vehicle tracing system

VEHICLE TRACKING SYSTEM

 

INTRODUCTION

Monitoring and the mobile assets are very important for any company dealing with the services, delivery or transport vehicles. An information technology helps in supporting these functionalities from remote locations and updates the managers with the latest information of their mobile assets. Tracking the mobile assets locations data and analyzing the information is necessary for optimal utilization of the assets.

Vehicle tracking is a software and hardware system enabling the vehicle owner to track the position of their vehicle. A vehicle tracking system uses either GPS or radio technology to automatically track and record a fleet’s field activity. Activity is recorded by modules attached to each vehicle. And then the data is transmitted to the computer, it can be analyzed and reports can be downloaded in real time to your computer using either web browser tools or customized software.

HISTORY OF VEHICLE TRACKING SYSTEM

GPS was first developed by the United States military for surveillance purposes. After a period of years access was granted for civilian use, but with a downgraded accuracy rating. Even decades after its invention, the American military still controls the GPS system, although Europe is developing its own system which will be called Galileo.

Vehicle tracking systems were initially very expensive, as they involved such an innovative technology. However, as the world of technology has developed, vehicle tracking has seen dramatic reductions in price, making it more accessible to the companies who will benefit the most from it.

Companies used to be restricted to outright purchase options. However, there are now leasing and pay as you go options, meaning that you do not need the initial capital expenditure that stopped so many companies from installing vehicle tracking a few years ago.

The applications that a vehicle tracking system provides have also developed vastly. You can now use your tracking system to produce expenses reports, time sheets, reduce your fuel consumption, and increase the efficiency of your employees driving. You can also set up ‘geophones’ around specific locations that will provide an alert when your driver goes through them, providing additional security and customer service capabilities for your staff.

In the past fleet management was considered to be a challenging job, as the location of the workforce was constantly changing. However, with the development of GPS vehicle tracking solutions, a fleet manager’s job is made much easier, partly due to the ability to be able to constantly monitor employees.

GPS is quite a simple concept; it uses a number of different satellites to pinpoint the location of an object according to latitude and longitude, in real time. It was originally developed by the American military but was commissioned for civilian use in the 1980’s, with a downgraded accuracy rating. The American military still control the GPS system. However, Europe is developing its own system, called Galileo.

It used to be that only large organizations could afford to install vehicle tracking but as the technology has developed, its price has decreased. Individuals and companies with small fleets now also use vehicle tracking systems and the main reason for this is that it can save you money.

There are a number of ways that vehicle tracking can save you money such as; validating fuel claims and planning your routes so that unnecessary miles are being travelled. It can also help you identify areas where your employees could drive more efficiently and enables you to plan your routes more effectively.

TYPES OF VEHICLE TRACKING SYSTEM

There are two types of vehicle tracking system

1.   Real Time GPS Vehicle Tracking System

A Real Time vehicle tracking system allows you to locate a vehicle live by logging on to a website or other specialist software on your PC at any time of the day or night.

Once you are connected to the Internet you will be able to view real time information on the current location, speed and direction of travel of one or more vehicles. This information will be displayed on maps to show you exact locations to within about 15 meters. Additional analysis functions may also be available but will depend on the software provided.

Vehicle tracking devices which use real time technology will require a monthly subscription to use the service and this price will vary from company to company so shop around. Normally a subscription will be purchased along when you by the GPS tracking device.

Real time GPS vehicle tracking is normally used by companies and fleet managers, but there are now some innovative solutions available to consumers and these are proving to be very popular.

 

 

2.  Passive GPS Vehicle Tracking System

A Passive GPS tracking system is nowhere as sophisticated as a real time system and because of this it is less expensive.

Passive tracking devices are self-contained compact portable units that are placed somewhere inside a vehicle and which will record locations, movement and speed of the vehicle it is in.

They are restricted on how long they can record data. This is not due to battery power but to the memory storage capacity of the unit.

To access and view the information they record you have remove the unit from the vehicle, connect it to your PC or laptop computer, usually through a USB port, and then download the data to your computer.

Using software on your computer or via an internet web site interface you will be able to view on a detailed street map where the vehicle has been in intervals of probably about 15 minutes. Information on the speed the vehicle has been traveling will also be available.

Passive vehicle tracking systems are easy to setup and use and a are perfect for parents who want to monitor the driving habits of there children. For an example of a professional GPS mini-tracker have a look at the unit sold by Track Key.

 Benefits of a Portable GPS Vehicle Tracking Device

The advance of technology, miniaturization, more powerful GSM networks and the implementation of high sensitivity GPS has prompted the development of a new breed of portable vehicle tracking system.

The tracking devices for these systems are truly portable and will work anywhere in the world, which basically means you can now track anything, anywhere!

GPS Tracking Systems are for all of us

Anyone who has a vehicle of any kind will find that there are plenty of reasons for wanting a GPS based tracking system installed.

The tracking systems available to consumers are obviously less sophisticated than what a fleet manager would use but you may still be amazed at what they can do.

If you are concerned about your car, auto, van or truck being stolen then if it was tracked you would now where it was if it went missing. As a parent you may want to install one in the car that your kids use so you can monitor not only where they go, and how long they stay there but also how fast they go.

Recent surveys have suggested that the driving speed of their children is easily the major concern of parents when their kids are behind the wheel of a car or even if someone else is driving. If your kids are in the car they could be at risk.

Using a tracking system could even help you to teach your kids to drive responsibly.

If you are an employer then you may want to monitor what is happening to your company cars when your employees are driving them to ensure that you don’t incur extra costs due to unofficial non-company travel or other non-business purposes.

Portable GPS Tracking will operate anywhere.

The integrated high sensitivity GPS ensures that these devices will operate in places where previous GPS units did not, such as in urban canyons, in natural canyons, under heavy foliage and even indoors. These compact devices can be easily attached to any tracking subject as they are so small and can utilize a magnetic mount. The units have a long lasting rechargeable built-in battery for their own power source and an integrated antenna system and therefore don’t need to be wired in to anything else. They are highly reliable, completely independent and portable units with no installation costs.

