Innovation

The What, Why and How of Collective Intelligence

January 25, 2019 3910

How can we develop a new field of collective intelligence that pulls across disciplines and works between academic and practitioner domains? This was a key question addressed at the ‘Designing collective intelligence to address social needs’ event hosted by the global innovation foundation Nesta, and co-sponsored by SAGE, in mid-September. An opportunity to to highlight some of the key challenges within collective intelligence, the day brought together researchers and practitioners to look at ways we can collaborate and push the field even further. Kicking off, Geoff Mulgan, Nesta CEO, announced the launch of Nesta’s Centre for Collective Intelligence Design to explore how human and machine intelligence can be combined to make the most of our collective knowledge. He spoke of the need for the cultivation of skills, harnessing intelligence at scale, which needs both a community to be able to bridge research, and tools to mobilize individuals, which the event and the center were set to explore. Next, Ziyad Marar, president of global publishing at SAGE, welcomed attendees, noting the important opportunity that collective intelligence holds in enabling us to integrate collective brainpower into an action oriented approach. As methodological innovations continue to reshape the way that researchers do their work, and as the publisher of research methods, SAGE is committed to supporting researchers as these innovations continue to develop, whether this be through our publishing outputs, investment in software solutions or by encouraging interdisciplinary collaborations. This commitment is highlighted through SAGE’s sponsorship of Public Editor, a project led by sociologist Nick Adams, director of Goodly Labs (which brings the public into research projects improving society) which Marar announced as part of his welcome. Public Editor uses TagWorks content analysis to classify input – in real time – from thousands of people annotating various critical thinking shortfalls they identify in the daily news. The day concluded with a panel chaired by Marar entitled ‘Collective Intelligence – the what, why, and how’, with panelists:
  • Geoff Mulgan, chief executive, Nesta
  • Carina Antonia Hallin, assistant professor, founder and director of Collective Intelligence Unit, Copenhagen Business School
  • Bradley Busetto, senior adviser of the SDG Fund, United Nations
  • David Halpern, chief executive, Behavioral Insights Team (listen to his Social Science Bites podcast HERE)
Watch the full video below:

Sage, the parent of Social Science Space, is a global academic publisher of books, journals, and library resources with a growing range of technologies to enable discovery, access, and engagement. Believing that research and education are critical in shaping society, 24-year-old Sara Miller McCune founded Sage in 1965. Today, we are controlled by a group of trustees charged with maintaining our independence and mission indefinitely. 

View all posts by Sage

Related Articles

Lumivero Report: Qualitative Researchers Adopting AI, But Lack Confidence In It
Artificial Intelligence
October 22, 2026

Lumivero Report: Qualitative Researchers Adopting AI, But Lack Confidence In It

Read Now
IT Giants and Their Operations: Should We Be Concerned? 
Communication
October 15, 2026

IT Giants and Their Operations: Should We Be Concerned? 

Read Now
What We Miss When We Study Public Trust with Surveys Alone
Artificial Intelligence
October 14, 2026

What We Miss When We Study Public Trust with Surveys Alone

Read Now
Whales: Giants of the Ocean
News
October 6, 2026

Whales: Giants of the Ocean

Read Now
Alex Edmans on Market Irrationality

Alex Edmans on Market Irrationality

Belief in ‘markets’ among the financial elite at time can at time border on the theological, with approaches like the efficient market […]

Read Now
Influential Paper Defending Climate Change’s Great Acceleration Wins 10-year Impact Award

Influential Paper Defending Climate Change’s Great Acceleration Wins 10-year Impact Award

“The Great Acceleration” is a concept in the scholarship over climate change that highlights the correlation between extreme human economic activity and […]

Read Now
Cuéllar Leaving Newly Begun Post at CASBS for Global Policy Role at Anthropic

Cuéllar Leaving Newly Begun Post at CASBS for Global Policy Role at Anthropic

Mariano-Florentino (Tino) Cuéllar, who just last month took the reins of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford […]

Read Now
0 0 votes
Article Rating
Subscribe
Notify of
guest

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

0 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted