ZOES Final Report: Case Studies of Collaborative Service On The

ZOES Final Report: Case studies of collaborative service on the digital platform
Written by Joon Sang Baek
PhD candidate, Department of Industrial Design and Multimedia Communication, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy
joonsbaek@gmail.com
Advised by Ezio Manzini
Professor, Department of Industrial Design and Multimedia Communication, Politecnico di Milano, Milano, Italy
ezio.manzini@polimi.it
In collaboration with
Fondazione Culturale Responabilità Etica
Collaborative services on the digital platform | 1

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Table of content
I. Preface .........................................................................................5
II. Case list......................................................................................12
1. Producer and consumer network ....................................................................12

GAS (Gruppi di Acquisto Solidale) ........................................................................13
Sistema FBES (Fórum Brasileiro de Economia Solidária) .............................................19
Solidarius ....................................................................................................26
Mapo Dure ...................................................................................................31
One Life Japan ..............................................................................................37
2. Mapping diffused information .......................................................................42

FixMyStreet ..................................................................................................43
Open Green Map ............................................................................................46
Green Map ...................................................................................................50
3. Aggregated social actions ............................................................................53

No 10 Petitions ..............................................................................................54
PledgeBank ..................................................................................................58
Social invention center by Hope Institute ..............................................................61
Carrotmob ...................................................................................................64
Katrinalist PeopleFinder Project .........................................................................67
mySociety.org ...............................................................................................70

4. Creating social network for conviviality ...........................................................74
Vicini Vicini ..................................................................................................75
WiserEarth ...................................................................................................79
Meetup .......................................................................................................84
Peladeiros ...................................................................................................88
Aka-aki .......................................................................................................95
5. Mutual-support circles ................................................................................98

ActivMob .....................................................................................................99
GROFUN ....................................................................................................102
6. Competences, time and products exchange .....................................................105

Timebanks.org .............................................................................................106
Zero relativo ...............................................................................................111
7. Products, places and knowledge sharing .........................................................115

Shelfari .....................................................................................................116
Bookcrossing ...............................................................................................120
Couch surfing ..............................................................................................124
Hitchhikers .................................................................................................128
III. Theoretical framework on collaborative service on the digital platform....131
1. Structural system of collaborative service on the digital platform ..........................131
2. 7 typologies of collaborative service ..............................................................132
3. The usage patterns of ICT in collaborative services ............................................135

4. Dual dimension of collaborative service and its use of ICT ....................................135
5. Collaborative service and social network ........................................................136
VI. The social networks of collaborative organizations..............................140
1. GROFUN................................................................................................140
2. PledgeBank ............................................................................................142
3. Meetup .................................................................................................144
4. Zerorelativo ...........................................................................................146
5. Green Map Service (GMS) ...........................................................................148
V. Reference .................................................................................150
VI. Appendices ...............................................................................151

I. Preface This research is based on a series of researches conducted by Design and
Innovation for Sustainability Research Unit (DIS) at Politecnico di Milano
which specializes in service design for social innovation at the grassroots
level and sustainability. Social innovation is defined as “innovative
Collaborative service on the digital platform activities and services that are motivated by the goal of meeting a social
need and that are predominantly developed and diffused through
A Case study on how ICT influence the formation and diffusion of organisations whose primary purposes are social” (Young Foundation
collaborative services 2006). Design for social innovation and sustainability is a domain of
design that deals with services for people whose social needs are not met
and their relation to sustainability. A role of a design researcher in this
1. Introduction field is to understand the phenomenon of social innovation at the
grassroots level in various contexts, identify its relation to sustainability
Recently, social innovation is moving from the margins to the mainstream and to design conditions that empowers people to use their creativity to
with the launch of President Obama's new Office of Social Innovation and ideate, implement and disseminate the solutions for their needs as
a new push in Europe from President Barroso to link innovation strategy Manzini claims, transition towards sustainability is a social learning
to social goals (The Young Foundation 2009). However, this is not because process that requires active involvement of social constituents (Manzini
social innovation has suddenly increased in number. What has changed is in Meroni ed. 2007). How social innovation at the grassroots level
people’s attitude. They have become more conscious of alternative and contributes to sustainability is not discussed exhaustively here but it can
sustainable solutions due to the failing system of the current paradigm. be stated in summary that the radical innovations of local systems, i.e.
At the same time, technologies that can democratize and accelerate discontinuities with regard to a given context, that challenge traditional
innovation have diffused to our everyday life. These two conditions ways of doing things introduce a set of new, very different and
create a favorable condition to diffuse social innovation with an urgent intrinsically more sustainable ones and that these micro-transformations
need for designers to participate. One possible role of designers is to become the groundwork for great systemic change (Manzini in Meroni ed.
facilitate the on-going transition by creating conditions for people to use 2007).
creativity and innovate at the local scale and that of design researchers
is to provide designers with a theoretical ground by understanding the
environment in which collaborative services are created, developed and With this in background, a series of projects have been conducted to
replicated and supporting them with appropriate methodologies. collect the cases of social innovation at the grassroots level around
different parts of the world. In 2006, the cases of so-called creative1
1 If creativity means joining pre-existing elements in new useful combinations as Henri Poincaré stated, then these active minorities can be definitely called ‘creative
communities’.

communities were collected in Europe (Meroni ed. 2007). Creative
communities are groups of people who creatively solved social problems
around them rather than complying with existing solutions that were
proven to be ineffective. Similar research was conducted in developing
contexts such as China, Brazil and India (Manzini and Jègou 2007) and
finally in Africa (work in progress). Although these cases consist of a wide
range of ideas from diverse cultural and technological contexts, they
share one thing in common in that they are social services in which the
final users collaborate to produce solutions to a wide range of social
needs that have failed to be met by existing solutions. For this reason,
they are called collaborative services and the people who designed them
are called collaborative organizations (Jegou, Manzini 2008).
2. Collaborative service
Collaborative service is distinguished from other services in that it

requires relational qualities as a prerequisite to function. Relational
qualities as the expressions of the “genuine dialogue” established
between the participants of collaborative service and include trust, 3. Collaborative service on the digital platform
intimacy, friendship and a common identity (Cipolla 2007). Figure 1 is a In recent years, peer-to-peer and collaborative production has emerged
matrix that illustrates where collaborative service is positioned in as a powerful trend in the digital, networked industries. Just to mention
relation to other services. a few, Wikipedia, an archive of distributed knowledge; Google and
Figure 1. Positioning of collaborative service in service matrix model Amazon which provide a peer-to-peer platform for sharing information
(Cipolla, Manzini 2009) and trading products; various open-source software projects based on
Creative Commons licenses. Exhibiting characteristics of anti-rivalry and
inclusiveness (Cooper 2005), collaborative production in digital world is
distinguished from traditional ways of production in the market economy
in that it is more democratic in political aspect and more efficient in
economical aspect (Benkler 2006). They are examples of socio-
technological innovation that are changing our ways of production and
living and show possibilities that technologies, especially ICT, can be used

an enabling solution to promote social innovation at the grassroots level. 4. Research method and the result
Case studies consist of two stages: in the first stage, 30 cases were
selected from different parts of the world and analyzed using so-called a
Collaborative service shares several aspects in common with digital
‘light format’. The aim of the light analysis is to obtain basic information
collaborative production. Both of them require collaboration rather than
– both qualitative and quantitative - of the cases in order to understand
competition, inclusiveness rather than exclusiveness and are based on a
and affirm the phenomenon2. In the second stage, 10 cases were selected
platform that is decentralized rather than centralized. They also aim to
from the 30 cases for in-depth analysis in order to understand how ICT
improve the quality of the commons rather than privatized goods. Digital
facilitate the diffusion of collaborative services. In this paper, the result
collaborative production aims to expand the repository of digital
of the first stage and a part from the second stage will be introduced.
commons that are mainly information whereas the latter focuses on
improving social commons such as relational qualities and social network.
In addition, collaborative service and digital collaborative production can
In order to select the cases that satisfy our definition of collaborative
supplement each other when they are combined and produce a synergy
service, over 100 cases were reviewed using the following criteria:
effect. Firstly, when digital, networked platform is applied to
collaborative service, it can increase the accessibility and replicability of 1. A service uses ICT to promote itself and enhance communication
the given service, making it available to people of wider social and within community.
economical status. Secondly, it can enhance communication between
2. A service requires collaboration in both physical and digital
stakeholders within a service and between similar services, thereby
spheres.
strengthening the social fabric and making a service more resilient.
Finally, advanced ICT, collective knowledge and innovative business 3. A service must be designed and provided by users with an
models in open networked platform can reduce the technological, intention to satisfy their unmet social needs.
bureaucratic and economical burden of creating and supplying a service
respectively.
In addition, the service area, age of service, organizational size, aim and
type of the services were also taken into consideration to give diversity
As the first step to understand how collaborative organizations use ICT to to the candidates. The result is the 30 cases of diverse sizes and aims
improve their services, case studies of collaborative services on the from different parts of the world (Table 1).
digital platform were conducted.
2 The results are available on http://www.sustainable-everyday.net/codi/?cat=1

Table 1. Case list (data accessed February 26, 2009) Enabling
Aka aki Germany Germany 2008 1494926 encounters
solution
Carrotmob Enabling US US 2008 Not yet launched
solution
Case Form Service area Origin Since Size Economia Enabling Italy Italy 1994 4736 users
solidale solution
The
Enabling Mainly No 10 Enabling + 5000000
Hitchhikers solution Netherland 1999 Unknown UK UK 2006
Europe Petitions solution participants
s
FixMyStreet Enabling Unkno 31628 problems
Hope Enabling UK UK
South Korea South 2006 3365 ideas solution wn reported
institute solution Korea
WiserEarth Enabling Worldwide 2007 Unknown
Peladeiros Enabling Brazil Brazil 2001 32250 users solution
solution
Solidarius Enabling Brazil Brazil 2008 22319 users
Vicini vicini Enabling Rome, Italy Italy 1999 Not known solution
solution
mySociety.o Platform Worldwide UK 2003 1000 users
Green map Enabling 400 cities, 51
Worldwide US 1995 rg
solution countries
Sistema Enabling Unkno Unknown
Open green Enabling Brazil Brazil
Worldwide US 2008 + 4000 sites FBES solution wn
map solution
RED Open Enabling
Collaborative
Grofun Bristol, UK UK 2007 10 people Health UK UK 2004 509 users
service solution
Project
Couch Enabling Worldwide US 2004 + 950000 users Diabetics' Collaborative
surfing solution US US 2009 55 users
meetup service
Enabling
Meetup Worldwide US 2001 4700000 users
solution Zero relativo Enabling Italy Italy 2006 217 users
solution
UK and 12
Enabling Timebanks Platform Worldwide US 1980's Unknown
PledgeBank solution other UK 2005 91625 users
countries
Katrinalist.n Enabling US US 2005 4000 users
et solution
Enabling Six digits
Shelfari Worldwide US 2006
solution (confidential)
Bookcrossin Enabling Worldwide US 2001 740000 users
g solution
South
Mapo dure Platform South Korea 1997 + 2500 members
Korea
Enabling
Activmob Kent, UK UK 2008 + 20 mobs
solution

II. Case list
1. Producer and consumer network
• GAS
• Sistema FBES
• Solidarius
• Mapo Dure
• One Life Japan

GAS (Gruppi di Acquisto Solidale)
6. Source
1. Title. Also include the link to the service. Meroni, Anna. Creative Communities | People Inventing Sustainable Ways
of Living. Edited by Anna Meroni. Italy: Edizioni POLI.design, 2007
GAS (Gruppi di Acquisto Solidale, Solidary Purchasing Group)
http://www.economia-solidale.org
http://www.economia-solidale.org
http://www.retegas.org/
http://www.retegas.org/
http://www.retegas.org/upload/dl/doc/GASDocumentoBase.PDF
2. Sub title
7. Keywords
I GRUPPI DI ACQUISTO SOLIDALE, Un modo diverso di fare la spesa
(Solidary Purchasing Group, A different way to shop) (Choose one or more types from exchanging, sharing, networking,
empowering/enabling, promoting user participation, promoting mutual
help, integrating functions, connecting local-global)
3. City/Country • Networking
Italy
8. Service description and the aim (in brief)

4. Starting year Solidarity Purchasing Group (GAS) is a group of people who buy wholesale
1994 foods in group and redistribute them between the members. In addition,
it proposes a guiding criterion in selecting products, thereby allowing
consumers to practice so-called critical consumption. The solidarity
5. Number of users exists within the group, among its members, small-size producers who
provide the products and the environment.
Registered users: 4736
The aim of GAS is to promote humane economy that satisfies to our real
Subscribed GAS: 215 needs and is favorable to the environment by formulating an ethic of
critical consumption that brings people together rather than divide them
Companies and Industry autosegnalati BIO?: 805
and puts time and resources in common rather than separates them.

