deploying crowdsourcing essentially means a loss of control over user behaviour and the direction in which the operation may be headed. In interpreting the data, it is also important to note that participation in crowdsourcing operations is generally limited to the middle class who are technologically savvy and educated.
About the Author
Jennifer Yang Hui is an Associate Research Fellow at the Centre of Excellence for National Security (CENS), a constituent unit of the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies (RSIS), Nanyang Technological University.