Because of the highly sensitive nature of the internal antenna these units permit installation in locations where a direct sky view is not actually available. This makes them particularly suitable for operation in and under vehicles.

Some can even be remotely configured from a PC using a web site interface on the Internet.

A web interface is also the normal way for viewing and monitoring the current location and status of the device and to look at historical data on when the unit (or vehicle) has moved, stopped, started and where.

Everyone Vehicle Owner could use a Tracking System.     

Today they have become affordable for the average consumer just like you and me and at the top end managers of large fleets will use them to track what their truck drivers are doing in real-time.

There are many reasons that you might want to buy and install a GPS vehicle tracking system, but these reasons are likely to be different for the fleet manages when compared to an ordinary consumer.

 

 

Applications for a Portable GPS Vehicle Tracking System

1.   Vehicle Tracking

          Vehicle Tracking is easy as these devices allow you to monitor the location of vehicles and other moveable assets of all kinds.

2.   Asset Tracking

A Portable GPS Vehicle Tracking System is used to asset tracking by the units is hidden in valuable goods to track them when out for delivery or transfer.

3.   Theft Prevention

It is used to monitor the position of valuable items like cars, autos, vans, trucks, boats and trailers for long periods and be informed when they start to move.

4.     New Business Concepts

New business concept can be designed and realized because each unit is compact and totally self-contained.

 

 

ADVANTAGES OF VEHICLE TRACKING SYSTEM

1.    Vehicle Tracking Systems are Easy to Use

If you are the user of a GPS vehicle tracking system you will be able to sit at your PC or laptop computer, login to the system and monitor the movement, direction and speed of any vehicle that has a GPS tracking unit installed for your system.

You should also be able to look back at historical data of where the vehicle has been; when it was there and how long it stayed there.

On more expensive systems the amount of historical data you can store is considerable and you will also get analysis tools to monitor trends and calculate vehicle running costs.

You will be able to do this at any time because the GPS unit in the vehicle will operate correctly in all weather conditions.

2.    GPS Vehicle Tracking is Very Accurate

Because they use GPS, these tracking systems are extremely accurate and will be able to show you vehicle positions on a digital street map that is correct to within 15 meters.

For the user GPS tracking is very powerful yet simple and easy to use. If you can use a computer you will have no problem enjoying all the functionality that it has to offer.

The latest development of these systems now allows you to view the vehicle location data on a map on your cell phone, which is updated automatically every couple of minutes.

3.    Vehicle Tracking Systems can provide a lot of Historical Data

   For the fleet manager or anyone running company cars, vehicle tracking systems are invaluable as they can provide up to date and historical data on routes taken for all their drivers whenever they are driving. If they are doing overnight or late deliveries you can check the system first thing next morning to check that everything went to plan.

4.    The live traffic alerts

The congestion and traffic on UK roads causes a nightmare for many UK businesses and can result in a lot of time being wasted and money lost. Many vehicle tracking suppliers have developed solutions that can provide companies with an answer to this problem.

A GPS (Global Positioning System) vehicle tracking system offers companies greater insight into their fleet’s movements. These systems use the latest GPS technology to accurately report the real time locations of vehicles. The data provided by a tracking system is used by many companies to reduce their monthly bills and increase the productivity of their drivers, all in all maximizing profits.

Many tracking companies have developed their systems to keep their users informed of the latest traffic alerts. This feature has proved to be of real benefit to companies whose vehicles need to meet strict deadlines and are losing money when the vehicles are stationary. Some of these fleets include: couriers, freight transportation, taxis and sales fleets to name a few.

Most tracking suppliers receive their traffic data from the Highways Agency. The Highways Agency provides up to date traffic information relating to congestion, accidents and road works. Office teams are able to use this data to keep drivers informed and ensure that their time is not wasted or that they do not let their customer down.

THREE KEY FEUTURES OF TRACKING

Tracking systems are saving businesses money worldwide and turning around their productivity and customer service. Below are just a few areas in how this works.

1.     Create a streamline and efficient business by gaining back control of your fleet. Locate your fleet in real time 24 hours a day. Make the right choices for your fleet and direct them down the shortest and least congested route. Re address your driver’s day with up to date information and send the right driver to any emergency jobs or changes in schedule.

2.     Save the company money. By watching your employees you can pinpoint drivers who are speeding which has an impact on the company’s fuel usage and also promotes safer driving. Maintenance costs will fall as speeding causes increased wear and tear to vehicles.

3.     Customer Service is probably one of the main areas of all businesses where improvement is always welcome. To retain customers and gain new customers is essential to the success of business. Tracking systems can allow you to contact the customers with up to date delivery information and advice of any delays or different delivery times before the delivery is meant to take place.

STEPS INVOLVED IN VEHICLE TRACKING SYSTEM

If you want track your vehicle you must follow the steps are given below

Data capture: Data capturing is the first step in tracking your vehicle. Data in a vehicle tracking system is captured through a unit called automated vehicle unit. The automated vehicle unit uses the Global Positioning System (GPS) to determine the location of the vehicle. This unit is installed in the vehicle and contains interfaces to various data sources. This paper considers the location data capture along with data from various sensors like fuel, vehicle diagnostic sensors etc.

Data storage: Captured data is stored in the memory of the automated vehicle unit.

Data transfer: Stored data are transferred to the computer server using the mobile network or by connecting the vehicle mount unit to the computer.

Data analysis: Data analysis is done through software application.  A GIS mapping component is also a integral part of the vehicle tracking system and it is used to display the correct location of the vehicle on the map.

PARTS OF GPS VEHICLE TRACKING SYSTEM

The system consists of modern hard ware and software components enabling one to track their vehicle online or offline. Any vehicle tracking system consists of mainly three

Vehicle unit: it is the hardware component attached to the vehicle having either a GPS/GSM modem. The unit is configured around a primary modem that functions with the tracking software by receiving signals from GPS satellites or radio station points with the help of antenna. The controller modem converts the data and sends the vehicle location data to the server

Fixed based station: It consists of a wireless network to receive and forward the data to the data centre. Base stations are equipped with tracking software and geographic map useful for determining the vehicle location. Maps of every city and landmarks are available in the based station that has an inbuilt web server

Data base software:  the position information or the coordinates of each visiting points are stored in a database, which later can be viewed in a display screen using digital maps. However the users have to connect themselves to the web server with the respective vehicle ID stored in the database and only then we can view the location of vehicle traveled.