Figure 2. GAS users
9. Service promoter/provider
A group of consumers and producers
10. Target user
Consumers in Italy. Until now, GAS members tend to be well educated

and politically active.
11. Image
Figure 1. GAS website
12. Problematic background and context (in brief)
Conventional models of purchasing food do not show how it is produced

and distributed, or give any guarantees of respect for human rights and
the environment. Consumers are increasingly dissatisfied by the products
offered by large distributors such as supermarkets (which normally
exclude small producers from their trade), and are looking for quality,
transparency and traceability. They would like to actively find out about
the background of the product rather than being a passive consumer.
Consequently alternative forms of shorter supply chain are emerging.

13. Solution description • Social benefits: Being together with friends in a relaxed atmosphere,
discussing which product to buy that fits the group’s objectives of
A Gruppo d’Acquisito Solidale (GAS) consists of a group of people with
avoiding exploitation, and being high quality and of known origin,
the same beliefs in sustainable and ethical consumption who decided to
generates a feeling of satisfaction. The small number of people in each
collectively buy large quantities of essential basic products such as pasta,
group makes communication easier.
olive oil, from small local producers and distribute it among themselves.
In this way, shopping is both cheap and convenient, and provides the • Environmental benefits: There is less packaging waste, less need of
satisfaction of knowing where the products come from, that they’re energy for cooling and freezing (food is fresh and seasonal) and less
supporting small producers of quality products and respecting fair trade pollution from delivery, as the products are bought in bulk. Some of the
by paying the right price. There is no additional cost for packaging or products are organic so benefit the ecosystem.
advertising products and logistics are optimised. The group meets
• Economical benefits: A side-effect of GAS’s action is improvement in
regularly to decide which producers best fit their selection criteria of
family economy, because of the economies of scale in buying food. It also
benefiting both producers and users. A list of products and quantities is
helps small local producers to survive, giving them an alternative
organised and, based on this, the group orders the products directly from
distribution channel to the supermarkets.
producers.
17. To what extent do users participate in providing the service?

14. Key-Innovation
Users voluntarily organize a group (GAS) to select small local producers
Acknowledgement of the importance of critical consumption and a
who produce high quality products, to purchase them in group and to
collective effort to implement it, which in overall benefits ourselves,
redistribute them among the members. GAS is a platform that supports
environment and society.
user groups and disseminates its philosophy.
15. Who are the partners?

18. Describe positive qualities that this service creates to the
Not known members and to society.
GAS creates a sense of responsibility in purchasing foods, care for

environment and feeling of solidarity among the members.
16. Social, economical and environmental benefits if any (in brief)
19. Enabling technologies. If applicable, describe the technologies and

their roles in this collaboration.

No sophisticated technology is required. GAS runs a web database to
promote ideas of critical consumption, to share the contacts of GAS and
to search products. Members place their order through email/phone and
pay in cash.

Sistema FBES (Fórum Brasileiro de Economia Solidária) 7. Keywords
(Choose one or more types from exchanging, sharing, networking,

1. Title. Also include the link to the service. help, integrating functions, connecting local-global)
Sistema FBES • Networking
http://ecosol.noosfero.com.br/ • Integrating functions
• Empowering/enabling
2. Sub title
Technological Solutions for Brazilian Federation of Solidarity Economy 8. Service description and the aim (in brief)
Sistema FBES is an initiative of the Brazilian Forum for Solidarity

3. City/Country Economy (www.fbes.org.br) with the following main objectives:
Brazil 1. Increase the flow of knowledge, products and services of the Solidarity
Economy;
2. Provide tools for setting up consolidation of solidarity networks and

4. Starting year chains;
Not known 3. Promote solidarity economic and your products and services;
4. Allow the interaction between various stakeholders in virtual

communities and territorial, thematic and economic spaces.
5. Number of users
509 users / 21861 enterprises / 58 communities

FBES - Brazilian Forum for Solidarity Economy (Non-profit organization?)

6. Source
http://ecosol.noosfero.com.br/
10. Target user

Critical consumers who promote ethical and responsible consumption. Figure 3. Categories in network
11. Image
Figure 1. Categories in themes
Figure 4. Personal settings
Figure 2. Categories in regions

The FBES was born as a network of institutions interested in promote the
Popular Solidarity Economy during the 1st World Social Forum, in Porto
Alegre (2001). The number of institutions and people interested in this
thematic increased during the successive years, calling the attention of On the development of the platform: Brazilian Government (Ministry of
the coordinators of the Work Group for the necessity of new format for Work and Job), Ynternet.org Foundation (a Swiss non-profit foundation
the network. Less centralized, with regional networks. In 2003, the new dedicated to promoting the eCulture) and Colivre (Free Technology
elected president of Brazil Lula, created a Ministry dedicated to Cooperative)
stimulate the Solidarity Economy. Articulating solidarity enterprises and
entrepreneurs, regional networks, universities, entities providers of
financial support and public administrators was possible to create a 16. Social, economical and environmental benefits if any (in brief)
propitious environment to the development of the solidarity economy.
• Social Benefits: The main social benefit of this platform is to enable
With the increase of participants throughout the national territory, the
FBES invested in Information Communication Technology to promote the interaction and knowledge exchange, and support social networks of
more exchange and interaction between their participants. They Solidarity Economy may be is . The users can joint themselves to discuss,
exchange documents, plan activities together considering three kinds on
developed a digital platform called Sistema FBES.
network organization: themes, territorial and specific chains.
• Economical Benefits: The platform promotes the solidarity economy, so

13. Solution description all the movement and the services/products providers get economical
benefits from it.
The FBES developed a digital platform to support the network activities
of their participants. The Sistema FBES is based on a open source • Environmental Benefits: It depends on each initiative. In major cases,
software, called NOOSFERA, with free distribution under GPL in the the projects involves organic production and environmental sustainability
website http://www.noosfero.com.br. This platform was developed to principles.
support social networks with blog, e-Portfolios, RSS, thematic discussion
and events agenda in the same system.
As a social networks, the users are the most important part of the
14. Key-Innovation
system.
The “Farejador” is a search engine focused on enterprises and products
of Solidarity Economy in Brazil. All the enterprises and products are geo-
referenced and the contact is available.

18. Describe positive qualities that this service create to the members
and to society.
Sistema FBES promotes the Solidarity Economy experiences, providing

technological and management support. In a large scale, this kind of
platform gives visibility to the products and services creating a direct
contact between producers and consumers.

The platform is based on 4 pillars:
• A Content Management System (CMS), where all the content, texts,

documents and events agenda can be managed in a decentralized way
without any special knowledge of programming or computational
languages.
• Social network support, where each user can have their personal
webpage, to share their ideas, pictures, show in which enterprises and
communities they are involved, show their themes of interest.
• Tag organization, where each contents insert in the platform can be
associate to some key-words. This enable the users to make advanced
search by specific theme of interest.
• The Economical Intelligence of Solidarity Network, a intelligent system

to promote, commercialize and organize the logistic of products/services
of Solidarity Economy.

Solidarius 7. Keywords

Solidarius • Exchanging
http://www.solidarius.com.br • Sharing
• Networking
2. Sub title • Promoting user participation
Technological Solutions for Solidarity Economy • integrating functions
• Connecting local-global
3. City/Country
Worldwide (originated in Brazil) 8. Service description and the aim (in brief)
Solidarius is an online platform to support, qualify and diffuse solidarity

economic initiatives and local sustainable development.
4. Starting year
September 2008
5. Number of users None
1.000
10. Target user
6. Source People, enterprises, governments, collaborative networks, neighborhood

communities, NGO’s, social movements and syndicates interested in
http://www.consolBrazil.com.br solidarity economy

11. Image Solidarius provides for each kind of users a collection of digital services
and tools to support their activities.
Figure 1. Solidarius website
* The personal users can have access to the whole catalog of solidarity
economy, can buy online directly from the producers, can design their
own solidarity economy enterprise, can have access to the e-learning
platform and can participate in social networks (exchanging solidarius
credits);
* The enterprise users can also have an e-commerce website and can
have fully statistic report of your activities;
* The network users can design supply chains, and use a variety of web-
based communication tools;
* The community user can create purchasing and exchange groups and
12. Problematic background and context (in brief) also can create a micro financial system;
* The government user can transform all the knowledge in public policies
In the globalized world, the solutions for our problems may be
interconnected. There is no individual solution. We live in social, with the support of consultants.
cultural, economic and environmental networks, where to promote your
wellbeing is to promote my own wellbeing, when we collaborate. The
construction of a fair, free and solidarity world with ecological 14. Key-Innovation
equilibrium depends on everybody. Our way of consumption, production, Concentration of lots of digital services and tools at the same platform to
commerce, service or financial support impacts on the lives of millions of support solidarity economy.
people, communities and ecosystems.
The Solidarius platform tries to optimize the efforts of the ones who are
trying to do the things in a different way. It provides some digital services 15. Who are the partners?
and tools to support solidarity economy activities. No information.
13. Solution description 16. Social, economical and environmental benefits if any (in brief)

• Social benefits of Solidarius comes from its social-network and the None
organization and support of solidarity economy enterprises. The

disclosure and promotion of those activities strength the power of change
of the actual framework.
• Economic benefits comes from the supply chains organization on the

local level to provide the services and products on the virtual stores. All
the groups directly or indirectly involved in those activities make profits
in a solidarity way.
• Environmental benefits depends on the nature of each activity, product

or service. It is not a spontaneous movement (all the solidarity economy
enterprises are environmentally correct), but in many cases they have
the environmental sustainability as one of the targets.
Users are directly involved in all the activities. Solidarius is only a

supporting platform.
and to society.
Solidarius promotes the Solidarity Economy experiences, providing

technological and management support. In a large scale, this kind of
platform gives visibility to the products and services creating a direct
contact between producers and consumers.


Mapo Dure http://www.mapocoop.org
1. Title. Also include the link to the service
Mapo Dure Online 7. Keywords
e-commerce website: http://www.dure.coop/shop (Choose one or more types from exchanging, sharing, networking,
community website: http://www.mapocoop.org help, integrating functions, connecting local-global)
• Networking
2. Sub title • Empowering/enabling
Online platform for a food cooperative in South Korea. • Promoting user participation
• Integrating functions
3. City/Country
Seoul, South Korea 8. Service description and the aim (in brief)
Dure is a food cooperative in Korea and Mapo Dure is a franchise in Mapo

district, Seoul. In 2003, Dure launched a digital platform including online
4. Starting year
shop to improve the access of its services to the customers and Mapo
2003 Dure Online is a result of this initiative.
The aim of Mapo Dure Online is to support activities of the cooperative

and to provide a virtual space for grassroots activities organized by the
5. Number of users
local community.
2500 registered members (only the members can use the service).
6. Source
Non-profit organization
An interview with the vice president of Mapo Dure.
http://www.dure.coop/shop

10. Target user Figure 2. Moodboard
Residents of Mapo district
11. Image
Figure 1. Online shop
Before the online platform was built, there were only two stores in Mapo
district that sell organic produce of the cooperative, and therefore the
service was limited to the residents who live nearby. Now about 40% of
total sales take place online. In addition to the e-commerce service, the
platform provides a virtual space to support communication between the
coop and customers. For example, it is used as a channel to listen to
customers’ voices, organize meetups among the members, exchange job
information.

