billion minutes were spent on social networks and blogs in 2011 and 42%of tablet owners use them
daily while watching TV (Nielsen, 2011. Closely related to the empirical application in this paper the worldwide market for online games surpassed $15 billion in 2010 with additional sales of virtual
and the presence of the Internet, online or network games have been growing exponentially, with a recent study showing that about 67%of teenagers regularly play some game online (Playlogic
a Facebook group about a product, or a guild or clan of players in a video game, as it is the case in our application
According to the game†s website, World of Warcraft is a â€oemassively Mul -tiplayer Online Role-playing game (MMORPG), set in the high-fantasy universe centered around
Several independent websites process this information into databases that allow cross-player comparisons and provide recommendations on how to progress in the game.
this paper, we use a publicly available data set on product usage collected from such a site called
and other announcements from the oï cial game website Although purchase decisions are not the focus of the paper,
First, the website used as a source of the data provides information about experienced users only.
We use data from the website World of Logs18 about the success rates for diï €erent content.
This website provides aggregate statistics about the number of times that users attempted and successfully completed tasks in the game.
as managers attempt to lead users to social media platforms to generate content and connect with other users with similar preferences
or websites in social platforms. In the case of our application, the firm has over the years implemented a number of tools that allowed easier
ionicaoncoiu@yahoo. ro, Romania Small firms are big business in the aid of economic development.
characterized by a high affinity for the activities via the Internet, taking into account the latest developments in the field
email between January 2013 and June 2013 Research interviews will then deepen and expand the results of
The survey with a covering letter was dispersed in Australia and the USA via email and in
online survey was administered through three emails. The personal delivery method is ac -knowledged to increase response rates as completed responses can help (a) establish rap
internet firms. Journal of Small Business Management, 47 (3), 263†286 Lichtenthaler, U, & Muethel, M. 2012).
/Calcmykprofile (U s. Web Coated 50swop 51 v2 /srgbprofile (srgb IEC61966-2. 1 /Cannotembedfontpolicy/Error /Compatibilitylevel 1. 4
A great deal of additional information on the European union is available on the Internet It can be accessed through the Europa server http://europa. eu
dacian. coita@yahoo. com Sorin Teodor Constantin Unicredit Tiriac Bank S. A 2-4 Unirii Square, RO-410072, Oradea, Romania
images onto the website, establishing payment solutions, doing the advertising, etc. †When asked to describe a unique new product,
+32 2 230 57 51  www. eua. be  Twitter:@@euatweets The European University Association (EUA) is the representative organisation
stakeholders through conferences, seminars, website and public ations
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission The societal impact of the World wide web--key challenges for the 21st century
the Web Digital Social Innovation The Young Foundation September 2010 Over 27 million Britons have a Facebook profilei,
40 per cent of internet users upload self-created content to the web, and the same amount post messages to chat sites
blogs and newsgroups. ii Nearly a quarter of UK mobile phones users now have a Smartphone, with over 18 per cent using their devices to access social media sites or
blogs. iii We know that digital technology is transforming our professional and social lives. But could it also be ushering in a new age of civic and political engagement
Studies show that people who access social media are more likely s to look at campaigns or engage with politics online. iv In the UK, during the Prime Ministerial
debates in the run up to the 2010 UK election, 36,483 Twitter users were active during the first debate 28,790 were active during the second debate. v Almost a
quarter of 18 to 24 year olds commented on politics via social networks during the election. vi
Local, national and international activists are building networks to do everything from getting millions of citizens to sign online petitions on climate change and human
rights or to invest in micro-enterprises in Mumbai or Mexico city. Government data is increasingly being made public,
improving transparency and allowing software programmers to create extra value from underused data by, for example, mapping
out injuries and deaths to cyclists on London†s roads. vii The Young Foundation researches
predominately through the web. For example, in Tower Hamlets, a London borough with a large Bangladeshi population, Maslaha has been working with the Primary
advice is provided on Maslaha†s diabetes website through videos in community languages. x Digital technology makes it much easier to expand the realms of social innovation
social innovators to build effective, web-based solutions to social problems, resulting in digital innovations such as Mypolice-a tool for people to feed back their positive