GLOBAL POSITIONING SYSTEM

GPS is the technology most commonly used for vehicle tracking these days. There are also other variants of AVL (Automatic vehicle location) that enable easy location of vehicles. The GPS modules with their satellite linked positioning technique make easy and accurate location of the vehicle possible. The information can be viewed an electronic maps that are connected to the internet or otherwise supported by specialized software.

Benefits of GPS software

ü Operational efficiency of the fleet

ü Improved and safe departures and arrivals of the fleet

ü Increases the customer satisfaction

ü It helps to keep a watch on the times schedule of the vehicles and punctuate the whole system

ü AVL increases accountability of the field man, thus increases the performance of the company.

ü AVL increases the safety and security of drivers and passengers as well which is most important concern.

WORKING PRINCIPLES OF GPS VEHICLE TRACKIN SYSTEM

GPS is a compact handy device like mobile phone with enabled combo technology of GPS and GPRS that track mobile vehicles through using four visible satellites. The satellites send signals to the GPS receiver and it calculates the signals and inform about the exact position of the vehicle on the earth. The GPS device provides the complete data about your vehicle like its status, maximum speed, motion hours, distance covered and stationary timing and duration. At monitoring centre various software are used to plot the vehicle in a map. In this way the vehicle owners are able to track their vehicle.

FUNCTIONS OF GPS VEHICLE TRACKING SYSTEMS

Ø Devices identify the location of the vehicle on a real time basis. Just through internet you can easily track your exact position of the vehicle

Ø The device store all location and speed details that you can collect through your PC by using internet and a special software made for this purpose. Even one can set the speed limitation in the devices attached. If somebody drives the car beyond the specified speed limit, it will alert you immediately

Ø Device help not only to keep limit on its speed but also in its area.

Ø Best feature of the system is its easiness with which it can be used

Ø Some devices work even in a smarter way by making a chart of the entire activities of the vehicle over a period of time that you can analyze later

VEHICLE TRACKING SYSTEM IN INDIA

In India its uses and market are expected to increase within a couple of years. In India is mainly used in transport industry. There are various GPS software and hardware developing companies in India working for tracking solutions. However its application is not that much of popular as in other countries like USA, which regulates the whole GPS network. In India it is mostly used in Indian transport and logistics industry and not much personal vehicle tracking. But with better awareness and promotion the market will increases.

10 REASONS TO BUY THE VEHICLE TRACKING SYSTEM

 1. Complete visibility over your fleet

Tracking systems such as plant, fleet and some lone worker systems allow you to view both your vehicles or employees locations and movements in real time. Tracking features such as street level mapping and satellite views (aerial photography) make pin pointing your assets fast and easy. Knowing your asset’s exact location keeps you informed of their progress and performance throughout the day and helps you to react faster to any customer requests or queries.

2. Reduce Fuel & Wage Costs

Fuel and wages are usually some of the highest costs incurred by businesses. Tracking systems provide the insight businesses need to reduce fuel wasting activity including excessive engine idling and speeding as well as other inefficient driving behaviors. Using a tracking system to monitor the routes employees take to reach destinations can generate further fuel savings as can ensuring that employees are not using their company’s vehicles for non-authorized out of hours and private mileage. It is not uncommon for businesses to save as much as 15% on fuel costs by installing a tracking system.

Tracking systems are also able to produce automated Timesheet & Mileage reports. These reports provide savings through eliminating the inaccuracies and abuse that can occur in employee’s overtime and mileage expenses claims.

3. Increase Productivity

Tracking systems significantly boost the productivity of drivers, mobile workers and office teams. Employees who are aware that their activity and performance is being monitored tend to be more productive and tracking systems provide feedback that provides managers with the insight to be able to make efficiencies that will increase the driver’s and the company’s productivity. Tracking systems also help reduce the level of communication that is required between the office and mobile worker s meaning that they spend less time on the phone and are responding to customer’s queries considerably faster.

4. Reduce Your Carbon Footprint

The environment is a hot topic at the moment and businesses are keen to demonstration to their customers, through their marketing campaigns, the steps they have taken to ‘Go Green’ and reduce their carbon footprint. Tracking systems help businesses to reduce their fleet’s carbon output through improving fuel and route efficiency, which can be monitored and measured in the detailed reports that are provided with these systems.

5. Increase the Security of Your Vehicles & Employees

Stolen vehicle tracking systems are specifically designed to protect vehicles against theft and ensure that when a vehicle is stolen it can be quickly recovered. Fleet tracking also increases a vehicles security and, as with stolen vehicle tracking, can attract insurance premium discounts.

Protecting staff is important to any employer but especially for those whose employees work in high risk environments or job roles. Lone worker and fleet tracking allow you to monitor the status of your staff and provide them with a means to raise a discreet alert should they find themselves in any danger.

6. Motivate and Manage Employees

Tracking can be used as a powerful motivational tool to improve the performance and productivity of staff. Drivers that are performing well in terms of efficiency, productivity and responsible driving receive the recognition they deserve as tracking actually serves to acknowledge hard work and good performance, as well as providing information regarding under performing employees and the ways in which they can improve their performance.

Lone worker tracking provides employees that work in solitary or high risk environments with more confidence as they can quickly alert their employer if they are in distress.

7. Provide Better Customer Service

Businesses are commonly judged by the quality of customer service they provide. Tracking systems can help businesses to improve their customer service as office staff can proactively keep customers informed if a vehicle has been delayed on route as well as allow staff to respond to customer’s ETA queries much faster. Office teams can also have complete visibility of their company vehicle’s real time location which means that can quickly identify which vehicle is best suited to attend a job, providing the customer with an immediate answer and efficient service.

8. Improve Bad Driving Habits

Bad driving habits including speeding, aggressive acceleration, cornering and harsh braking waste fuel, increase vehicle wear and tear and can earn your company a bad reputation if witnessed by other road users. Tracking systems are able to keep you updated on instances of bad driving behavior, in the form of reports and real time alerts, which helps you to not only save money and maintain your company’s good reputation but also to increase the safety of your drivers.