13. Solution description danger due to globalization of the market and consequently contributes
to revitalizing local communities. Its participation in the fair trade
Mapo Dure Online supports a wide range of services:
supports the producers of under-developed countries.
• Online shop that sells products of the coop
• Environmental benefits: Dure cooperative promotes environment-
• A channel to collect customers’ voices friendly production and consumption and only sell the products produced
in this way.
• Information on the organization including organizational structure and
philosophy • Economical benefits: Because it is a non-profit organization, people can
buy quality products at a relatively lower price than other organic
• Education center that hosts a variety of educational programs brands.
• Newsletter
• Special interest groups such as a car sharing group, recipe exchanging

group.
The organizational structure of a cooperative which is based on P2P
• Multimedia repository for people to share photos and videos relationship is carried on to the digital platform. The platform facilitates
the activities of the cooperative. In other words, the open structure of
the platform is based on the relation built in the physical world. In this
14. Key-Innovation sense, it is different from a purely digital P2P community.
Well designed online shop, use of digital technologies to support
grassroots activities.
and to society.
15. Who are the partners? Sharing knowledge and information on critical consumption and
None production, social conviviality
16. Social, economical and environmental benefits if any (in brief) 19. Enabling technologies. If applicable, describe the technologies and
• Social benefits: Dure cooperative only deals with local products except
for some fair-trade products such as coffee and sugar. In doing so, it e-commerce platform, blog
promotes development of local agricultural industries which are in

One Life Japan 7. Keywords

One Life Japan • Promoting user participation
http://www.onelifejapan.com/ • Connecting local-global
2. Sub title 8. Service description and the aim (in brief)

Community-based ecotourism in Japan One Life Japan is a community-based tour service that aims to promote
the recognition and exploration of possibility - the possibility within
ourselves and within society to create a better life. It offers volunteer
3. City/Country programs, seminars about traditional lifestyles, cooking, architecture,
and agriculture.
Nagano, Chiba, Izu, and the greater Kanto area, Japan
4. Starting year
Small enterprise and local communities
2006?
10. Target user

5. Number of users
Anyone interested in travelling Japan and having more profound cultural
Not known
experiences in the suburban local communities. One who likes physical
activities - biking and hiking - and is willing to reduce the environmental
impact of their journey.
6. Source
http://www.onelifejapan.com/
11. Image

Figure 1. Moodboard Its tour program consists of the following elements:
• Bicycle & Walking Tours
• Local Community Support
• Heritage Interpretation
• Environmental Education
• Food and Life
• Heritage Photography
14. Key-Innovation
Transforming society to be conscious of human dignity, especially that of

children, through education and support.
Not known
One Life Japan started as a simple desire to create vacation options that
allow participants to learn more about their own local environment 16. Social, economical and environmental benefits if any (in brief)
instead of spending money and resources to be processed through
popular tourist traps. It has expanded on that idea to create learningful • Social benefits: The tour packages offered by One Life Japan are based
on the local community of Nagano province therefore connecting the
vacations that help to promote the growth and understanding of rural
community with travelers from all around the world. This community-
communities around Japan. It offers volunteer programs, seminars about
traditional lifestyles, cooking, architecture, and agriculture. based tourism promotes cultural heritage of Japan by organizing
programs that help restoring and interpreting local heritage. It also
contributes to reviving the local economy.
13. Solution description

• Economical benefits: Local communities make profit by hosting the
tourists.
• Environmental benefits: Not to mention that bicycle and walking tour

reduces the carbon footprint, One Life Japan also provides customized
programs for every age, from grade-school, high-school, and university
students, to professionals looking to gain a more intimate view of how
society’s demands and desires are driven, influenced, and limited by our
natural and built environment.
Unlike conventional tour programs where customers are passive audience

(I-It relation according to Buber), community-based tourism require
active participation of both visitors and local communities. During a tour,
visitors are involved in activities with local communities, thereby
naturally creating relational qualities (I-Thou relation according to
Buber). The more visitors are involved in the activities, the more
valuable experience they will have.
and to society.
Formation of relational qualities with local communities, fun, encounter

with new culture (both for visitors and local residents).

No sophisticated technology is required.

Light Analysis of 25 collaborative services on the digital platform
2. Mapping diffused information
• FixMyStreet
• Open Green Map
• Green Map

FixMyStreet (Choose one or more types from exchanging, sharing, networking,

1. Title. Also include the link to the service. • Empowering/enabling
FixMyStreet • Promoting user participation
http://www.fixmystreet.com/

2. Sub title FixMyStreet is a service that allows users to report problems on the
street. All the problems reported by users can be viewed and updated by
“Report, view, or discuss local problems”
users and are used as a useful data for the local government to maintain
the street. On the website, a list problems reported, fixed and updated
are shown with detailed information such as the current condition,
3. City/Country
geographic data and pictures. It also provides a service to send local
UK alerts within a ward or council using RSS feeds. Recently, it has
introduced a mobile version of software for iPhone. Lastly, It provides
posters and flyers (made by one of our volunteers, Ayesha) that you can
5. Number of users use to tell people about the service, and encourage them to ger their
streets fixed.
457 reports recently
1,054 fixed in past month

31,628 updates on reports
Non-profit organization
6. Source
10. Target user
http://www.fixmystreet.com/
UK citizens
7. Keywords

11. Image Figure 3. Posters and flyers
Figure 1. Report a problem
Figure 2. View or update a problem 12. Problematic background and context (in brief)
Not known
FixMyStreet is a relatively simple service with a specific purpose: To

empower residents to participate in cleaning and fixing streets and
connect them with local government using internet technologies. Users
can report a problem in the following procedure:
1. Enter a nearby GB postcode, or street name and area
2. Locate the problem on a map of the area
3. Enter details of the problem
4. We send it to the council on your behalf

and to society.
14. Key-Innovation
Just like other solutions of mySociety, it stimulates people to actively
Collecting diffused information of the residents without much effort and
participate in taking care of their town: active participation,
implementing it in collaboration with local governments.

FixMyStreet is one of the projects run by mySociety.org.
Map, GPS, RSS feeds, digital camera, online database, iPhone
With the new release of FixMyStreet iPhone app, it has become much
16. Social, economical and environmental benefits if any (in brief) easier to report a problem. Using its camera, GPS and WIFI, users are
ready for checking and submitting to the council.
• Social benefits: FixMyStreet empowers the residents to take care of
their towns.
• Economical benefits: Thanks to the participation of the residents, local

governments can save budget to collect problems.
• Environmental benefits: Obviously, FixMyStreet contributes to

maintaining local streets cleaner and safer.
FixMyStreet is not 100% collaborative service in our definition because

users do not physically get in contact to solve the problem. However, it
has been selected as a case because it has a potential to combine with
other collaborative services - e.g. Meetup - to be complemented. In
other words, a database collected from the residents can stimulate a
successive initiative at the grassroots level.

Open Green Map http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_map
1. Title. Also include the link to the service. 7. Keywords
Open Green Map Service (OGMS) (Choose one or more types from exchanging, sharing, networking,
http://www.opengreenmap.org/ help, integrating functions, connecting local-global)
• Networking
A service that provides locally-made maps to highlight the community’s • Promoting user participation
natural, cultural and sustainable resources developed by open-source
code. • Connecting local-global
3. City/Country 8. Service description and the aim (in brief)
Worldwide (originated in US) OGMS is an interactive mapmaking tool that helps people worldwide
quickly share their own selection of sustainability sites, pathways and
resources online. Merging local knowledge and iconography with Google
4. Starting year Map and open source Drupal technology, the resulting interactive maps
can be explored.
2008
5. Number of users
Not clear whether it is a non-profit or for-profit organization.
2683 sites
10. Target user

6. Source
http://www.greenmap.org

People willing to introduce sustainable events and sites in their towns, Figure 2. The world map with a pop-up of information on one of the
people who need such information. places when it is clicked.
11. Image
Figure 1. The world map marked with countries available of green maps.
Figure 3. A detailed information on the place.

Figure 4. A green map of the place marked with sustainable resources.
GMS was conceived by Wendy E. Brawer of Modern World Design who

charted NYC Green Apple Map in 1992. Stemming from experience in
charting New York City’s environment, the original Green Map concept
was focused on charting beneficial ‘green’ sites along with challenging
‘toxic hot spots’ in cities and towns.
OGMS is an evolved version of GMS. Compared to its predecessor, it has

improved in the following aspects:
• Allows instant easy publishing, updating and expansion of Green Map

projects.
Figure 5. A green map with a pop-up of information on one of the
resources when it is clicked. • Invites the public to explore a world of green sites, and then enrich
them by adding insights, connections, and multimedia elements in any
language.
• Encourages to the public to suggest sites to their local Green

Mapmakers and soon, to add new sites directly to Open Green Map’s
world view map.
• Eliminates costly design and production while encouraging essential

community participation.
• Provides an interactive base for all green site data worldwide.

• Contains special features that encourage users to customize their view

according to the icons of greatest personal interest, a flagging system
to help monitor the quality of public content, and soon, will offer
and to society.
enhanced widgets so one can embed Open Green Maps on one’s own
website. Better understanding of one’s locality and participattion to disseminate
such knowledge.
14. Key-Innovation
The first sustainable map service that utilizes collective knowledge. GMS
provides a toolkit to those who are willing to participate in the project.
This toolkit enables the participants to create a map. Open source, mashup, web-based service. While GMS produces as a result
maps in paper and digital form, open GMS is an open source project
whose result is a mashup based on Google Map Service.

Not known
Open Green Map Service opened in 2008 and it is in an early phase of

growth. At the moment, information to judge its impact on society and
environment is not available but, considering the speed of growth which
is much faster than the original GMS, the impact is expected to be much
sooner and more powerful.
Users participate in sustainable community development worldwide,

using mapmaking as the medium. Using the toolkits designed by GMS,
users chart maps of their local areas and share them on the platform.

Green Map http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Green_map
Green Map (GMS) (Choose one or more types from exchanging, sharing, networking,
http://www.greenmap.org help, integrating functions, connecting local-global)
• Networking
A service that provides locally-made maps to highlight the community’s • Promoting user participation
natural, cultural and sustainable resources.
3. City/Country
Worldwide (originated in US)
The aim of GMS is to serve as a guide for sustainable living and to help
everyone get involved with their community’s natural and built
4. Starting year environment. Using mapmaking as a medium, Green Map System
encourages involvement in cultivating more sustainable communities
1995 around the world. By highlighting a community’s special places as well as
its natural, cultural and sustainability resources, Green Map expects to
help local citizens understand their community’s interdependent
5. Number of users environmental, social and economic systems. Green Maps provide
residents, newcomers and visitors a guide to local green options, they
400 cities, 51 countries
can also bring attention to the negative sites that challenge community
well-being. Mapmakers share adaptable mapmaking resources and
universal icons.
6. Source
http://www.greenmap.org

9. Service promoter/provider Figure 2. Green maps in Taiwan, US and Chile (from the left)
Not clear whether it is a non-profit or for-profit organization.
10. Target user
People willing to introduce sustainable events and sites in their towns,

people who need such information.
11. Image
Figure 1. Different types of green maps
GMS was conceived by Wendy E. Brawer of Modern World Design who

charted NYC Green Apple Map in 1992. Stemming from experience in
charting New York City’s environment, the original Green Map concept
was focused on charting beneficial ‘green’ sites along with challenging
‘toxic hot spots’ in cities and towns.

Although Green Map System authorizes local mapmakers to use its Green 17. To what extent do users participate in providing the service?
Mapmaking icons and tools, every project is independent and locally-led.
Users participate in sustainable community development worldwide,
Grassroots and established non-profits, universities and schools,
using mapmaking as the medium. Using the toolkits designed by GMS,
governmental and tourism agencies use the icons and adaptable
users chart maps of their local areas and share them on the platform.
methodologies to develop and publish their own community’s Green Map
in a way that meets the needs of residents and visitors.
and to society.
14. Key-Innovation
Better understanding of one’s locality and participattion to disseminate
The first sustainable map service that utilizes collective knowledge. GMS
such knowledge.
provides a toolkit to those who are willing to participate in the project.
This toolkit enables the participants to create a map.

n/a
Not known
• Social benefits: GMS involves social activities as a part of mapmaking

process. It is used as a didactic exercise at schools and corporate social
responsibility in the industries. For example, employees at Delta
Electronics created several energy-oriented Green Maps charting
corporate facilities and factories in Taiwan and China.
• Environmental benefits: Some of Green maps contribute to promotion

of climate change action, overcoming disasters and healthy mobility. For
example, after the hurricane Catrina, a green map that charts different
places on nourishment in New Orleans was created.