www. Fixmystreet. com is a website that allows users to easily report an issue with
Foundation has developed a framework to help local authorities use social media to improve the delivery of public services. xiii
†hyperlocal mediaâ€), freely available web tools are assisting communities to become digitally empowered The Young Foundation†s Local 2. 0 programme aims to learn more about how
communities can be empowered using the web and is piloting several projects with four English local authorities:
Projects range from encouraging local people to write their own blogs and training for council officers on how to engage with communities via the web, to the creation
of community websites that help people connect with one another and discuss local issues. www. Fairstead. org is a new hyperlocal website developed as part of Local 2. 0
for a neighbourhood in King†s Lynn, West Norfolk. The website †created at low cost
through a partnership of local people and local agencies-aims to build local networks, improve communication between residents and agencies, and increase
levels of local action Leadership and entrepreneurship Digital technologies can reach into the handbags and homes of individuals who are
per cent of internet users join in debates online or give opinions on social or political
i http://www. clickymedia. co. uk/2010/06/uk-facebook-statistics-for-june-2010 /ii http://www. statistics. gov. uk/pdfdir/iahi0809. pdf
vi http://www. bbc. co. uk/blogs/thereporters/rorycellanjones/2010/05/so was it an internet election. html vii http://www. citybeast. com/londoncyclists. html
widespread use of the internet has transformed the way we live, work and communicate; globalisation and migration have helped to provide a myriad
It might be taken to include the Google search engine which arguably has created more value for society than even the value that
The Internet came from within the US military and the early understanding of climate change from NASA
how to run web-based exchange systems, or road charging. But more often the elements of the new paradigm are not self-evident;
internet have had also a profound effect on public services and have prompted a range of innovations
The site received 120,000 unique visits and a total of 873,476 hits 40 These are remarkable participation rates, far exceeding similar experiments in
become tangled in a web of dysfunctional rules, regulations and procedures Kafka Brigades gather together all involved front line workers, managers and
-peer micro-lending site, enables individuals to lend small sums of money to entrepreneurs on low incomes.
posted on the website, becoming available for scrutiny by potential investors Repayment is guaranteed as field partners are responsible for entrepreneurs
internet, thus preventing complex transactions and obscured effects and rendering use of money and impact of loan easy to measure.
research, to Google who provide support by means of internet advertising As a result of its strong network of supporters and partners, producing clear
are available to view on Triodos†website Civil society and the grant economy Civil society and the grant economy are rich sources of social innovation â€
create web-based social start-ups. lxxxiii Inspired by start-up and technology oriented events such as Barcamp, Hackday and Seedcamp, 2
Hackdays, like Barcamps, focus on early stage web applications, but they are far more intense; software developers code continuously for 24 hours
anyone can submit an idea or a problem which a web -based tool might be able to help solve-these are posted publicly online.
into teams around selected ideas and asked to develop a website prototype over the next 2 days.
time with the web development company, Headshift and roughly 10 hours of development time with the development agency, the Creative Co-op
provided with a range of supports which include branding, web and tech support, policy work, media and PR and internal/external evaluations.
software and web-based social networking around issues such as the management of chronic disease or childcare.
communities, each community has its own local website. Each local website is updated and managed by a local mum,
thus allowing for the information and networking possibilities available to be specific to individual communities.
evidence and information from emails, blogging sites, and online forums on the site. A series of publications are produced to provide further general
guidance The website also facilitates a meet up scheme where mothers can meet each other in person.
Often these meetings result in new friendship and support circles (especially among those who have moved to a new area, or those who
then share their climate actions with others via social networking. xcvii 66 4. Policies to support social innovation
such as the Internet (DARPA) and the World Wide Web (CERN. However, there are numerous structural features of
government that inhibit risk taking, experimentation and innovation. There are barriers and obstacles in the form of cost-based budgeting and
was established in March 2008 as a spin-off of The next Generation Internet Foundation, a think tank focused on the social impact of technology.