9. Compliance with Tax, Health & Safety & Duty of Care Legislation

Changes made in recent years to Health & Safety legislation and the Corporate Manslaughter Act means it is essential for businesses that operate a fleet of vehicles or have employees in a lone working role to review their health and safety policy and carry out the necessary risk assessments.

Tracking systems help businesses to comply with these laws as employers can demonstrate that they are taking reasonable steps to protect their staff, for example: making sure that their drivers take the legally required rest breaks when driving for long periods.

Tracking also helps employers to demonstrate to tax authorities that their vehicles are only being used for business purposes as these system monitor vehicles 24/7.

10. Reduce Customer and Staff Disputes

Tracking systems monitor and record the date, time of arrival/departure and duration of each site visited which means that you can confidently settle any dispute concerning the time of arrival or duration of visit with customers and employees. Using a tracking system in this way helps save money through as you are able to overcome customer invoice disputes and staff attendance issues to buy the vehicle tracking system.

DISADVANTAGES OF VEHICLE TRACKING SYSTEM

In the business world some companies make use of vehicle tracking system devices so that they can track vehicle movement. Applications include being able to find out the location of a shipment so a customer can be informed if necessary as well as being certain that a driver is following a specified route and is travelling at an appropriate speed. While these applications can benefit a company, there are also disadvantages to using vehicle tracking devices.

1.    WORKER RESENMENT

In situations where companies use the devices to track the movements of their truck or delivery drivers, use of the devices can cause resentment. Drivers may feel that their privacy is being invaded or that their company doesn’t trust them. They may also experience more stress because of the feeling of being watched at all times.

2.    EXPENSE

          Vehicle tracking devices can be expensive to install. A system that uses cellular-based technology, which transmits information about vehicle movements to a landline every five minutes, can cost 500 per unit for installation.

3.    OVERDEPENDENCE

As with any technologies, overdependence on vehicle tracking devices can cause workers to come to rely too heavily on the system. If the system were to break down, this could cause a chaotic situation as the company may have a difficult time tracking deliveries.  

CONLUSION

In my seminar I study about the type’s parts working principle uses advantages of Vehicle tracking and also study about function, application part, step, disadvantages etc. A vehicle tracking system using GPS takes the location, direction and time data provided via satellite from the global positioning systems to the GPS receiver unit in a vehicle and transmits it to a central computer connected to a private network of the internet. In my view it is a good technology to tracking vehicles.

BIBILIOGRAPHY

www.trackingsystem.in

www.gpstrackers

crowd sourcing

INTRODUCTION

Crowd sourcing is a distributed problem-solving and production model. In the classic use of the term, problems are broadcast to an unknown group of solvers in the form of an open call for solutions. Users also known as the crowd typically forms into online communities, and the crowd submits solutions. The crowd also sorts through the solutions, finding the best ones. These best solutions are then owned by the entity that broadcast the problem in the first place the crowd sourer and the winning individuals in the crowd are sometimes rewarded. In some cases, this labor is well compensated, either monetarily, with prizes, or with recognition.          In other cases, the only rewards may be kudos or intellectual satisfaction. Crowd sourcing may produce solutions from amateurs or volunteers working in their spare time, or from experts or small businesses which were unknown to the initiating organization.

 Jeff Howe has differentiated four types of crowd sourcing strategies:

·         Crowd funding

·         Crowd creation

·         Crowd voting

·         Crowd wisdom

The use of the term has spread to include models where discrete work is distributed to individuals within the crowd. Companies such as Cloud Crowd and Crowd Flower do not use classic crowd Sourcing because the crowd does not all participate together, or collectively sort through solutions.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

History of Crowd sourcing

The term "crowd sourcing" is a portmanteau of "crowd" and "outsourcing" first coined by Jeff Howe in a June 2006 Wired magazine article "The Rise of Crowd sourcing” How explains that because technological advances have allowed for cheap consumer electronics, the gap between professionals and amateurs has been diminished. Companies are then able to take advantage of the talent of the public, and Howe states that "It’s not outsourcing; it’s crowd sourcing." A less commercial approach was introduced by Henk van Ess in September 2010: “Crowd sourcing is channeling the experts' desire to solve a problem and then freely sharing the answer with everyone”.

Benefits of crowd sourcing

Ø Problems can be explored at comparatively little cost, and often very quickly.

Ø Payment is by results or even omitted.

Ø The organization can tap a wider range of talent than might be present in its own organization.

Ø By listening to the crowd, organizations gain first-hand insight on their customers' desires.

Ø The community may feel a brand-building kinship with the crowd sourcing organization, which is the result of an earned sense of ownership through contribution and collaboration.

 

 

 

 

Appeal

Grover explained in an interview that crowd sourcing eliminates a financial barrier that prohibits most people from participating in art, as "Internet real estate is essentially free." Grover finds that the primary appeal of crowd sourcing is the satisfaction that is obtained through working with a community.

Individuals who participate in crowd sourcing projects are often anonymous, and Grover states that "people reveal more when they’re not face-to-face," because "there’s a certain security in not being physically present," which adds to the appeal of crowd sourcing. Although it is difficult to crowd source complicated tasks, simple work tasks can be crowd sourced cheaply and effectively. The testing of software and other services can be crowd sourced. Crowd sourced customer support allows businesses to rely on customers to solve other customers issues and questions

 

 

 

Controversy

The ethical, social, and economic implications of crowd sourcing are subject to wide debate

Some reports have focused on the negative effects of crowd sourcing on business owners, particularly in regard to how a crowd sourced project can sometimes end up costing a business more than a traditionally outsourced project.

Some possible pitfalls of crowdsourcing include the following:

·         Added costs to bring a project to an acceptable conclusion.

·         Increased likelihood that a crowd sourced project will fail due to lack of monetary motivation, too few participants, lower quality of work, lack of personal interest in the project, global language barriers, or difficulty managing a large-scale, crowd sourced project.

·         Below-market wages or no wages at all. Barter agreements are often associated with crowd sourcing.