3. Aggregated social actions
• No 10 Petitions
• PledgeBank
• Social invention center in Korea
• Carrotmob
• Katrinalist PeopleFinder Project
• mySociety.org

No 10 Petitions 7. Keywords

No 10 Petitions • Empowering/enabling
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/

2. Sub title Downing Street is working in partnership with the non-partisan charitable
project mySociety to provide a service to allow citizens, charities and
e-petitions delivered to the prime minister
campaign groups to set up petitions that are hosted on the Downing
Street website, enabling anyone to address and deliver a petition directly
to the Prime Minister.
3. City/Country
UK
Priminister’s office
4. Starting year
2006
10. Target user
UK citizens
5. Number of users
8m signatures from over 5m unique email addresses

11. Image
6. Source
http://petitions.number10.gov.uk/

Figure 1. Homepage Figure 2. View a petition

There is a long-established tradition of members of the public presenting 14. Key-Innovation
petitions at the door of Number 10 Downing Street. The e-Petitions
A novel way of e-governance tool based on open-source software.
service has been designed to offer a modern parallel, which is more
convenient for the petitioner. Unlike paper-based petitions, this service
also provides an opportunity for Number 10 to respond to every
petitioner via email. Since its launch in November 2006, the ePetitions
site has proved to be a highly popular innovation, helping people No 10 petitions is one of the projects created by mySociety.org.
communicate with Government and with the Prime Minister’s Office.
ePetitions has become a part of the landscape of debate in the UK.
• Social benefits: This e-petition solution allows the government to listen

to opinions of people more effectively and efficiently. This e-governance
The service allows any UK citizen to create a petition and collect tool contributes to improving democracy of the society.
signatures via the website. Petitioners are asked to meet basic criteria,
and all the petitions that satisfy the criteria are accepted. The principal
reasons for rejecting petitions so far have been obscenity, potential to 17. To what extent do users participate in providing the service?
cause offence, libel or duplication. The process of creating an e-petition
consists of 5 steps: Once a petition is created by someone, people who agree to the issue
can sign the petition.
1. Create your petition. A petition can be created by any UK citizen.
2. Submit your petition. A petition is submitted to the Prime Minister’s

office. 18. Describe positive qualities that this service create to the members
and to society.
3. Petition approval. If a petition satisfies legal conditions, it is approved
by officials at Downing Street to be publicized. No 10 petitions gives people a sense of involvement in politics and hope
that their voices are heard.
4. Petition live. A petition is publicized and ready to be signed by others.
5. Petition close. If a petition gains more than 200 signatures within one
year, it is delivered to the Prime Minister’s office to be approved or 19. Enabling technologies. If applicable, describe the technologies and
rejected. their roles in this collaboration.

No 10 petitions has been developed using open-source code, therefore,
the code is available for other purposes under the Affero GPL software
license. It can be downloaded here . People are welcome to use it in
their own projects, although they must also make the source code
available to any other such projects.

PledgeBank
7. Keywords
1. Title. Also include the link to the service. (Choose one or more types from exchanging, sharing, networking,
PledgeBank help, integrating functions, connecting local-global)
http://www.PledgeBank.com/ • Networking
• Promoting user participation

2. Sub title • Promoting mutual help
“I’ll do it, but only if you’ll help.”

3. City/Country PledgeBank is a site to help people get things done, especially things that
Worldwide (initiated in UK) require several people. We (PledgeBank) think that the world needs such
a service: lots of good things don’t happen because there aren’t enough
organised people to do them.
4. Starting year
2005 9. Service promoter/provider
PledgeBank is a project built by mySociety.

5. Number of users
91625 10. Target user
People who have good ideas for society and people who are willing to
participate in these ideas.
6. Source
http://www.PledgeBank.com/
11. Image

Figure 1. How PledgeBank works Figure 3. How to start a pledge
Figure 2. Pledges posted on the website
PledgeBank is based on a psychological bet. We believe that if a person

possesses a slight desire to do something, and then we help connect
them to a bunch of people who also want to do the same thing, then that
first person is much more likely to act.
The weakness of this service is that it does not guarantee that people
actually carry out the pledge.

PledgeBank allows users to set up pledges and then encourages other • Social benefits: Only the pledges that benefits society directly or
people to sign up to them. A pledge is a statement of the form ‘I will do indirectly were selected. Not only do individual pledges contribute to
something, if a certain number of people will help me do it’. The creator society by achieving their goals, but more importantly this project opens
of the pledge then publicize his or her pledge and encourages people to up a possibility to do good things at the grassroots level. People with
sign up. Two outcomes are possible – either the pledge fails to get enough good ideas can find a way to implement them thanks to aggregated
subscribers before it expires (in which case, we contact everyone and tell efforts and produce a significant impact.
them ‘better luck next time’), or, the better possibility, the pledge
• Economical benefits: Through this service, the cost to the
attracts enough people that they are all sent a message saying ‘Well done
implementation of one’s pledge can be distributed to the participants,
—now get going!’
and therefore the financial burden to each individual is significantly
reduced.
14. Key-Innovation
A service that makes an idea come true with simple web technologies. 17. To what extent do users participate in providing the service?
The software behind the service is open source so one can participate in
This non-profit organization is totally based on user participation: one
developing the service or make his or her own service based on it (and,
can start a pledge or join existing ones. One can also help the
according to GNU General Public License), publish the result with
organization by making a donation, providing technical and non-technical
others).
support.

The project was partially funded by ODPM’s e-innovations fund in and to society.
partnership with West Sussex County Council.
PledgeBank gives confidence and a practical solution to individuals with
The Pears Foundation sponsored the London version of PledgeBank. good ideas and it provides an opportunity to those who want to
participate. By aggregating the grassroots efforts, it produces a visible
impact to the benefit of society.

PledgeBank has been created using open source codes.

http://idea.makehope.org/main_1.php
Social invention center by Hope Institute

7. Keywords
Social invention center by Hope Institute help, integrating functions, connecting local-global)
http://idea.makehope.org/main_1.php • Empowering/enabling

2. Sub title
A research branch of Hope Institute that evaluates, investigates and 8. Service description and the aim (in brief)
implements alternative ideas proposed by people.
Center for social invention is a platform that collects from people ideas
that can solve problems of everyday life. Once an idea is registered, it
becomes a so-called a seed and goes through an evaluation stage to
3. City/Country
become a shoot. Once it becomes a shoot, it is further investigated to
Seoul, South Korea evaluate feasibility and side effects to become a tree. If the idea passes
the investigation stage and becomes a tree, the center finds a solution to
implement it by contacting a person or an organization in charge and
4. Starting year proposes the idea. When the idea is accepted and implemented, it
becomes a fruit. The whole process of transition from a seed to a fruit is
2006
open to the public and the public can participate in the vote to select
the best idea.
5. Number of users
3365 ideas (February, 2009) 9. Service promoter/provider
Private research institute
6. Source

10. Target user There is always a gap between ideas and the implementation since it
requires a dedicated efforts and leadership to put these ideas into
People who are willing to change society and have alternative ideas to
action. This is why so many socially innovative and creative ideas are
meet their social needs.
given up before they are even tried. Center for social invention plays a
role of bridging this gap by helping people to put their ideas into action.
It provides an effective methodology to implement social innovation.
11. Image
Figure 1. Homepage
A Gruppo d’Acquisito Solidale (GAS) consists of a group of people with

the same beliefs in sustainable and ethical consumption who decided to
collectively buy large quantities of essential basic products such as pasta,
olive oil, from small local producers and distribute it among themselves.
In this way, shopping is both cheap and convenient, and provides the
satisfaction of knowing where the products come from, that they’re
supporting small producers of quality products and respecting fair trade
by paying the right price. There is no additional cost for packaging or
advertising products and logistics are optimised. The group meets
regularly to decide which producers best fit their selection criteria of
benefiting both producers and users. A list of products and quantities is
organised and, based on this, the group orders the products directly from
producers.
14. Key-Innovation
Use of the digital platform to collect the grassroots ideas, use of
collective intelligence to evaluate them and finally putting them in
practice.

Not known Blog, online poll.
• Social benefits: Digital platform allows people to communicate more

efficiently and effectively and to collaborate to achieve a common task.
Center for social invention takes advantage of the digital platform to
facilitate social innovation at the grassroots level. There are more than
3000 seed ideas waiting for an evaluation and another 3000 ideas have
been put into action, proving that the grassroots-level ideas are the
seeds for social innovation.
• Environmental benefits: The environmental benefits of this service are

not directly visible but among the ideas proposed by people are ones
related to the environmental issues.
Users participate in this service by posting their ideas and evaluating

other people’s ideas.
and to society.
Social invention center empowers people to participate actively in

solving social problems. It gives them hope and power to change.


Carrotmob 7. Keywords

Carrotmob • Networking
http://www.carrotmob.org/ • empowering/enabling

In a boycott, everyone loses. In a Carrotmob, everyone wins. Carrotmob is a network of consumers who buy products in order to
reward businesses who are making the most socially responsible
decisions.
3. City/Country
US
Small and medium enterprise

4. Starting year
2008
10. Target user
Anyone willing to use his or her bargaining power for social and
5. Number of users environmental benefits.
Service in preparation
11. Image
6. Source
http://www.carrotmob.org/

Figure 1. Participants of Carrotmob Figure 2. A movie demonstrating the concept of Carrotmob
“Carrotmob was created by an activist who was frustrated by the

ineffectiveness of traditional methods of activism: protests, rallies,
boycotts, emails to congresspeople, letters to editors, and most of all,
silly chants. Instead, activists in Carrotmob accept the premise that
corporations will nearly always continue to keep profit as their top
priority and use consumers’ bargaining power as a carrot to acheive their
goals.”

“Carrotmob is a method of activism that leverages consumer power to immediate visible incentive they get other than satisfaction that comes
make the most socially-responsible business practices also the most from ethical choices? On the other hand, the price they have to pay is
profitable choices. Businesses compete with one another to see who can obvious. The profit paid to businesses comes from them in a form of loss
do the most good, and then a big mob of consumers buys products in of the right to choose what they want to buy or loss of time to buy what
order to reward whichever business made the strongest commitment to they have to buy. In addition, Carrot mob is a for-profit organization and
improve the world. It’s the opposite of a boycott.” who pays for their profit? Consumers. These are the problems that
numerous social innovations have faced when their action do not coincide
with the market principle of supply and demand.
14. Key-Innovation
A new approach to activism that uses monetary incentive rather than

negative attacks.
Users participate in the service by purchasing products from companies
they support.
Not known
and to society.
16. Social, economical and environmental benefits if any (in brief) It is not clear what qualities will be produced by Carrotmob yet.
However, we can expect that users will have a sense of pride by making
Carrotmob claims that its main goal is to influence businesses to do ethical decisions.
socially and environmentally right things using consumer bargaining
power. An incentive-based activism sounds attractive and the
demonstration movie shows that this model works well - at least more
than what it expected. However, the idea is still a prototype and needs
to be observed over time for validation. There are serveral things that
need to be discussed more. For example, what is the incentive that users Not known yet.
get? How many people will continue to participate if there is no

Katrinalist PeopleFinder Project (Choose one or more types from exchanging, sharing, networking,
1. Title. Also include the link to the service. • Networking
KatrinaList PeopleFinder Project (link not available anymore) • Empowering/enabling

A grassroots activity to restore family links after Hurricane Katrina KatrinaList.net is a grassroots-level activity organized by volunteers to
restore family links right after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. It is a collection
of survivor information from across dozens of sites. The project was
3. City/Country launched to provide information on survivors to family and friends across
the web.
US
4. Starting year
Volunteers
Right after hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans, US in 2005
10. Target user

6. Source
People in New Orleans who were separated from their families after
http://web2.socialcomputingmagazine.com/
Hurricane Katrina
finding_the_real_web_20.htm
http://discovermagazine.com/2005/dec/emerging-technology
11. Image
http://newsgroups.derkeiler.com/pdf/Archive/Soc/soc.org.nonprofit/
2005-09/msg00006.pdf
7. Keywords

Figure 1. How it works “The project was launched as the core team started to realize that too
many sites were collecting data and stories on families looking for or
posting the status of their friends and neighbors. In the moments leading
up to the storm dozens of sites launched services to help their members,
including: New Orleans Newspapers (NOLA.com), TV and radio sites,
Craigslist, CNN, MSNBC, Yahoo, Blogs and the Red Cross. In the hours
following the storm companies, college students and volunteers began to
set up databases for people to add and search information. In
Katrina.net, all volunteer team created a searchable directory of persons
displaced or affected by Hurricane Katrina, consolidating over 25
different online resources into one central, searchable repository.
PeopleFinder Interchange Format, (called ‘PFIF’) is a new, standardized
data format implemented in XML.”
“Katrina People Finder helps in the organization of data about people

affected by major storms such as Hurricane Katrina and speeds searches
by allowing many organizations to contribute to a central repository. The
interchange format of Katrina People Finder makes automated search
and retrieval of data about people quick and easy. Common data will
help automated systems to connect displaced individuals via automatic
categorization and matching.”