•Innovation Exchange website-an online forum for sharing and developing ideas for social innovation
and Economics and the Internet of the Future. Workshops will be run to enhance co-creation of ideas and services
However, within the complex web of existing NHS and local government frameworks, innovation is notoriously difficult to deliver.
have been helped greatly by the ability of the web to draw in a far wider range of people and ideas-new online platforms are enabling people to take
web 2. 0 tools provided the best means of communicating widely at little cost Initially, and unsuccessfully, they tried to canvass public opinion through
social networking sites such as Myspace and Youtube. However, they decided that a wiki would be more appropriate †it was practical and easy to
and it was more †intellectual†than Facebook or Myspace. In addition, organisers felt that the open nature of the wiki matched
peak, the site received 10,000 visits in one day. cxiv Suggestions included a governance board of eminent kiwis, a minimum recruiting age for police and
xxxiii http://en. wikipedia. org/wiki/History of feminism 120 xxxivwww. disabilityhistory. org; http://bancroft. berkeley. edu/collections/drilm
people incur to visit a site as a proxy for their valuation of that site.
a particular site clviii Social Value Added Working group of the EQUAL National Thematic Network for
Information technologies and web 2. 0 tools are transforming how people interact, notwithstanding the necessity of physical space and meetings for the exchange of
project website: www. socialinnovator. info Dr Michael Harris, NESTA Published March 2010 CONTENTS 1 CONTENTS
launched an accompanying website, www. socialinnovator. info, to gather comments, case studies and new methods We†re also very conscious of what†s not in here.
and social networking tools The other comes from culture and values: the growing emphasis on the human
These sites show how to run competitions for †mash up†ideas from citizens using government data, such as Sunlight Labs and Show Us a
UK, the website Report Empty Homes, sponsored by the Empty Homes Agency, allows citizens to report empty properties around the UK
User feedback on service quality, including web-based models such as Patient Opinion and I Want Great care that hold service
through many routes, from surveys and websites to user representation on management boards and committees
40) Web-based tools for co-design, such as the Australian site for people with disabilities and their carers, web2care
PROPOSALS AND IDEAS 31 2 32 THE OPEN BOOK OF SOCIAL INNOVATION 41) Creative thinking methods such as Edward De Bono†s †Six Thinking
the internet, which has enabled large numbers of people to interact and participate at a relatively low cost. 6 Over the last few decades,
helped by the ability of the internet to draw in a far wider range of people and
spawn a number of similar websites, including the Norwegian Ideas Bank (which focuses mainly on issues of environmental sustainability
Innovation, a website which enables people to make suggestions for improving their healthcare systems. These websites include a vast range
of ideas †everything from the brilliant to the downright absurd. But even when ideas are evidently excellent,
Youtube can be used as a virtual video booth 58) Suggestion boxes within organizations are the most basic method for
website, based on the principles as laid out in President Obama†s Memorandum on collaborative, participatory and transparent
The website enables citizens to take part in a discussion about the best way to effect the President†s Memorandum in three
One example in the UK is the Prime Minister†s e-Petitions website which has had nearly 10 million petitioners.
73) Webinars are a fairly simple device for organising seminars over the web. Examples include the webinars organised by the Cities of Migration
network which have linked NGOS, foundations and academics involved in social action related to diversity around the world
74) Dialogue Cafã uses state of the art video conferencing (Telepresence to link up citizens from all around the world.
hybrid cars through Google, and C40 city governments. An example of open-testing, Google†s initiative hopes to educate consumers body
Image courtesy of Google, Inc 3 54 THE OPEN BOOK OF SOCIAL INNOVATION Finance for emerging ideas
One example is the Internet, which was developed by DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
those around the web that share knowledge and intellectual property 106) Business strategies. The context for a business model is a business
of a key input such as a critical site or personnel (as in sport. Mapping a
business models adopted by web companies which, like social ventures have an interest in maintaining free access, while at the same time
structures are the site of contending pressures of goals and interests. The organisation may have a social goal of benefitting others,
considerable web-based innovation in this field, with websites providing guidance on organisational forms, and governance.
example is One Click Organisations, an ultra simple web-based tool for creating new organisations, changing constitutions, and engaging
or download systems (such as web designs and technologies) that are becoming freely available. One model is
137) Web presence. All social ventures now have to have a website. But their full potential has begun only to be explored.
Many ventures are by their nature information intensive †in respect to the quality and tangibility
blogs. It also needs high quality design to ensure usability and navigability ways of connecting each web site to others (through links and RSS feeds
as well as establishing a presence on other social networking sites like Youtube and Facebook which can act as feeders to the venture†s website
Above all, a venture needs to devote resources to the constant updating and active hosting of their sites.