·         No written contracts, non-disclosure agreements, or employee agreements or agreeable terms with crowd sourced employees.

·         Difficulties maintaining a working relationship with crowd sourced workers throughout the duration of a project.

·         Susceptibility to faulty results caused by targeted, malicious work efforts.

Though some critics believe crowd sourcing exploits or abuses individuals for their labor, studies into the motivations of crowds have not yet shown that crowds feel exploited. On the contrary, many individuals in the crowd experience significant benefits from their participation in crowd sourcing applications. Further authors discuss both risks and rewards of using crowd sourcing as a means of balancing global inequalities.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Brand marketing

Crowd sourcing has attracted the attention of brand marketers as a way to engage customers using social media. Doritos "Crash the Super Bowl" campaign is one prominent example of a fully integrated and successful program. Doritos fans created their own advertisements for the chance to win a trip to the game, 25,000 cash, and the fame of creating a Super Bowl advertisement. In 2011, four consumer-created ads for Doritos and Pepsi Max ranked among the top ten in the USA. Crowd sourcing for brands doesn’t always work. Levia, a medical device marketer, failed to generate crowd sourcing activity with a similar promotion. They lacked the prerequisites of a crowd, sufficient motivation, and a reasonable expectation of work effort.

Independent contractor

An independent contractor is a person, business, or corporation that provides goods or services to another entity under terms specified in a contract or within a verbal and physical agreement. Unlike an employee, an independent contractor does not work regularly for an employer but works as and when required, during which time he or she may be subject to the Law of Agency. Independent contractors are usually paid on a freelance basis. Contractors often work through a franchise, which they themselves own, or may work through an umbrella company.

Independent contractor v/s employee

Sometimes, it is not a straightforward matter to determine who is an independent contractor and who should be classified as an employee. To make a determination, the IRS advises taxpayers to look at three aspects of the employment arrangement: financial control, behavioral control, and relationship between the parties While some independent contractors may work for a number of different organizations throughout the year, there are also many who retain independent contractor status even though they work for the same organization for the entire year.

Generally speaking, independent contractors retain control over their schedule and number of hours worked, jobs accepted, and performance of their job. This contrasts with the situation for regular employees, who usually work at the schedule required by the employer and whose performance is directly supervised by the employer. However many companies (particularly in the freight transport industry) specify the contractor's schedule, require purchase of vehicles from the company and prohibit work for other companies.

Pros and Cons of independent contractor

Pros

Ø Since they are rarely tied to an employer, they are free to set their own rules of business, limited only by bargaining power.

Ø Since they usually develop a large network of clients, the loss of one or two often has a negligible effect.

Ø Many people simply like the idea of "being your own boss." Aside from materialistic benefits, many people simply enjoy not having to answer to a supervisor.

Ø As an artist/author of any tangible artwork, such as paintings, sculptures, photographs, or written works, you are entitled to exclusive copyright ownership if you created the work as an independent contractor. If you created such works while in the employ of another person or corporation, the rights belong to the employer (under most standard employment contracts).

Cons

Ø In the United States misclassification of employees as "independent contractors" in order to avoid taxation and regulation is widespread.^[4]

Ø Most independent contractors are usually also owners of a sole proprietorship, and as such, bear all the expenses of their product, which can be made up only by charging customers accordingly.

Ø Income taxes for independent contractors are drastically more complicated than of employees.

Ø There are several monetary incentives that are guaranteed to employees in the United States, but not independent contractors. Examples include worker's compensation and unemployment insurance.

 

 

 

 

An independent contractor in tort

The employer of an independent contractor is generally not held vicariously liable for the tortuous acts and omissions of the contractor, because the control and supervision found in an employer-employee or Principal-Agent relationship is lacking. However, vicarious liability will be imposed in three circumstances:

1.     Where the contractor injures an invitee to the real property of the employer.

2.     The contractor is involved in an ultra-hazardous activity (one likely to cause substantial injury, such as blasting with explosives) .

3.     The employer is stopped from denying liability because he has held out the independent contractor as if he were simply an employee or agent.

Crowd

This street in Hong Kong is crowded with both people and advertisements.

A crowd is a large and definable group of people, while "the crowd" is referred to as the so-called lower orders of people in general. A crowd may be definable through a common purpose or set of emotions, such as at a political rally, at a sports event, or during looting, or simply be made up of many people going about their business in a busy area. Everybody in the context of general public or the common people is normally referred to as the masses.

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Terminology of crowd

The term crowd is often defined in contrast to other group nouns for collections of humans or animals: aggregation, audience, group, mass, mob, populous, public, rabble and throng. For example in "Public Opinion"^[1] Vincent Price compares masses and crowds:

Crowds are defined by their shared emotional experiences, but masses are defined by their interpersonal isolation.

In human sociology, the term "mobbed" simply means "extremely crowded", as in a busy mall or shop. In animal behavior mobbing is a technique where many individuals of one species "gang up" on a larger individual of another species to drive them away. Mobbing behavior is often seen in birds.

Social aspects of crowds

Social aspects are concerned with the formation, management and control of crowds, both from the point of view of individuals and groups. Often crowd control is designed to persuade a crowd to align with a particular view (e.g., political rallies), or to contain groups to prevent damage or mob behavior. Politically organized crowd control is usually conducted by law enforcement but on some occasions military forces are used for particularly large or dangerous crowds.

Social aspects of crowds for adolescent peer groups

Adolescent culture is a relatively new feature of society, affecting most teenagers in the United States since the 1930s. The research on adolescent culture began with the search for identities: who the adolescents and their peer groups are and the differences and how adolescent culture differed from adult culture. Many researchers are making efforts to develop an understanding of the functions of crowds. But the findings are complicated due to multiple definitions of the crowd. Now in adolescence, peer affiliation becomes more important than ever before. Youths tend to categorize themselves and each other based on stereotypes and reputations. These categories are known in the developmental psychology literature as peer crowds. Crowds are defined as reputation based collectives of similarly stereotyped individuals who may or may not spend much time together. Crowds also refer to collectives of adolescents identified by the interests, attitudes, abilities, and/or personal characteristics they have in common. Crowds are different from cliques, which are interaction based peer groups who hang out together. Crowds are not simply clusters of cliques; the two different structures serve entirely different purposes. Because the clique is based on activity and friendship, it is the important setting in which the adolescent learns social skills like how to be a good friend and how to communicate effectively. These and other social skills are important in adulthood as well as in adolescence. Crowds are based on reputation and stereotypes than on interaction; they probably contribute more to the adolescent sense of identity and self-conception. For example jocks and burnouts are more likely to be interaction based than such crowds as loners and nerds.

