IT@Intel Client Blog : Tags : social

Collaborative Argumentation Study

In this project, Intel Information Technology and MIT studied web-based social media as a tool for understanding collective intelligence and distributed decision-making. The useful question we posed was "What are good ways to balance the potential productivity advantages of open collaborative computing versus the data security needs of the organization?"

Over the three week period we generated 73 author accounts, with 51 from outside Intel. The users contributed 64 certified posts, with 40 from outside Intel. Twenty five ratings were collected. Our resulting deliberation map was well structured and remarkably complete.

What did we learn?

First and foremost, we validated that there is good potential in the combination of social media and argumentation. Social media gives us ability to host large scale discussions with a vast number of diverse users over the internet. It enables us to readily combine discussions that are internal and external to Intel, if desired.

One of the biggest benefits of Deliberatorium was the ease of generating the argument map. The "moderate-as-you-go" approach saved a great deal of time during the post-processing of the data collected. This was especially important as the number of users and topics scaled. The compact format was useful to reduce complexity and helped "make sense" of threaded discussions (conversations) characterized by other tools. It also provided an artifact that can be used for later data mining or as a historical record of the project.

Based on this effort, we have decided that the argumentation capability is an important overlay for social computing tools. In the future we want to find and link all related content regardless of the source: web, wiki, etc. The key is flexible input with robust analytics and reporting to get better output.

Thank you for participating

Thanks to everyone who participated in our study, especially our top contributors: Luca, Ultimo15, Adam, and Lfriedl. Inside Intel, thanks to our most active contributors: Chris Wisehart, Guillermo Rueda, and Matt Rosenquist.

For more information

Klein, Mark and Iandoli, Luca,Supporting Collaborative Deliberation Using a Large-Scale Argumentation System: The Mit Collaboratorium(February 20, 2008). MIT Sloan Research Paper No. 4691-08. Available at SSRN: http://ssrn.com/abstract=1099082

Visit the MIT Deliberatorium Tool

1 Comments Permalink Tags: collective_intelligence, social_media

Background

Traditional corporate information is stored in highly secure repositories within enterprise boundaries. New forms of data are being created in emerging mediums such as blogs and wikis. Cloud computing and network-based systems offer new venues for processing and storage.

The Big Question

What are good ways to balance the potential productivity advantages of open collaborative computing versus the data security needs of the organization? Consider several examples:

Does having access to social media make you more productive? Is it secure?
Is having access to raw corporate data more productive than secure, specialized tools?
Does IT need more control or less? What new tools and/or methods are required, supporting a more open environment?

These questions may never see wide consensus and the decision is crucial to every CIO. We will use your feedback for IT analysis.

Make Your Opinion Heard

Become one of the first to test MIT's new collective intelligence tool called Deliberatorium. Join the fun in two simple steps:

1. Create your account and log in to the MIT Deliberatorium

2. Add your perspective to the discussion

View, rate or comment other author's posts using pros & cons
Add your own ideas for new solutions and issues

This discussion topic will be available until September 29, 2008, and then results will be shared on Intel.com. Feel free to forward this invite to any interested parties.

It's Cool to Argue

Research shows that a large group of diverse individuals tends to get the right answer because they bring different perspectives into the discussion. Help Intel and MIT learn more by participating in this web-based argument.

For More Information

Watch the ten minute video clip for a concise overview.

1 Comments Permalink Tags: cloud, collective_intelligence, social_media, widsom_of_crowds