Crowdsourcing is a process of co-creation between an organization that provides direction, structure, and incentive, and “the crowd” which devotes its time, effort, and abilities to completing a task. It is termed as a continuous development model in which individuals & organizations gather information or input their effort into a project.
Although the term ‘Crowdsourcing’ was coined in 2005, the actual idea had been in practice before the digital age. However, owing to the expanding connectivity; it has become easier for individuals to indulge in this form of contribution and, therefore, unlocking the access of new ideas and remedies, larger consumer participation, collective creation, optimized practices, and cost efficiency for organizations across the globe.
“Crowds are a hit. Millions of people, connected by the Internet, are contributing ideas and information to projects big and small. Crowdsourcing, as it is called, is helping to solve tricky problems and providing localized information. And with the right knowledge, contributing to the crowd — and using its wisdom — is easier than ever.” -The New York Times.
As a leading change maker, Telenor Pakistan realized the opportunity and is involving various institutions to crowdsource for the greater good. The following areas are planned to be exposed: Product Experience Management, Idea Generation for New Products, Product Quality Management, Focus Groups, Surveys, and Problem Solving in general.
The current initiative is an ‘industry-academia’ collaboration set-up between the Product Development Team at Telenor Pakistan and Bahria University Islamabad. The involved students and faculty of the university were given the task of re-designing the Smart Tunes Customer Portal and their fruitful efforts paid off well. The top performing students were commended by certificates and appreciation from the Telenor Top Management at an event held at Telenor 345 Campus in Islamabad.
Speaking at the event, Bilal Kazmi, Chief Marketing Officer, Telenor Pakistan said, “I congratulate and acknowledge the efforts of the faculty and the students that came up with new, innovative ideas, including the creation of the RBT customer portal which has proven to be a successful service. This sets an example for other brilliant minds to come forward and take part in crowdsourcing projects. Being a customer-centric organization, Telenor Pakistan, is breaking silos by introducing crowdsourcing and engaging the youth of the country to provide the best services and products to the people of Pakistan.”
“The 200+ million population of our country is more than capable to come up with million, and even billion-dollar innovative ideas. Examples like WhatsApp, Facebook, Snapchat etc. are multi-billion-dollar platforms, and surely our youth can come up with something similar, given they get the opportunity and resources, which is what Telenor Pakistan is trying to provide.” Chief Digital & Strategy Officer Telenor Pakistan, Sardar Abubakr said in his speech during the event.
Telenor Pakistan is looking forward to involving the masses to improve existing product experience and ideation of more products and services to make sure the users are aided in all ways. Telenor Pakistan’s involvement was greatly appreciated by Dean Mr. Muhammad Muzammil from Bahria University.
Telenor Pakistan is aiming to empower Pakistan by providing a platform of learning and co-creation through Crowdsourcing. Let us join hands as a nation – as the analogy goes ‘every drop forms the ocean’ – and not only solve our existing problems but take an initiative to innovate on a global scale by using the bright minds our country produces.