 

Psychological aspects of crowds

Psychological aspects are concerned with the psychology of the crowd as a group and the psychology of those who allow their will and emotions to be informed by the crowd and other individual responses to Crowd funding

Crowd funding

Crowd funding sometimes called crowd financing, crowd sourced capital, or street performer protocol) describes the collective cooperation, attention and trust by people who network and pool their money and other resources together, usually via the Internet, to support efforts initiated by other people or organizations. Crowd funding occurs for any variety of purposes, from disaster relief to citizen journalism to artists seeking support from fans, to political campaigns, to funding a startup company or small business or creating free software.

History of crowd

The crowd funding approach has long precedents in the sphere of charity. It is receiving renewed attention from both commercial and social entrepreneurs now that social media, online communities and micropayment technology make it straightforward to engage and secure donations from a group of potentially interested supporters at very low cost.

Earlier definitions of crowd

In earlier some advocates say that crowd funding does not include investments, and only includes the categories of donations, memberships or pre-ordering of products, giving none of the contributors a future stake or monetary reward of any kind. Media Wave debates whether or not crowd funding should be considered an investment: Crowd funding definition may however be restricted to pooling of resources together at the grass root with a framework for rewards and for the purpose to initiate and or found an investment, where common desire and trust are the most important driving force for participation. Money contributed by group of individuals without a framework for future stake may not be defined as crowd funding because such contributions pass only as donations. Micro patronage is a system in which the public directly supports the work of others by making donations through the Internet. In use as early as 2001,^[10] the term was popularized in 2005 by blogger Jason Kottke

Applications of crowd

Crowd funding is being experimented with as a funding mechanism for creative work such as blogging and journalism, music, and independent film, and also for funding a startup company. Community music labels are usually for-profit organizations where "fans assume the traditional financier role of a record label for artists they believe in by funding the recording process"

Various Approaches of crowds

Ø An entrepreneur seeking to use crowd funding (example for seed money) typically makes use of online communities to solicit pledges of small amounts of money from individuals who are typically not professional financiers. A range of variations are possible, for example:

Ø The solicitation could be to back an idea with no direct material return offered to those making a pledge. This type of crowd financing has long precedents including artistic patronage and the normal activities of charity fundraising. Sometimes a threshold pledge approach is used, in which all pledges are voided unless the threshold amount is reached before the deadline.

Ø Another approach invites a display of sponsorship in return for the cash pledged. A widely documented internet-based example is The Million Dollar Homepage.

Ø The solicitation could be to offer a loan.

Ø Some kind of quasi-equity investment could be offered, though any such scheme would need to avoid falling under any applicable financial regulations regarding making an initial public offering. One such scheme was introduced in February 2010.

Ø Straightforward equity investment. When multiple parties are involved, this can involve a lot of work. There are platforms to make this easier.

Ø A threshold pledge system as above, but rewards are offered in return for gifts or donations.

Pros and cons of crowd

Proponents of the crowd funding approach argue that it allows good ideas which do not fit the pattern required by conventional financiers to break through and attract cash through the wisdom of the crowd. If it does achieve "traction" in this way, not only can the enterprise secure seed funding to begin its project, but it may also secure evidence of backing from potential customers and benefit from word of mouth promotion.

Against these advantages is the requirement to disclose the idea for which funding is sought in public when it is at a very early stage. This exposes the promoter of the idea to the risk of the idea being copied and developed ahead of them by better-financed competitors.

Wisdom of the crowd

The wisdom of the crowd refers to the process of taking into account the collective opinion of a group of individuals rather than a single expert to answer a question. This process, while not new to the information age, has been pushed into the mainstream spotlight by social information sites such as Wikipedia and Yahoo! Answers, and other web resources that rely on human opinion. The process, in the business world at least, was written about in detail by James Surowiecki in his book The Wisdom of Crowds.

Definition of Crowd

The term crowd, in this usage, refers to any group of people, such as a corporation, a group of researchers, or simply the entire general public. The group itself does not have to be cohesive; for example, a group of people answering questions on Yahoo! Answers may not know each other outside of that forum, or a group of people betting on a horse race may not know each others' bets, but they nevertheless form a crowd under this definition.

 

Benefits of wisdom of crowd

The wisdom of the crowd applies to democratic journalism in that a group of non-experts determine what news is important, and then people outside the group can view the news based on those rankings. The social news sites Digs and News vine both fall into this category and rely heavily upon the wisdom of the crowd in creating their content.

Problems

The crowd tends to make its best decisions if it is made up of diverse opinions and ideologies. A crowd of like-minded individuals may contain bias, which can cloud their judgment and cause a less useful response to a given question. Crowds tend to work best when there is a correct answer to the question being posed, such as a question about geography or mathematics. The effect is easily undermined. Social influence can cause the average of the crowd answers to be wildly inaccurate, while the geometric mean and the median are far more robust.

 

 

 

 

Excerpt

Trench presented an idea in 1857 an idea that to those ranks of conservative and frock-coated men who sat silently in the library on that dank and foggy evening was potentially dangerous and revolutionary. But it was the idea in the end that made the whole venture possible.

The undertaking of the scheme the OED, he said, was beyond the ability of any one man. To peruse all of English literature and to comb the London and New York newspapers and the most literate of the magazines and journals must be instead "the combined action of many". It would be necessary to recruit a team moreover, a huge one probably comprising hundreds and hundreds of unpaid amateurs, all of them working as volunteers.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Interest in crowd sourcing

Grover is known as a supporter for crowd sourcing in art. In an interview with Leah DeVun for Wired Magazine, Grover explains that her interest in crowd sourcing formed out of her "fondness" for "early video collectives like Top Value Television, Video frees, and Rain dance." Her interest in creating "non-commodity-based artwork" led her to crowd sourcing. In another interview, Grover claims that crowd sourcing is growing rapidly, because "we're experiencing a moment in time where technology is allowing for people to cooperate in large numbers on all sorts of things."