14. Key-Innovation
The key innovation of this project is in the speed of accomplishing the

goal. The project was able to locate 50,000 people in a single day thanks
to thousands of volunteers who collaborated on a web 2.0 platform.

CivicSpace Labs (http://www.CivicSpaceLabs.org) 18. Describe positive qualities that this service create to the members
and to society.
Salesforce.com Foundation (http://www.salesforcefoundation.org/
index.html) KatrinaList contributed to forming social unity, teamwork and creativity
to solve an emergent problem, not to mention sympathy and love
Social Source Software (http://www.social−source.com/)
towards the victims.
Craigslist (http://www.Craigslist.org)

16. Social, economical and environmental benefits if any (in brief) their roles in this collaboration.
• Social benefits: The project helped to locate more than 400,000 people Web 2.0 is an enabling technology to “coalesce initially sporadic,
who were separated from their families during the catastrophe. individual efforts into a self-organized effort of thousands of individuals
that unconsciously leveraged the Web 2.0 memes of radical
• Economical benefits: The project was accomplished by a collective decentralization and harnessing collective intelligence.”
effort of volunteers in an extremely efficient way - it cost zero dollars.
As Stever Berlins Johnson, a journalist of Discovery Magazine, put it,
“PeopleFinder was the kind of data management effort that could have
taken a year to execute at great expense if a corporation or a
government agency had been in charge of it”.
Although it is not known whether among the volunteers were users of the
service - people who tried to get in touch with their families, it is
obvious that KatrinaList is a kind of charitable collaborative project and
is distinguished from the other cases of collaborative service which, by
definition, is a service organized by users for their own interest.
However, this case was included because of its innovative process and
significan social impact. This service model was replicated to help people
in other natural disasters such as hurricane Rita?.

mySociety.org
7. Keywords
mySociety.org help, integrating functions, connecting local-global)
http://www.mysociety.org/ • Empowering/enabling

2. Sub title
“We run most of the UK’s best known democracy websites.” 8. Service description and the aim (in brief)
mySociety is a non-profit organization based on charity that builds a

3. City/Country series of enabling solutions for citizens to participating in creation of
democratic society. mySociety also provides a paid service to develop
UK and worldwide solutions for a private organization. This is one way to sustain
themselves.
mySociety aims to build “socially focussed tools with off line impacts”
4. Starting year
and has two missions. The first is to be a charitable project which builds
September 2003 websites that give people simple, tangible benefits in the civic and
community aspects of their lives. The second is to teach the public and
voluntary sectors, through demonstration, how to use the internet most
5. Number of users efficiently to improve lives.
Not known
6. Source Non-profit organization
http://www.mysociety.org/about/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MySociety.org 10. Target user

Mainly UK citizens mySociety founded by Tom Steinberg in September 2003, and started
activity after receiving a £250,000 grant in September 2004. Steinberg
says that mySociety was inspired by a collaboration with his then-
11. Image flatmate James Crabtree which spawned Crabtree’s article “Civic
hacking: a new agenda for e-democracy”
Figure 1. mySociety.org
Since 2003, mySociety has built websites such as:
• TheyWorkForYou — tracks speeches and activities of Members of

Parliament, including presenting an accessible version of Hansard
• WriteToThem.com — provides contact details for elected

representatives at all levels of UK government, and users can send
messages to them directly from the site. (formerly FaxYourMP)
• Downing Street e-Petitions — petitions are collated on the website of

the Prime Minister’s Office.
• PledgeBank — runs pledges on all topics, of the form: “I will do x if y

people agree to do the same.”
• WhatDoTheyKnow — a site designed to help people find out (through

Freedom of Information requests) what the British government and
public services are doing.
• FixMyStreet — a map based application that helps people inform their

local authority of problems needing their attention, such as broken
12. Problematic background and context (in brief) streetlamps etc.
• notapathetic.com — a site about people who planned not to vote in the

United Kingdom general election, 2005.

• Placeopedia — an online gazetteer that is a mashup of Google Maps and mySociety is pioneering because until now we have seen cases whose aim
the English Wikipedia. is to provide an enabling solution for a specific problem targeting a
specific group of people, whether the motivations be self-interest of
• HearFromYourMP.com — a site encouraging MPs to email their philanthropic, and sustainability was often a byproduct of their main
constituents.
activities. However, mySociety is different. It is a platform that produces
• hassleme.co.uk — “Because your mother can’t remind you of a series of enabling solutions with an aim to improve sustainability of our
everything”, a website that sends reminders sporadically. society. They monitor society to find problems and quickly respond to
them with enabling tools.
• GroupsNearYou — a map-based application to find local community
groups in your area
• Gaze — a gazetteer web service 17. To what extent do users participate in providing the service?
• Travel-time maps — maps showing how long it takes to travel on public As the solutions provided by mySociety are empowering tools, it is users
transport to a given destination, expanded in 2007 who use the tools to provide services and therefore solve the problems
they face.
14. Key-Innovation
A pioneering example of enlightened professionals whose main job is to
and to society.
design enabling solutions for collaborative services.
mySociety stimulates people to actively participate in building
democratic society. Because the solutions of mySociety are so diverse,
15. Who are the partners? positive qualities are vary greatly. Although not all of them can be
identified in this case study, some of them - PledgeBank, … were selected
mySociety is a project of UK Citizens Online Democracy (UKCOD). UKCOD as cases and analyzed in detail.
is a registered charity in England and Wales.

16. Social, economical and environmental benefits if any (in brief) their roles in this collaboration.

Nearly all of mySociety’s projects, the code is open source: it can be
found in CVS repository. This means that it can be adopted by anyone to
serve his or her needs. It also means that mySociety itself is the result of
open source project - the developers work at home, scattered as near as
London, Cambridge, Birmingham and Cumbria and collaborating online.

4. Creating social network for conviviality
• Vicini Vicini
• WiserEarth
• Meetup
• Peladeiros
• Aka-aki

Vicini Vicini http://www.european-neighbours-day.com/en/concept-0
Vicini Vicini (Choose one or more types from exchanging, sharing, networking,
http://www.festadeivicinidicasa.it/ help, integrating functions, connecting local-global)
• Sharing
2. Sub title • Networking
La festa dei vicini di casa (The party with nextdoor neighbors) • Empowering/enabling

Rome, Italy (originated in Paris) Vicini Vicini is a service that promotes social conviviality of a community
by providing people a kit to organzie neighboring parties. It is an Italian
version of the Feast of Neighbors initiated by Comune di Roma.
4. Starting year
Not known (The initiative started in Paris in 1999)

Comune di Roma
5. Number of users
Not known (The Feast of Neighbors involves 6 million people in over 500
10. Target user
cities)
People who are willing to know their neighbors and create new social
relationship
6. Source
http://www.festadeivicinidicasa.it/
11. Image

Figure 1. Homepage of Vicini Vicini Figure 2. An application form to participate

In all of Europe, individualism, withdrawal into oneself and loneliness is 5. Eating and drinking: For everyone! Prepare drinks with and without
on the rise. Everywhere social bonds are growing loose. Each resident is alcohol. It is important that everyone contributes to the buffet: everyone
invited to make a simple gesture at the same time throughout Europe. To brings something! If there are people from different parts of Italy and the
invite your neighbours to share a nice time around a buffet or a world, it would be nice for them to prepare something typical of their
luncheon, enhances social cohesion and creates new solidarities. Born in regions.
Paris in 1999 as a small initiative in the neighborhood, the Feast of
6. Children alive!: Children are always the real stars of the festivities.
Neighbors of the House was expanded at European level in 2003 and now
Prepare things that they like including soft drinks, cakes, sweets,
involves 6 million people in over 500 cities. Every year in Europe, the
balloons and gifts. and organize simple group games.
Feast of Neighbors is held on the last Tuesday of May and the inhabitants
of a same block or an apartment get together to have a buffet or drinks. 7. Prepare contents for the party: If you can prepare musical
instruments, play them in front of the public. If you can paint, draw
facial paintings for the kids. Find out who lived longest in your building
13. Solution description and who moved in most recently. If there are people from other
countries, exchange cultural experiences with them.
The service is composed of the following components (from the website
of Vicini Vicini): 8. Decorate the feast: Think of the decorations with flowers and plants in
addition to music, remembering not to disturb the neighbors who do not
1. Talk to your neighbors: The best way to organize a celebration to
participate.
involve as many people as possible. The more people join the feast, the
more effective the initiative will be. Share ideas and organize the feast 9. Take pictures and share them: Take your photos or make a video of the
together. Preparing the event together is already part of the initiative! It festival and publish them on the website.
would be nice also to consider those who have to stay at home by not
10. That’s just the start: Vicini Vicini is the first step to get together with
disturbing them and perhaps sharing a slice of cake.
your neighbors. We would like it to be an opportunity to launch joint
2. Inform the neighbors who do not know: use the poster and flyer projects and to remove the anonymity and isolation from your
downloadable from the website (also availabe at the distribution points). neighborhood.
3. Find a suitable place: You can organize the festival at home but public
areas of your building such as the courtyard, the hall, the terrace, the
14. Key-Innovation
porch, the garden are also a good choice depending on the size of the
party. Using party as a medium to improve neighboring relationship.
4. Prepare tables and chairs: Think about the materials needed for a
buffet such as tables and chairs - especially for the elderly.

Assessorato alle Politiche, Comune di Roma, Ministero della Solidarietà 19. Enabling technologies. If applicable, describe the technologies and
Sociale, l’organizzazione di Zètema Progetto Cultura, Istituzione their roles in this collaboration.
Biblioteche di Roma, Metro, Radio Dimensione Suono 2, ROMAuno tv
Vicini Vicini utilizes basic web technologies to provide its service. They
include newsletter, uploading and downloading files and embedded
message board.
• Social: In a relatively less formalized structure of a service - a service

that is not restricted to certain rules but permits users freedom to do
whatever they want to meet their needs -, Vicini Vicini provides an
opportunity for a variety of social interactions between neighbors.
• Economical: A set of tools and information provided by the service save

people time and resources to prepare for a party.
Users organize parties using a kit provided by Vicini Vicini. On the

website, they can also share the experiences in forms of:
• Story in daily life in contact with your neighbors
• Citation on the neighbors from literatures or movies
• Result of the party with neighbors
• Sharing pictures and movies in the preparation and during the party
and to society.
Social conviviality, fun

WiserEarth
7. Keywords
WISEREarth help, integrating functions, connecting local-global)
http://www.wiserearth.org • Sharing
2. Sub title • Integrating functions
Connecting you to communities of action • Networking

Worldwide WiserEarth is an online community space that maps and connects
organizations and individuals addressing the central issues of our day:
climate change, poverty, the environment, peace, water, hunger, social
4. Starting year justice, conservation, human rights and more.
April 2007
5. Number of users Non-profit organization
22319 users
10. Target user

6. Source People involved in or interested in the movement of social justice and
environmental restoration
http://www.wiserearth.org
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WiserEarth

11. Image Figure 2. WiserEarth Groups
Figure 1. WiserEarth Directory
Figure 3. WiserEarth Community

Figure 4. WiserEarth Taxonomy Other functionality were added later to the website, such as a social
networking service and group collaboration tools.
WiserEarth provides the following four solutions at large:
• WiserEarth Directory: The world’s largest free and editable

international directory of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and
socially responsible organizations (110,000 in 243 countries, territories,
and sovereign islands).
• WiserEarth Groups: Online community forums where members can

engage in discussion, post and share resources, and collaborate on
projects.
• WiserEarth Community: A vibrant community of over 20,000 members

making connections, sharing resources, solutions, jobs, and events.
• WiserEarth Taxonomy: The world’s most detailed classification of issue
Despite more than one million organizations and the one hundred million
areas related to social justice and environmental restoration.
individuals who actively work towards ecological sustainability, economic
justice, Human rights, and political accountability, they were not as
effective as they could be at preventing harm and instituting positive
14. Key-Innovation
change because they lacked collective awareness, duplicated efforts, and
were poorly connected to each other. What is missing, as the founder of Empowering a group of people who have the same interest and are
WiserEarth, Paul Hawken, posited, was a map and directory of this spread worldwide by connecting them.
network that includes the resources for communication and cooperation,
created and managed by the community; in essence, an infrastructure
through which to coordinate the efforts of this invisible community. In 15. Who are the partners?
2005, Hawken convened a team with the objective to gather information
from 100,000 environment and social justice organizations around the WiserEarth is a fiscally sponsored project of the Natural Capital Institute
world and map this movement. This project, named WiserEarth, was (NCI), an organization committed to the restoration of the earth and the
launched on Earth Day in 2007. healing of human culture.