A good example is the site of the co -operative football team Ebbsfleet United (My Football Club),
which has a team of six working on their website to involve the members, a model
that could be adopted by many consumer co-ops among others 138) Marketing and branding. Social ventures, particularly those that
placed its most valuable technical information on the web for open access in order to enable its ideas to be adopted more rapidly.
intermediary institutions, the web opens up the possibility of making new types of connections and raising finance from potential consumers
is an approach that was crucial in the emergence of the internet, GSM 5 88 THE OPEN BOOK OF SOCIAL INNOVATION
spreading new ideas, for example via a website such as netsquared. org People can take part as collaborators, co-producers, consumers, activists
through a network of online communities, web related resources and peer review. Another example is Australian Social Innovation Exchange
197) Diffusion through the web. Viral marketing techniques can be used to tap into existing social networks and spread social ideas.
Swarmtribes an ongoing NESTA project, applies the principles of viral marketing to create a new kind of community engagement platform.
multidimensional needs are a key site for potential collaboration Communities of Practice are one important type of collaboration (see
Members of the Network are supported also with branding, web and technical support, policy work, media and PR, and internal/external
time and travel cost expenses that people incur to visit a site as a proxy
for their valuation of that site. Because travel and time costs increase with distance it†s possible to construct a †marginal willingness to payâ€
curve for a particular site 5 SCALING AND DIFFUSION 103 212) Social accounting matrices and satellite accounts are used to
The web has brought also systemic innovation to retailing and news, and has the potential (albeit not yet
This involves a wide range of issues from the use of the web to the nature of technology and the design of distributed systems which
used on networks like ebay, and more formal legal devices (like public databases). ) With the increasing mixing of voluntary and professional
245) Platform infrastructures, such as feedback sites on public services or M-PESA€ s platform for phone-based banking
It was created in 2000 on the site of the old Toronto General Hospital. Image courtesy of Mars Discovery District
meeting social needs to design web-based solutions to particular social challenges. Over one weekend, groups have to design
functioning website 136 THE OPEN BOOK OF SOCIAL INNOVATION Innovation networks Networks can serve as alternatives to formal organisational structures within
developed a website called Mypolice †a tool for members of the public to give feedback,
Think, for example, of micro-blogging service Twitter, personal publishing platform Wordpress, citizen reporting papers such as Ohmynews
social networking sites such as Facebook, Orkut, and Bebo, or collaborative projects such as Wikipedia. It is easy to see the generative potential of
platforms: as more people get involved, the wider the scope and reach, and by extension, the greater the social impact.
This includes websites which provide user -generated information such as ehow and Netmums. Netmums provides information on a variety of local resources †including child-friendly
half a million members who use the site on a regular basis †uploading and contributing information 308) Platforms for connecting.
This includes social networking websites Facebook, Orkut, and Bebo, as well as websites which aim to connect people together in real life for particular causes.
One example of this is Landshare †which connects people who want to grow fruit and
vegetables with those who have the land on which to grow it. They also provide people with the advice
Lego have created a web platform †Designbyme 3. 0 †which enables users (mainly children) to design their own Lego sets.
system, the Mozilla Firefox browser, and the Apache web server. These rely on a large and highly distributed community of programmers to
develop, maintain, and improve the software. Peer-to-peer platforms can be characterised by decentralisation, self-selected participation
extent to which social networks and a gift economy operate in the sphere of consumption has long been remarked on by anthropologists for example (from
public organisations †from the Internet (DARPA) to the world wide web CERN). ) But there are many structural features of government that inhibit
at every level has been the site of almost constant change †particularly in the last 30 years.
website, Budget Allocator, which offers citizens the chance to shape municipal budgets 330) Sequencing in funding.
rental value of sites after the public investment has been undertaken The Greater london Enterprise Board financed its operational
extension of the Google model where engineers are encouraged to spend 20 per cent of their time developing their own projects.