Before Jeff Howe's article coined the term "crowd sourcing," Grover states that the original term was "relational art." While it would seem that crowd sourcing is a relatively new phenomenon, Grover claims that is only "a new term to describe something that already existed before the term was in common use." In the interview for Wired, Grover explained that crowd sourcing eliminates a financial barrier that prohibits most people from participating in art, as "Internet real estate is essentially free." Grover finds that the primary appeal of crowd sourcing is the satisfaction that is obtained through working with a community.

Human-based computation

Human-based computation is a computer science technique in which a computational process performs its function by outsourcing certain steps to humans. This approach uses differences in abilities and alternative costs between humans and computer agents to achieve symbiotic human-computer interaction.

In traditional computation, a human employs a computer to solve a problem; a human provides a formalized problem description to a computer, and receives a solution to interpret. Human-based computation frequently reverses the roles; the computer asks a person or a large group of people to solve a problem, then collects, interprets, and integrates their solutions.

Early work

Human-based genetic algorithm (HBGA) encourages human participation in multiple different roles. Humans are not limited to the role of evaluator, but can choose to perform a more diverse set of functions. In particular, they can contribute their innovative solutions into the evolutionary process, make incremental changes to existing solutions, and perform intelligent recombination. In short, HBGA outsources to humans all operations of a typical genetic algorithm. As a result of this outsourcing, HBGA can process the representations for which there is no computational innovation operators available, for example, natural languages. Thus, HBGA obviated the need for a fixed representational scheme that was a limiting factor of both standard and interactive EC. These algorithms can be also be viewed as novel forms of social organization coordinated by a computer program (Kosorukoff and Goldberg, 2002).

Classes of human-based computation

Human-based computation methods combine computers and humans in different roles. Malone (2009) proposed a way to describe division of labor in computation that groups human-based methods into three classes. The following table uses the evolutionary computation model to describe four classes of computation, three of which rely on humans in some role. For each class, a representative example is shown. The classification is in terms of the roles performed in each case by humans and computational processes. This table is a slice of three-dimensional table. The third dimension defines if the organizational function is performed by humans or a computer. Here it is assumed to be performed by a computer.

Classes of human-based computation from this table can be referred by two-letter abbreviations: HC, CH, and HH. Here the first letter identifies the type of agents performing innovation; the second letter specifies the type of selection agents. In some implementations human-based selection functionality might be limited; it can be shown with small h.

Methods of human-based computation

·         (HC) Darwin (Vyssotsky, Morris, McIlroy, 1961) and Core War (Jones, Dewdney 1984) these are games where several programs written by people compete in a tournament (computational simulation) in which fittest programs will survive. Authors of the programs copy, modify, and recombine successful strategies to improve their chances of winning.

·         (CH) Interactive EC (Caldwell and Johnston, 1991; Sims, 1991) IEC enables the user to create an abstract drawing only by selecting his/her favorite images, so human only performs fitness computation and software performs innovative role. [Unemi 1998] Simulated breeding style introduces no explicit fitness, just selection, which is easier for humans.

·         (HH₂) Wiki (Cunningham, 1995) enabled editing the web content by multiple users, i.e. supported two types of human-based innovation (contributing new page and its incremental edits). However, the selection mechanism was absent until 2002, when wiki has been augmented with a revision history allowing for reversing of unhelpful changes. This provided means for selection among several versions of the same page and turned wiki into a tool supporting collaborative content evolution (would be classified as human-based evolution strategy in EC terms).

·         (HH₃) Human-based genetic algorithm (Kosorukoff, 1998) uses both human-based selection and three types of human-based innovation (contributing new content, mutation, and recombination). Thus, all operators of a typical genetic algorithm are outsourced to humans (hence the origin of human-based). Examples include the 3form Free Knowledge Exchange (website), Knowledge iN, and Yahoo! Answers, all of which implement some form of collaborative problem-solving.

·         (HH₁) Social search applications accept contributions from users and attempt to use human evaluation to select the fittest contributions that get to the top of the list. These use one type of human-based innovation. Early work was done in the context of HBGA. Digg and Reddit are recently popular examples.

·         (HC) Computerized tests. A computer generates a problem and presents it to evaluate a user. For example CAPTCHA tells human users from computer programs by presenting a problem that is supposedly easy for a human and difficult for a computer. While CAPTCHAs are effective security measures for preventing automated abuse of online services, the human effort spent solving them is otherwise wasted. The CAPTCHA system makes use of these human cycles to help digitize books by presenting words from scanned old books that optical character recognition cannot decipher. (von Ahn et al., 2008).

·         (HC) Interactive online games: These are programs that extract knowledge from people in an entertaining way (Burgener, 1999; von Ahn 2003).

Incentives to participation

In different human-based computation projects people are motivated by one or more of the following.

ü  Receiving a fair share of the result

ü  Direct monetary compensation Esthetic satisfaction

ü  Curiosity, desire to test if it works

ü  Volunteerism, desire to support a cause of the project

ü  Reciprocity, exchange, mutual help

ü  Desire to be entertained with the competitive or cooperative spirit of a game

ü  Desire to communicate and share knowledge

ü  Desire to share a user innovation to see if someone else can improve on it

ü  Desire to game the system and influence the final result

ü  Fun

ü  Increasing online reputation/recognition

Portmanteau

A portmanteau is a blend of two or more words or morphemes into one new word. A portmanteau word typically combines both sounds and meanings, as in smog, coined by blending smoke and fog. More generally, it may refer to any term or phrase that combines two or more meanings. In linguistics, a portmanteau is defined as a single morph which represents two or more morphemes.

Meaning of portmanteau

"Portmanteau word" is used to describe a linguistic blend, namely "a word formed by blending sounds from two or more distinct words and combining their meanings."^[4] This definition overlaps with the grammatical term contraction, but a distinction can be made between a portmanteau and a contraction by noting that contractions are formed from words that would otherwise appear together in sequence, such as do and not, whereas a portmanteau word is typically formed by combining two or more existing words that all relate to a singular concept which the portmanteau word is meant to describe, such as Spanish and English, into "spanglish".