WiserEarth provides social and environmental benefits in two ways. The

first benefit comes from its goal as a platform to promote social justice
and environmental restoration. By connecting people and organizations
over the world, it creates a knowledge pool and a platform for actions
that benefits our society and environment. The second benefit comes
from an inherent characteristic of the platform. Based on a social-
networking-platform, WiserEarth is a community of communities related
to social justice and environmental restoration. More specifically, on
WiserEarth, users can create groups on a variety of topics to discuss
issues related to the topics, share resources, create wikis and organize
events. Such tools enhances social activities of people who are doing the
right things for our society.
Figure 5. A group page

and to society.
WiserEarth promotes social justice and responsibility to our environment.

It empowers people to achieve their goals by connecting them with
people they can collaborate with.

Social-network service, wiki, blog, google map
Users provide contents of the platform, i.e., their knowledge,

information and relations with other users. They can also create groups
to provide their own collaborative services.

Meetup (Choose one or more types from exchanging, sharing, networking,
Meetup (http://www.meetup.com/) • Sharing
2. Sub title
Do something • Learn something • Share something • Change something 8. Service description and the aim (in brief)
Meetup is the world’s largest network of local groups. Meetup makes it

3. City/Country easy for anyone to organize a local group or find one of the thousands
already meeting up face-to-face. More than 2,000 groups get together in
Worldwide (initiated in UK) local communities each day, each one with the goal of improving
themselves or their communities.
Meetup’s mission is to revitalize local community and help people around

4. Starting year
the world self-organize. Meetup believes that people can change their
2001 personal world, or the whole world, by organizing themselves into groups
that are powerful enough to make a difference.
6. Source
http://www.meetup.com/
Small Medium enterprise
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meetup.com
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnBpj9oMDDk&eurl=http://
www.meetup.com/ (a short introduction movie) 10. Target user
People who are willing to create and/or join a group in the community to
meet, share experience and act together.
7. Keywords

Figure 2. Inside a meetup group
11. Image
Figure 1. Meetup groups

Figure 3. How to create a group (you have to pay $19 per month to 12. Problematic background and context (in brief)
create and maintain a group)
Meetup was inspired by the book Bowling Alone, which is by Harvard
sociologist Robert Putnam about the decline of community in America
and how people don’t know their neighbors anymore. “The Internet does
a number of wonderful things, but it treats geography as irrelevant. We
still live in a world where the local level is extremely important. … We
are providing a service that revitalizes the Internet for local
communities.” according to one of the founder Scott Heiferman.
People are staying in front of their computers, DVD players and TVs more
and more, and losing personal connections. After 9/11, the founders of
Meetup started thinking they could help do something positive in the
world by having people reconnect—not with people in chatrooms across
the globe—but in their own communities.
Meetup.com (also called Meetup) is an online social networking portal

that facilitates offline group meetings in various localities around the
world. Meetup allows members to find and join groups unified by a
common interest, such as politics, books, games, movies, health, pets,
careers or hobbies. Users enter their ZIP code (or their city outside the
United States) and the topic they want to meet about, and the website
helps them arrange a place and time to meet.
14. Key-Innovation
A business model that runs on community-based human networks. A

platform that reinforces face-to-face meetups.

Not known. Meetup receives sponsorship from individual donators.
• Social benefits: Meetup promotes local community-based activities by

providing a platform for people to meet, communicate and act together
with their neighbors.
Meetup provides an enabling platform on which users create

collaborative services. Therefore, users are the service provider.
and to society.
The qualities created by the service depends on the characteristics of

individual meetup groups. In general, meetup aims to revitalize local
communities through face-to-face interaction.

Meetup is a web-based platform that provides to users a set of features

to create a service. These features include calendar, online poll, blog,
bulletin board, mailling list and file sharing.

Peladeiros
7. Keywords
Peladeiros help, integrating functions, connecting local-global)
http://www.peladeiro.com.br/ • Result-oriented encounters

“Peladeiro ajuda voce a organizar a sua pelada” (A web-based service to Peladeiros is a web-based tool that helps people organize soccer matches
help people organize soccer matches) more efficiently. It is basically a database of the profiles of the
registered teams and individual players. The data are customizable so
that people can manage the rank of teams and individuals and organize
3. City/Country soccer matches according to the rank of the players.
Brazil The goal of the platform is to provide a service that enables people to
organize soccer games by themselves in virtual space.
4. Starting year
2001
Small Medium enterprise (SME)
5. Number of users
10. Target user
32,250 members
Consumers in Italy. Until now, GAS members tend to be well educated
and politically active.
6. Source
http://www.peladeiro.com.br/

In August 2000, Felipe Nascimento was organizing a game of football 1. User profile: In order to join the service, one should register and fill in
when he realized that, overwhelmed by people who want to participate personal data. Then one is accessible to the groups he or she belong to,
in the game and people who are waiting to watch the game, there must schedule for the next matches and can receive the news.
be a better way to do it. So Felipe worked with development of software
for Internet, and soon saw that a small effort a few weeks could solve his
problem: it is how the first version of Peladeiro was created. At first, few
pages were intended only to his group of friends. He and his friends
discovered that the new means of control and organization of groups
gave them a lot of fun, and even more, that this small site could be a
great means of communication, storage of information, games and
entertainment. Realizing the success with his group of friends, he
decided to devote a little more so that other people could enjoy such a
tool. In January 2001 was in the air Peladeiro.com.br.
The service is composed of the following components:

2. Creating a group: A registered member can create a group and become 3. Organizing a match: The administrator can organize a match by
the administrator of the group. An administrator can register one’s selecting the players, entering the time and location of the match, cost
friends to the group, organize matches, create rankings and has his own per person, the minimum/maximum number of players and the
forum for discussion. A group is independent from other groups and only comments. When a match is organized, a message will be sent to the
the registered members can have access to group information. One can members of the group announcing the new match.
join more than one groups.

4. Confirmation of presence and absence: Confirmation of presence or 5. Order of preference: The administrator can set a preference over each
absence is made by each player. This saves phone calls of the player. He can choose the list of confirmation to be shown in the order of
administrator on the day of the match. If the number of confirmed preference or in the order of confirmation.
players does not reach the minimum number required to have a match,
the administrator must fill the shortage to meet the quorum.

6. Minimum and maximum number of players: The system checks if the - Draw = 1 point
number of confirmed players has reached the minimum and maximum
- Arrived late = -5 points
number required to have a match. If the minimum number has been
reached, the system notifies all the members that the critical mass has - Did not confirm = -10 points
been achieved and therefore the game has been confirmed. If the
maximum number has been matched, people who register afterwards are
displayed in a different color in the list of confirmation to indicate that
they are not able to play the match.
7. Ranking score: Peladeiros has a ranking system so that the

administrator can rank a player according to the following criteria:
- Won = 3 points

8. Artilharia(?): The system allows administrator to manage the players 9. Complete list of players: The list includes information of the members
according to the goals he or she has made. of a group. It includes full name, nickname, home phone, business and
mobile phone, e-mail, the player’s position (midfielder, striker, etc.) and
photo. This list is very useful to store and keep updated data of the
group.

10. User privileges: The administrator can assign privileges to users 16. Social, economical and environmental benefits if any (in brief)
allowing them to perform certain tasks and therefore sharing
• Social benefits: Although this service was motivated by self-interest to
responsibilities.
entertain, it also promotes social conviviality through sports.
• Economical benefits: This system saves considerable amount of time

and energy spent on organizing soccer matches by systematizing
repititive process.
The contents are created by users. What platform does is to create a

database of the contents and provide customizable data to organize
matches.
and to society.
Physical activities in group benefits society in many aspects including

social conviviality, teamwork, leadership, fun and improved health.
14. Key-Innovation 19. Enabling technologies. If applicable, describe the technologies and
Customizable database of players and teams
Database technology is the key element of the service. The database is
customizable so that a user can manage a detailed profile of a team and
15. Who are the partners? players and thus, provides accurate data for matches.
Not known

Aka-aki
7. Keywords
Aka Aki help, integrating functions, connecting local-global)
http://www.aka-aki.com/ • Networking

The discovery of a lifetime. Aka-aki is a social networking service based on mobile platform. It uses
mobile technologies to expand and manage social networks and bring
them to real life. Empowered by technologies embedded in mobile phone
3. City/Country such as Bluetooth, GPS and cell-ID, people who encounter in real life are
connected. People can also create new relations through sticker
Worldwide service (originated in Berlin, Germany)
matchmaking system that lets the users find just the right people. Aka-
aki is highly addictive because it’s not just another mobile social
network, it’s a socializing game with people at its core. It is patent-
4. Starting year
pending, platform-independent, live, and getting traction worldwide.
2008
The aim of aka-aki is to bring the interactions provided by social
networking service to real life using mobile technologies.
5. Number of users
1.494.926 encounters 9. Service promoter/provider
Small and medium enterprise
6. Source
http://www.aka-aki.com/ 10. Target user

People who are mainly between 24-34 years old 3, are already familiar Figure 2. aka-aki on PC
with social-networking service and are advanced tech users.
11. Image
Figure 1. aka-aki on mobile phone
Community websites have become amazingly popular over the past years
and offer plenty of useful functions: when one wants to know something
about somebody, he or she can simply click on their profile. He can click
them to write a message and to get in touch. He can click them to see,
whether we have friends in common. Problem is that this all these
activities take place in front of your computer.
Aka-aki evolved from a diploma project at the University of the Arts

Berlin. Meanwhile aka-aki became a real company which launched its
mobile social networking service on april 3rd 2008
3 http://www.aka-aki.com/press-files/downloads/Dokumente/akaakiportraitEN.pdf

13. Solution description 17. To what extent do users participate in providing the service?
You have to be a registered user and own a mobile phone that supports User are not directly involved in provision of the service. Instead, user
Bluetooth in order to use the full service of aka-aki. Aka-aki is a mobile creates contents for the service – social networks.
application that runs on J2ME. Here is a scenario of the service: “aka-aki
member Adam encounters Non-member Bob who will encounter member
Cindy 5 minutes later. Even though Adam and Cindy have not been within 18. Describe positive qualities that this service create to the members
Bluetooth radius aka-aki knows that they‘re only 5 minutes apart. That‘s and to society.
because we use Bob‘s Bluetooth ID to act as a proxy im time and space.
Friendship.
So non-members act as a “bridge” between aka-aki members. Using this
technology aka-aki has registered over a million encounters between
Bluetooth devices up to now.”
14. Key-Innovation Aka-aki has the following technological innovations:
Use of mobile technologies to connect virtual social networks to real life. • Lower entry barriers, because most phones are compatible.
• Platform independence, because Java and iPhone platforms are bridged

on the backend.
• Performance and Privacy, because it is power-saving and gives just the
This service is funded by Creathor Venture Fund, Oliver Beste (founder of
right amount of location data to deliver exciting feat
MyToys) and Fabian Hansmann (co-founder of Steganos).
Aka-aki uses 3 mobile wireless technologies to locate and connect users:
cell-ID, GPS and Bluetooth.
Aka-aki is an attempt to bring back the relational qualities that once

were in physical world but are being transferred to digital world due to
diffusion of information communication technologies. In short, it uses
technologies to recover values that have been lost because of
technologies.