Civil society and the grant economy are the most common sites of social innovation †in campaigns, social movements, non-governmental organisations
field, the web offers new ways to cut costs and widen connections. Websites like Kiva,
which connect donors with social entrepreneurs, have already been 2 172 THE OPEN BOOK OF SOCIAL INNOVATION
Internet donor sites dramatically reduce the cost of fundraising (estimated at between 15 per cent and 33
We can expect similar websites to develop features like donor forums, star ratings, Good Giving Guides and
Worldchanging, a series of books and a website which includes tens of thousands of stories about new tools, models and ideas for building a
translation software on its Meedan website of Arabic blogs, or Dialogue Cafã and the Social Innovation Exchange (SIX) using Telepresence
The website Your Ethical Money provides advice on how to direct personal investment into green, sustainable and ethical products
-lending website which enables individuals to lend small sums of money to entrepreneurs on low incomes
charities and social enterprises in sites in central London (see also method 487 467) R&d mentored funding prior to start-up lending, such as
and the internet. They remain critical to the social economy, both in assessing products and services on the basis of social criteria, and in
Guaranteed Electronic Market (GEM), a web-based market for people to exchange time and loans of products.
or web-based social networking around specific issues (there are reportedly 18 million cancer related websites, the great
majority generated by those affected by the disease. In these instances the innovations are generated outside the market and outside the state, many of
The spread of the internet has made possible a range of new tools to mobilise people and energies quickly and effectively.
together via the internet to achieve savings on their purchases 496) Platforms for the gifting of goods such as Freecycle,
keep discarded items out of landfill sites by gifting them. It now has over five million members in 85 countries
marks to organisations that produce information and moderate websites and forums Propertising not privatising In the social economy, rather than restricting access to knowledge and
-based social innovation that uses web technology to give voice to citizen journalists. Image courtesy of Erik MÃ ller
internet time, and even social housing rent 508) Informal currencies such as Local Exchange Trading Systems (LETS
516) Neighbourhood websites and other media can become hubs for exchanges and local news. Local residents can find out about initiatives
Examples include hyper-local website Boscalicious Year 1 pupils from Collaton St mary Primary school dig up organic
One hour†s internet surfing costs 30 minutes pedalling. In 2008, campers converged on Kingsnorth power station for a week of learning, sustainable
Constructed households as sites of innovation The longstanding practice of institutionalising those with special needs or
organisation and action, further facilitated by the advent of the internet 526) Grass roots campaigns for social change.
The internet has accelerated the spread of grass roots-led social campaigns †especially those focused on lifestyle innovation and transformation.
Web based platforms for organising grass roots campaigns In the last year alone, Facebook has been used to mobilise protesters
against knife crime, the military Junta in Burma, and FARC. Oscar Morales, founder of the Facebook group One million Voices against FARC
which now has over 400,000 members) used the social networking site to organise a massive protest against the rebel forces in February
2008. Over a million people marched through the streets of Bogotã 208 THE OPEN BOOK OF SOCIAL INNOVATION
ebay 114 Echoing Green 176 ehow 138 Elderpower 205 Eliasson, Olafur 23 Emerson, Jed 104
Facebook 75; 138; 207 Fair Trade 119; 180; 184; 186 Fairtrade Labelling Organisation (FLO 94
Google 53; 165 Gore, Al 26; 95; 96 Governance 67-68; 173-175 Grameen 34;
Mozilla Firefox 139 M-Pesa 115; 183; 184; 202 Mutualism 65 New Mutualism 65 Informal Mutualism 206-207
Philanthropic ebays 172 Plane Stupid 27; 28 Planning for Real 43 Platforms 40; 95; 117;
Web, The 21,38, 45,79, 97,108, 171 Web2care 31 Wellink 205 Welsh Water 65,183 West Philly Hybrid X-Team 170
Wikipedia 138 Wikiprogress 120 Wiser Earth 178 Wordpress 138-139 Workplace as Museum 75 Work Ventures 183
Youtube 39,75 Yumshare 198 Yunus, Muhammad 34,210 Zero Carbon 22,77, 112 Zero Waste 111 Zopa 189
Plane Stupid, Americaspeaks, Dialogue Cafã, Helsinki Design Lab, Google Inc Un Techo para Chile, Riversimple, Working Rite, Danone Communities, Sekem
Overtext Web Module V3.0 Alpha
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