Crowdsourcing

 Still  on the subject of crowdsourcing, Waze is one crowdsourcing apps that I use regularly.  It's a community-based traffic map, with users inform other users of traffic jams, road closures, police traps etc.  I never had considered it a crowdsourcing site before, but it really is.   However, misuse of crowdsourcing,  as was the case when students at the Technion faked a traffic jam, can cause this kind of application to be unreliable. Similar reports about fake traffic jams in Los Angeles were refuted by the Waze developers. 

With all the reports of sexual harrasment in Egypt, Egyptian women have created an online map, based on crowdsourcing, meant to track sexual harassment.  They are able to submit reports online, which then appear on a map of Egypt.  I don't know how effective it is, but it's certainly meant as a deterrent.

Unfortunately, crowdsourcing hasn't really reached its fullest potential. I can think of many uses for it in our city, such as creating an interactive map of events, which are shared by users within the community.  It could be used to keep track of racist attacks, of places where garbage hasn't been cleaned, or where there are available parking spots, or other kinds of information sharing or requests for information/assistance.