 

 

Origin

The word "portmanteau" was first used in this sense by Lewis Carroll in the book Through the Looking-Glass (1871), in which Humpty Dumpty explains to Alice the coinage of the unusual words in Jabberwocky, where "slithy" means "lithe and slimy" and "mimsy" is "flimsy and miserable". Humpty Dumpty explains the practice of combining words in various ways by telling Alice,

'You see it's like a portmanteau -- there are two meanings packed up into one word.'

In his introduction to The Hunting of the Snark, Carroll uses "portmanteau" when discussing lexical selection:

Humpty Dumpty's theory, of two meanings packed into one word like a portmanteau, seems to me the right explanation for all. For instance, take the two words "fuming" and "furious". Make up your mind that you will say both words, but leave it unsettled which you will say first ... if you have the rarest of gifts, a perfectly balanced mind, you will say "frumious".

Name-meshing

Two proper names can also be used in creating a portmanteau word in reference to the partnership between people, especially in cases where both persons are well-known, or sometimes to produce epithets such as "Billary" (referring to former United States president Bill Clinton and his wife, United States Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton).

In this example of recent American political history, the purpose for blending is not so much to combine the meanings of the source words but "to suggest a resemblance of one named person to the other;" the effect is often derogatory, as linguist Benjamin Zimmer notes.^[13]In contrast, the public and even the media use portmanteaux to refer to their favorite pairings as a way to "...give people an essence of who they are within the same name." This is particularly seen in cases of fictional and real-life "super couples."

Open source

The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology. Before the term open source became widely adopted, developers and producers used a variety of phrases to describe the concept; open source gained hold with the rise of the Internet, and the attendant need for massive retooling of the computing source code. Opening the source code enabled a self-enhancing diversity of production models, communication paths, and interactive communities. Subsequently, the new phrase "open-source software" was born to describe the environment that the new copyright, licensing, domain, and consumer issues created.

The open-source model includes the concept of concurrent yet different agendas and differing approaches in production, in contrast with more centralized models of development such as those typically used in commercial software companies. A main principle and practice of open-source software development is peer production by bartering and collaboration, with the end-product, source-material, "blueprints," and documentation available at no cost to the public. This is increasingly being applied in other fields of endeavor, such as biotechnology.

History of free and open source software

The concept of open source and the free sharing of technological information existed long before computers. For example, cooking recipes have been shared since the beginning of human culture. Open source can pertain to businesses and to computers, software and technology.

In the early years of automobile development, a group of capital monopolists owned the rights to a 2-cycle gasoline engine patent originally filed by George B. Selden. By controlling this patent, they were able to monopolize the industry and force car manufacturers to adhere to their demands, or risk a lawsuit. In 1911, independent automaker Henry Ford won a challenge to the Selden patent. The result was that the Selden patent became virtually worthless and a new association (which would eventually become the Motor Vehicle Manufacturers Association) was formed. The new association instituted a cross-licensing agreement among all US auto manufacturers: although each company would develop technology and file patents, these patents were shared openly and without the exchange of money between all the manufacturers. Until the US entered World War 2, 92 Ford patents were being used freely by other manufacturers who were in turn making use of 515 patents from other companies, all without lawsuits or the exchange of money.

Economic analysis

Most economists agree that open source candidates have a good information aspect. In general, this suggests that the original work involves a great deal of time, money, and effort. However, the cost of reproducing the work is very low, so that additional users may be added at zero or near zero cost this is referred to as the marginal cost of a product. At this point, it is necessary to consider a copyright. The idea of copyright for works of authorship is to protect the incentive of making these original works. Copyright restriction then creates access costs on consumers who value the original more than making an additional copy but value the original less than the initial production cost. Thus, they will pay an access cost of this difference. Access costs also pose problems for authors who wish to create something based on another work but are not willing to pay the copyright holder for the rights to the copyrighted work. The second type of cost incurred with a copyright system is the cost of administration and enforcement of the copyright.

Being organized effectively as a consumers' cooperative, the idea of open source is then to eliminate the access costs of the consumer and the creator by reducing the restrictions of copyright. This will lead to creation of additional works, which build upon previous work and add to greater social benefit. Additionally some proponents argue that open source also relieves society of the administration and enforcement costs of copyright. Organizations such as Creative Commons have websites where individuals can file for alternative “licenses”, or levels of restriction, for their works. These self-made protections free the general society of the costs of policing copyright infringement. Thus, on several fronts, there is an efficiency argument to be made on behalf of open sourced goods.

Applications of open source

Many fields of study and social and political views have been affected by the growth of the concept of open source. Advocates in one field often support the expansion of open source in other fields. For example, Linus Torvalds said, "the future is open source everything."But Eric Raymond and other founders of the open-source movement have sometimes publicly argued against speculation about applications outside software, saying that strong arguments for software openness should not be weakened by overreaching into areas where the story is less compelling. The broader impacts of the open-source movement, and the extent of its role in the development of new information sharing procedures, remain to be seen.

The open-source movement has inspired increased transparency and liberty in other fields, including the release of biotechnology research by CAMBIA, Wikipedia, and other projects. The open-source concept has also been applied to media other than computer programs. Open source is an expression where it simply means that a system is available to all who wish to work on it. The difference between crowd sourcing and open source is that open-source production is a cooperative activity initiated and voluntarily undertaken by members of the public

CONCLUSION

In my seminar I study about the crowd sourcing and its history and benefits and also study about the brand marketing, independent contractor and the social and psychological aspects of crowd. In my study I learn more about the crowd sourcing and its application Individuals who participate in crowd sourcing projects are often anonymous, and Grover states that "people reveal more when they’re not face-to-face," because "there’s a certain security in not being physically present," which adds to the appeal of crowd sourcing. Although it is difficult to crowd source complicated tasks, simple work tasks can be crowd sourced cheaply and effectively

BIBILIOGRAPHY

www.croudsourcing.com

www.humanbasedcomputation.com