5. Mutual-support circles
• ActivMob
• GROFUN
82
ActivMob
7. Keywords
ActivMob help, integrating functions, connecting local-global)
http://www.activmob.com/ • Networking
2. Sub title 8. Platform description and the aim (in brief)

Exercise that works for you. Activmob is a scheme for everyone, which is being established by Kent
County Council and The Design Council and contributes to KCC’s targets
to engaging the public in more physical activity. The scheme helps people
3. City/Country to exercise within their everyday lives. Anyone can get together a group
of friends, family or colleagues and start and ‘activmob’ providing the
Kent, UK
activity improves wellbeing. You may want to start a running mob, a
walking mob, a get-off-the-bus-two-stops-early-mob, a lunch time yoga
club or a pram pushing mob; activmobs don’t have to do things that
4. Starting year
would traditionally be called ’sport’.
2008
Activmob aims to build on what people already do or would like to do,
getting together with others to have fun while getting fitter.
5. Number of users
16 mobs - ? people (February 16, 2008) 9. Platform promoter/provider
Kent County Council, The Design Council
6. Source
http://www.activmob.com/ 10. Target user
http://www.idea.gov.uk/idk/core/page.do?pageId=8829199 Anyone trying to improve the physical condition
83
Figure 2. An example of a service - RELAXualize
11. Image
Figure 1. ActivMob platform
The project started with a pilot involving Kent County Council, the Design
Council and social housing residents in Maidstone. Through consultation
and workshops, residents reported barriers that stopped them getting
active in traditional settings. They said that new services should be
integrated into their everyday lives. Activmob is the response. The
initiative is designed to support people with shared interests. It helps link
people up and gets them to help each other in being active.
In the pilot project, residents created three ‘mobs’:
• one for people who walked their dogs and wanted to lose weight
• one for individuals with back problems
84
• one for people interested in guided walks. • Economical benefits: It is free to register and join a mob although some
mobs require small fee to organize activities. Most of activities of the
Feedback showed tangible, measurable improvements in personal
mobs are very economic - e.g. running, walking, jogging, playing soccer
wellbeing. These included better sleep and greater physical flexibility.
and singing. Another economical benefit is a side effect. It doesn’t seem
to be just the mobbers who are benefiting from this new activity – the
organisation is too through increased productivity.
On the website, one can see all the mobs currently running on the
platform. After signing up, he can join a mob that he is interested in or 17. To what extent do users participate in providing the service?
suggest an idea for a new mob. It is not clear who creates a new mob and
Active user participation is prerequisite to the survival of services.
becomes the leader but one thing that is certain is that a user cannot
create a mob on the platform. Once he joins a mob, he will be notified of
the upcoming activities through e-mail, then he can participate in the
activities.
and to society.
Activmob provides an opportunity to create positive qualities in

14. Key-Innovation individual and group levels: it provides users with healthy mind and body
and reinforces social fabric of local community.
Activmob is a simple but effective solution that responds to unmet needs
of residents in Kent.

Simple web technologies such as blog, newsletter and e-mail.
Not known
• Social benefits: As it was the need of residents in Kent, all the

activities of mobs were designed to promote socialization of the
residents. For example, by walking together for an hour, people not only
get fitter but also get closer.
85
GROFUN Case study of G.R.O.F.U.N. by Jennifer Parker
GROFUN • Exchanging
Official website: http://www.grofun.org.uk/ • Sharing
Blog: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/grofun/ • Networking
2. Sub title • Promoting user participation
Growing Real Organic Food in Urban Neigbourhoods • Promoting mutual help
Bristol, UK “GROFUN coordinates groups of neighbours in communities to

cooperatively grow food in their own back gardens, sharing labour, skills,
resources and last but not least-the delciious home-grown produce itself.
6. Source (other than the above link) The aim of this project, funded by Awards for All, is to create a working
Project Founder: model which can be adopted by more communities in the future and give
the people at the grass roots the power back to sustain themselves and
Nadia Hillman (Tel: +447973847894, Email: nadiahillman@yahoo.ca) their families with healthy, fresh food in an ever more energy-scarce
future.” (http://www.grofun.org.uk/)
Web Links:
http://www.grofun.org.uk/
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/GROFUN/
Provided by members of the community, and funded by the National
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyXJzjJnd88
Lottery through the ‘Awards for All’ scheme
http://nadiacatkinhillman.wordpress.com/category/grofun/
86
GROFUN is a grassroots project started by Nadia Hillman in Bristol in

2007, in response to the challenges of climate change, a series of food
10. Target user
crises and environmental impact of industrialized food production. It
People who have their own garden and are willing to share knowledge aims to strengthen the resilience of communities to withstand food
and labor on gardening as well as the produce. shortages of the future, as oil prices and grocery bills rise. GROFUN also
addresses problems relating to the air miles and carbon emissions
inherent in our largely imported food culture.
11. Image
Figure 1. Moodboard 13. Solution description
Anyone can join G.R.O.F.U.N., but they must firstly contribute 10 hours
of work to the project. For example they can take part in one or more
Action Days, collect compost, or deliver flyers. In return they gain 10
‘Greenie Points’, which can be used to book their own Action Day, and a
team of GROFUNNIES will come to transform their garden. Action Days
can be easily booked via a diary included on the project’s online Yahoo!
group. On-going support is provided for the gardens created, including
watering crops while people are on holiday. All of the produce grown
must be shared amongst the group members, by posting a message on the
Yahoo! group website, or arranging a shared meal for the members to
create a more social event. Members also have a shared library of
gardening books listed on the Yahoo group with descriptions. Currently
there are 10 gardens actively involved in G.R.O.F.U.N., of around 25
gardens created in total, after some participants have moved house. The
main objective of G.R.O.F.U.N. is to enable people to grow organic food
in their own place of living, however the project is evolving to offer
other benefits to the community. For example they have started a
‘Learning by Growing’ scheme, for which they run gardening workshops
12. Problematic background and context (in brief) with primary aged children in 2 Bristol schools.
87
14. Key-Innovation 18. Describe positive qualities that this service create to the members
and to society.
A service system that uses exchange of time and agricultural produce to
improve social, economical and environmental sustainability. First of all, GROFUN provides to the members joy of sharing the produce
that they have grown with effort and care. By working together, people
can become closer to their neighbors and as a result, friendship is
15. Who are the partners? formed. Most of all, as the title indicates, people have fun by working
physically, interacting with others and seeing various lives growing in
This service is supported by The National Lottery through the Awards of their gardens.
all scheme.

• Social benefits: GROFUN enables people to get to know their GROFUN uses basic web technologies to provide its service. They use
neighbours, learn new skills, gain exercise, and engage with the blog, email newsletter, file download, online album and calendar.
outdoors. GROFUNNIES gain pleasure from sharing their produce with the
group, often through a social dinner.
• Economical benefits: GROFUN provides its members economical

benefits as they produce a variety of agricultural produce as a result of
their activity. The benefits are substantial especially when the
unpredictable oil price can cause a breakdown of food distribution
system.
• Environmental benefits: The organic gardens increase biodiversity and

provide homes for wildlife. GROFUNNIES also reduce the carbon footprint
of their produce, and elimate the need for plastic packaging.
They are the users and at the same time producers of the service.
88
6. Competences, time and products exchange
• Timebanks.org
• Zero relativo

Timebanks.org http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Banking
http://www.timebanking.org/
1. Title. Also include the link to the service. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Time_Dollar#cite_note-1
Timebanks.org http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8R6VkqvsBY&feature=related
http://www.timebanks.org/ http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=GB&hl=en-GB&v=hWNbIWrJqes
2. Sub title 7. Keywords
A reciprocal service exchange which uses units of time as currency (Choose one or more types from exchanging, sharing, networking,
3. City/Country • Exchanging
26 countries (originated in USA). The two most active countries are UK • Empowering/enabling
(93 Time Banks) and USA (56 Time Banks).
• Promoting mutual help
4. Starting year
1980s
Time banking is about spending an hour doing something for somebody in
one’s community. That hour goes into the Time Bank as a Time Dollar.
Then one has a Time dollar to spend on having someone doing something
5. Number of users
for him or her. Although it may seem like a simple idea, it has powerful
? ripple effects in building community connections. Below are the five
principles of Time Banking:
6. Source (accessed on July 28, 2009) • Everyone is an asset,
http://www.timebanks.org/ • Some work is beyond a monetary price,

• Reciprocity in helping, Figure 1. Time Bank members at Volunteer Centre Royston and District
(RVC) in UK
• Social networks are necessary,
• A respect for all human beings.
TimeBanks (TM) / Local community members
10. Target user
Local community members
11. Image
Time Banking had its roots in a time when "money for social programs
[had] dried up" and no dominant approach to social service in the U.S.
was coming up with creative ways to solve the problem. Edgar Cahn, the
founder of Time Banking recalled that "Americans face at least three
interlocking sets of problems: growing inequality in access by those at
the bottom to the most basic goods and services; increasing social
problems stemming from the need to rebuild family, neighborhood and
community; and a growing disillusion with public programs designed to
address these problems" and that "the crisis in support for efforts to
address social problems stems directly from the failure of . . . piecemeal
efforts to rebuild genuine community."

Figure 2. A request for time is delivered to other members through a
email
Time trading between members is supported by a web-based software

provided by TimeBanks.org. Basically what the software does is to help
users in need to find someone who can help them. When a user requests
for a service (e.g. baby-sitting), the software delivers the request to
other members of a Time Bank and one who is able to provide the service
responds to the user. The software makes it easy for users to manage
time currency. There is a coordinator in each Time Bank who plays a role
of resolving any problems that may occur in trading.
Figure 1. Home page of Time Bank web software

Figure 3. One can respond to the request with his/her availability Figure 4. A member directory that displays the information of the
members of a Time Bank
14. Key-Innovation
Among many innovative aspects of this service, one that is most

outstanding is the fact that it utilizes people who are considered to be
passive consumers with little economic power into active producers or
valuable services. It is well described in the a statement by Edgar Cahn:
“It [Time Banking] connects you to the best in people because it creates
a system that connects unmet needs with untapped resources.” (http://
www.timebanks.org/how-it-works.htm)

15. Who are the partners? Time Banking transforms people who are considered to be freeloaders in
our societies because of their age and economic condition into active
The organization of TimeBank is consist of the founder, CEO, board of
producers and consumers of services. This provides them with self-
directors and supporters. The supporters include numerous PO and NPO’s
esteem, confidence and at the same time prevents social problems that
such as The National Institute of Justice, the Rockefeller Foundation and
might be caused by them.
the Ford Foundation.

• Social Benefits: Through Time Banking, Edgar Cahn intended to
Web-based software that manages time trading.
"[rebuild] the infrastructure of trust and caring that can strengthen
families and communities." He hoped that the system "would enable
individuals and communities to become more self-sufficient, to insulate
themselves from the vagaries of politics and to tap the capacity of
individuals who were in effect being relegated to the scrap heap and
dismissed as freeloaders."
• Economical Benefits: Time Banking promotes local economies by

maintaining the values created by the members of communities within
communities. It empowers people to create values who would be
impoverished in the monetary economy and improves their quality of life.
• Environmental Benefits: Not known
TimeBank provides an enabling solution but it is totally up to users are

what kinds of services are provided and consumed.
and to society.

Zero relativo http://twitter.com/zerorelativo
http://www.prestiamoci.it
1. Title. Also include the link to the service.
Zero relativo 7. Keywords
http://www.zerorelativo.it (Choose one or more types from exchanging, sharing, networking,

2. Sub title • Exchanging
Online bartering community • Sharing
3. City/Country
Italy 8. Service description and the aim (in brief)
Zerorelativo is the first Italian online bartering community. The name was
chosen because each object has its own value, apart from that given by
4. Starting year
the market. The main service of Zerorelativo is online bartering but it
2006 also promotes sharing not-frequently-used products (“Il prestito
gratuito”) such as textbooks, cd/dvd players and beam projectors).
The aim is to promote economic activities based on exchange and not

5. Number of users
money, thereby reducing the environmental impact caused by artificial
6655 barters registered consumption.
6. Source 9. Service promoter/provider

http://www.zerorelativo.it Zerorelativo (Members: Paolo Severi, Valeria Marigo, Vanny Red, Michele
Menciassi, Francesca D'Amato)
http://www.facebook.com/pages/wwwzerorelativoit/43876693644

Technological innovations and mass production have allowed industries to
produce products at dramatically lower prices than before and with the
10. Target user
help of marketing, industries have sustained their business models by
People who are willing to exchange and share their used products with persuading people to consume continuously. Zerorelativo warns the
others’. consequences of this consumption-led lifestyle and promotes an
alternative way of consuming: It provides an online barter service. This
non-monetary economic activity allows users to meet their needs through
11. Image sharing and exchanging of products rather than purchasing them. Services
like Zerorelativo can flourish when people change the idea that products
Figure 1. Home page need to be owned to be used.
Zerorelativo is similar to an e-commerce system except that money is not

involved in the transaction. Users have to register themselves and their
used goods in order to use the service (Figure 2). Registered products are
shown in a list (Figure 3) and users can offer an exchange or leave a
comment (Figure 4).

