Crowdsourcing Timeline
(6 B.C. - 30 A.D.)
The Beginning of Crowdsourcing
The Beginning of Crowdsourcing
| 6 B.C. | Agora The agora in ancient Greece was a bustling open-air space used for public announcements, events, and idea sharing, embodying early crowdsourcing principles. |
| 30 A.D. | Jesus the Disruptor – the beginning of Decentralization The most disruptive figure in history who challenged political and religious elites and yet, his true message is often ignored or distorted. |
(Pre-2000s)
Early Instances of Crowdsourcing
Early Instances of Crowdsourcing (Pre-2000s)
| 1714 | The Longitude Prize The British government’s prize for solving the longitude problem, awarded to clockmaker John Harrison after nearly 60 years. |
| 1857 | Oxford English Dictionary (OED) Initiated a collaborative effort in 1879, relying on volunteers to document language. |
| 1885 | Statue of Liberty Funded by over 120,000 small donations for its pedestal, showcasing community-driven fundraising. |
| 1919 | The Orteig Prize Offered $25,000 for the first non-stop flight from New York to Paris, won by Charles Lindbergh in 1927. |
| 1989 | The Human Genome Project Begins An international collaboration to map human DNA, completed in 2003, exemplifying scientific crowdsourcing. |
| 1995 | XPRIZE Established to create high-profile incentivized prizes for public problem-solving in various fields. |
(2000-2005)
Beginnings of Internet-Era Crowdsourcing
Beginnings of Internet-Era Crowdsourcing (2000-2005)
| 2000 | Marillion rock music band Pioneered digital crowdfunding by pre-selling their album “Anoraknophobia”. |
| 2000 | NASA Clickworkers Engaged the public in analyzing Mars data, proving non-experts can contribute to science. |
| 2001 | iStockphoto Allowed photographers to sell images online, democratizing access to stock photos. |
| 2001 | Launch of Wikipedia Became a model for open-source knowledge sharing, driven by global volunteer contributions. |
2005-2010
Rise of Crowdsourcing Platforms
Rise of Crowdsourcing Platforms (2005-2010)
| 2005 | Invention of the Term “Crowdsourcing” Coined by Jeff Howe and Mark Robinson to describe leveraging collective knowledge for problem-solving. |
| 2006 | Launch of Amazon Mechanical Turk Enabled individuals to complete micro-tasks for rewards, foundational for crowdsourcing labor. |
| 2008 | InnoCentive Expands Open Innovation Became a major platform for R&D challenges, offering cash rewards for solutions globally. |
(2010-2015)
Expansion to Diverse Sectors and Mainstream Adoption
Expansion to Diverse Sectors and Mainstream Adoption (2010-2015)
| 2009 | Freelancer.com Connected businesses with freelancers globally, offering services in programming, writing, and design. |
| 2010 | Quora Launches Fostered crowdsourced knowledge sharing through a question-and-answer platform. |
| 2011 | Waze Utilizes Crowdsourced Data Used real-time user data for traffic information, exemplifying user-generated mapping data. |
| 2012 | Launch of Upwork (formerly oDesk) Facilitated global freelancing and gig work, connecting workers with projects. |
| 2013 | Launch of Crowdsourcing Week Global conference promoting crowdsourcing, open innovation, and the sharing economy. |
| 2014 | Google Maps with Local Guides Leveraged user uploads and edits to enhance mapping data quality. |
(2015-2020)
Integration of AI and Crowdsourcing
Integration of AI and Crowdsourcing (2015-2020)
| 2015 | Facebook and Microsoft Launch ImageNet and Crowdflower Utilized crowdsourced workers to label massive AI training datasets. |
| 2018 | DePIN Concepts Begin Emerging Projects like Helium explored decentralized infrastructure via crowdsourced contributions. |
| 2020 | OpenAI’s GPT-3 Involved crowdsourced development, with developers contributing to applications and feedback. |
(2020-Present)
Modern Crowdsourcing and the Web3 Movement
Modern Crowdsourcing and the Web3 Movement (2020-Present)
2021
Rise of DAOs
Web3 and blockchain fostered decentralized autonomous organizations for collective decision-making.
2022
Growth of DePIN Projects
Crowdsourced physical infrastructure projects like Helium and Filecoin gained traction.
2023
Continued Integration with AI
Platforms like OpenAI’s GPT models further leveraged user feedback for improvements.
2024
Spatial Computing & Digital Twin Development
Utilized crowdsourced data to build and update digital twins of cities and infrastructure.
2025
CSW / Theme of the Year: The Age of Augmented Collaboration
Highlighted the role of AI, AR/VR, spatial computing, and blockchain in crowdsourcing, showcasing the amplified potential of collective intelligence.
