People encouraging people’s initiatives for the common good: here’s a great use of crowdsourcing for the benefit of the Indian population, and it’s done through crowdfunding!
Here’s how the system works: Utility employees call NextDrop’s interactive voice response system when they manually open neighborhood water valves. The system generates text message updates for local residents (most of whom have cell phones) 30 to 60 minutes before water delivery. Residents are also contacted by the system randomly to verify the accuracy of the information given by the valvemen. Updates from the utility employees are also turned into Google Maps-based streaming visual data so that engineers can track valve status throughout the city
in real time.
Read the full article from Ariel Schwartz: How NextDrop Is Using Cell Phones, Crowdsourcing To Get Water To The Thirsty!
