Possibilities of implementing the crowdsourcing as a crisis management tool in public administration

Abstract

Crowdsourcing, as a new method of knowledge work in virtual environments using the collective intelligence, is developing in parallel with the development of new information and communication technologies. Thanks to the development of modern technologies and especially because of the mass arrival of social media the potential of crowdsourcing use increases and this method finds its application in various areas of interest. Many platforms have been developed for the appropriate use of crowdsourced data. The most famous is undoubtedly the open-source platform Ushahidi, first used in Kenya in 2008. Since then, this constantly updated platform, whose basic components are crowdsourcing, citizen journalism, geospatial information and volunteer work, has been successfully used several times, not only in crisis situations. The aim of this paper is to present the new possibilities of crowdsourcing use in public administration crisis management. This is achieved by demonstrating the good practice examples of successful deployment of Ushahidi platform in the world and also in the Czech Republic.