DARPA ran a Red Balloon challenge last week to explore “the roles the Internet and social networking play in the timely communication, wide-area team-building, and urgent mobilization required to solve broad-scope, time-critical problems”. DARPA positioned 10 red weather balloons in different locations around the US. The first group that located all 10 balloons would receive $40,000 and bragging rights.
A team from MIT successfully completed the competition in 9 hours. MIT’s strategy is rather interesting: blend networks as an information sharing system with human motivation of earning money. Networks are only as useful as the method in which they are utilized and the manner in which actors within the network are motivated to participate.
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