Figure 2. Registration of a product Figure 3. A list of the registered products

Figure 4. A page that describes a product in detail • Environmental Benefits: Users benefit environmentally by prolonging
the life of products
• Economical Benefits: Users benefit economically by not spending

money but using what already exists.
• Social Benefits: User benefits socially because they exchange things

with others in a playful, active and sensible way. (translated from http://
www.zerorelativo.it/il-baratto.php)
Users register their used products and trade them on the online solution
provided by Zerorelativo.it.
and to society.
Not known
14. Key-Innovation
An idea that breaks the norm that products have to be owned to be used. 19. Enabling technologies. If applicable, describe the technologies and
e-commerce system, blog, calendar, search engine, web radio (the

15. Who are the partners? purpose of web radio is to listen to music while bartering), Facebook,
Prestiamoci.it (Prestiamoci.it is a website that promotes sharing of used Twitter, Skype
products.)

7. Products, places and knowledge sharing
• Shelfari
• Bookcrossing
• Couch surfing
• Hitchhikers

Shelfari http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119283031864265282.html?
mod=googlenews_wsj
1. Title. Also include the link to the service.

7. Keywords
Shelfari
http://www.shelfari.com/ empowering/enabling, promoting user participation, promoting mutual
• Networking
2. Sub title
The site for books and readers.

3. City/Country Based in Seattle, Shelfari introduces readers to the global community of

book lovers and encourages them to share their literary inclinations and
US passions with peers, friends, and total strangers (for now). Shelfari is a
gathering place for authors, aspiring authors, publishers, and readers,
and has many tools and features to help these groups connect with each
4. Starting year other in a fun and engaging way. The mission of Shelfari is to enhance
the experience of reading by connecting readers in meaningful
2006 (Acquired by Amazon.com in 2008)
conversations about the published word.
5. Number of users
“Six digits” (confidential)
Shelfari, the service provider started as a small enterprise and now is a
part of the internet giant Amazon.com.
6. Source
http://www.shelfari.com/ 10. Target user
Book readers

Figure 2. A group list
11. Image
Figure 1. My bookshelf
Figure 3. Group bookshelf

12. Problematic background and context (in brief) 14. Key-Innovation
Mr. Hug, who spent seven years at RealNetworks, started Shelfari in an Use of social network to promote reading and also to make profits.
effort to create a project that sparked “richer discussions” than what he
had been working on. Partnering with a former Accenture consultant,
Kevin Beukelman, he looked at networks such as CD-swapping community 15. Who are the partners?
Lala.com as potential models. Being avid readers, the partners settled on
None
books as the focus of their new business.

Social benefits of Shelfari comes from its social-network based platform.
Users can join Shelfari by registering and then adding books they have
Users meet new people and get to know them naturally as they search
read or are interested in reading to their virtual bookshelf. They can
for a book, join a group and write or read reviews on the book. Shelfari is
expand their bibliography and interaction with other members by
different from other cases in a sense that it is a service provided by a
navigating book groups, join them or create one for themselves.
large corporation, Amazon.com and not a service organized by users.
In Shelfari members do the following things: Even when it first started as a small enterprise, the motivation was not in
promoting social network through books but in creating a profitable
• Build virtual bookshelves to express themselves to their friends and to
business model with books as a medium.4 And the efforts of the founders
the world
were compensated when it was sold to Amazon in 2008. However, Shelfari
• Discover books that are popular in their trusted circles of friends has been included in the case study because I think it is a robust model
of collaborative service on digital platform in which business aspect is
• Influence peers by rating and discussing books online
emphasized well. In other words, it is a good example of a collaborative
• Discover and learn from people with similar reading tastes service successfully fit into the market economy.
• Participate in online book groups to further explore literature and share

ideas
• Interact with and learn from authors
4 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119283031864265282.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

User are not directly involved in provision of the service. Instead, user
creates contents for the service – social networks.
and to society.
Shelfari promotes the experience of reading by sharing books and reviews

which plays a role of distributing information and knowledge to society.
Shelfari accomplishes this mission using social network platform. On this
platform, users meet new people but more often they invite their friends
to share the intellectual experience which consolidates friendship.

Shelfari has a good user interface that makes the navigation of contents
intuitive and interesting. For example, it’s bookshelf interface in Figure 1
makes it aesthetically pleasing and easy to navigate books, which by the
way can also be exported to one’s blog or Myspace and Facebook page. It
also allows users to import their mailing list to invite friends and form a
group.

Bookcrossing • Sharing
1. Title. Also include the link to the service. 8. Service description and the aim (in brief)
Bookcrossing (http://www.bookcrossing.com/) The terminology ‘bookcrossing’ is defined as “the practice of leaving a

book in a public place to be picked up and read by others, who then do
likewise”. The term is derived from bookcrossing.com, a free online book
2. Sub title club which began and encouraged the practice and aims to “make the
whole world a library”. (Wikipedia) BookCrossing is the act of releasing
i am, therefore i read books “into the wild” and then following their journeys and the lives they
touch.
3. City/Country
Worldwide (initiated in US)
Small Medium enterprise
4. Starting year
10. Target user
2001
Readers, writers, teachers, students, women, men, parents, singles,
octogenarians, little ones, business execs, geeks, butchers, bakers,
6. Source candlestick makers — it’s hard to find a segment of the world’s
population not represented in the almost 3/4 of a million BookCrossers
http://www.bookcrossing.com/
who have joined our site. And they’ve registered over 5 million books!
About 300 new members join BookCrossing each day. Membership is free,
so all that is required is access to the Internet, a love of books, a sense
7. Keywords
of fun, and an interest in checking out BookCrossing!
help, integrating functions, connecting local-global) 11. Image
• Networking

Figure 1. Registering a book Figure 3. Forum
Figure 2. Hunting a book in the wild

The idea for BookCrossing came to Ron Hornbaker back in March of 2001,
as he and his wife Kaori were admiring the PhotoTag.org site, which
tracks disposable cameras loosed into the wild. He already knew about
the popularity of WheresGeorge.com (which tracks U.S. currency by
serial number), and that got him thinking: what other physical object
might people enjoy tracking? A few minutes later, after a glance at his
full bookshelf, the idea of tracking books occurred to him. After two
hours of research on the Internet, Ron realized, to his surprise, that
nothing like BookCrossing had been done on any significant scale. And so
they went to work. By 3 A.M. that morning, they had decided on the
name (zero hits for “bookcrossing” on Google), registered the domain,
and Kaori had sketched the running book logo on a crossing sign. The rest
was merely execution.

With the backing of his partners, Heather and Bruce Pedersen, Ron went 15. Who are the partners?
to work programming the site from scratch the next day, and about four
None
mostly sleepless weeks later, on April 17, 2001, www.bookcrossing.com
was launched.
13. Solution description • Social benefits: The ‘crossing’ or exchanging of books may take any of a
number of forms, including wild releasing books in public, direct swaps
Ever look at your bookshelf and see a book you liked (or didn’t like) that
with other members of the websites, or “book rings” in which books
you have a spare copy of, that’s taking up space or that you just know
travel in a set order to participants who want to read a certain book. The
you won’t read again? BookCrossers see those books as opportunities,
community aspect of BookCrossing.com has grown and expanded in ways
and register them at www.bookcrossing.com. Each book registered on
that were not expected at the outset. In addition to forum discussions,
BookCrossing receives its very own BCID (BookCrossing ID number), which
mailing lists and annual conventions throughout the world.
enables members to “tag and track” the book as it journeys through life.
• Economical benefits: BookCrossing obviously has an economic incentive
The book is labeled with BCID and site information, then left somewhere
to those want to read books for free. It means that, on the other side of
(“released”) for someone else to find. People who find (“catch” in
the market, someone is losing money. BookCrossing was criticized by
BookCrossing lingo) a wild book are invited to visit
Jessica Adams, author of several novels, who claimed that books were
www.bookcrossing.com to see where the book has been and what
being “devalued” by the website as BookCrossing could lead to lower
previous readers have thought about it. They can make an entry about
sales of books and, therefore, the reduction in royalties being paid to
the book anonymously or join BookCrossing (it’s free!) and track the
authors.
book’s future travels. Journal entries are relayed to all previous readers
by our secure messaging system so that they, too, can follow the book’s • Environmental benefits: BookCrossing is “earth-friendly” because it
adventures. increases the collective use of books thereby saving materials and energy
put into publishing.
14. Key-Innovation
Book labeling system called BookCrossing ID number (BCID) allows users
to keep the track of any book released through this system and see the BookCrossing provides an enabling platform on which users provide and
complete journal history of the book. receive a book-sharing service.

and to society.
Sharing books is more than just sharing a product. It is a way of sharing

knowledge and wisdom. However, it is also noteworthy that this service
also has a negative impact to a special interest group - all the
stakeholders in the publishing industry are afraid of losing their pie as
services like BookCrossing grows.

BookCrossing is a web-based service that features a database that allows

users to register and search books. It also has an online community where
people meet, communicate and discuss the books they have read. It has
an e-commerce system to sell accessories useful for bookcrossing such as
a release kit, envelopes and stickers. Lastly, it runs a service called
‘author crossing’, a web-based self-publishing solution.

Couch surfing • Exchanging
• Sharing
Couch surfing • Promoting user participation
Official website: www.couchsurfing.com • Promoting mutual help
2. Sub title
Providing residence for tourist, exchanging, welcome new culture 8. Service description and the aim (in brief)
Surfing a couch means to have a possibility to stay in a surfer’s house for

free during travel, and making friends with them. After sign up on the
3. City/Country site, and verified by administrator, people have opportunity to meet new
Worldwide (Started in US) friends in different cities, people can invite or be invited to surf their
couches. This service is available to everyone who is open to cultural
exchange and building human network. It also helps people to learn
about other countries as people are the most important part of it.
6. Source
The aim of this project is to establish a global network of people and
Case study by Luo Lan
places, create educational exchanges, raise collective consciousness,
www.couchsurfing.com spread tolerance and facilitate cultural understanding. Well described in
its mission, ‘Participate in Creating a Better World, One Couch at a
Existence of a platform
Time’, Couch surfing aims at making the world a better place by opening
(Platform here is defined as a system that provides a series of services it up and establishing connections through cultural exchange.
including one being analyzed under a single goal)
No
The platform is offered by a non-profit organization and the service is

7. Keywords offered by individual home owners throughout the world.

Figure 2. User profile with couch information
10. Target user
People who want to meet new people and exchange cultures by sharing
their houses.
11. Image
Figure 1. Home page
The idea solidified when founder, Casey Fenton, got a cheap ticket to
Iceland for a long weekend one April. With his ticket in hand, there was
one problem: he had no place to stay and no desire to rot in a hotel all
weekend and play Mr. Tourist. So, he came up with the ‘brilliant’ idea of
spamming over 1500 Icelandic students in Reykjavik and asking them if he
could crash on one of their couches. After exchanging emails with many
of the students, he had several groups of friends offer to show him
‘their’ Reykjavik. So, after spending an amazing, crazy weekend just
south of the Arctic Circle, Casey decided he would never again get
trapped in a hotel and tourist marathon while traveling. And, thus, the
Couch surfing Project was born.

Couch surfing is a completely member supported and driven community.
Whether it has an external partner is not informed by the source.
By registering as a member at the www.Couch surfing.com, one becomes

eligible to participate in this collaborative service. This service is based 16. Social, economical and environmental benefits if any (in brief)
on mutual help and is comprised of two parties - a host and a guest. A
• Social benefits: By opening minds and welcome the knowledge that
typical procedure to use the service is as follows:
cultural exchange makes available, Couch surfing creates deep and
1. Create a profile and fill personal information including photos. meaningful connections across nations and cultures. Couch surfing wants
to change not only the way people travel, but how people relate to the
2. In order to find places to stay, log on to the website and search for
world. Also it’s a perfect tool to help generate trust and bring people all
members who live near the places you want to visit.
together.
3. Contact interesting prospects from the list and explain the sort of
• Economical benefits: “Couch surfing” is a good choice for travelers who
travel/stay you’re interested in. Use the “Request to Couch surfing
has a tight budget because the service is basically “free”. It is based on
with…” button to include specific details.
gift economy and the service is offered without use of money or any
4. Select from the offers you have received one that you would like to other form of payment.
stay.
• Environmental benefits: Couch surfing reduces demand for hotel rooms,
5. Confirm with your host and make an appointment. which in turn reduces the consumption of building materials and energy
for maintenance. This is even more important in the developing world,
6. The rest is entirely up to the host and the guest. The host can pick up
where hotels are regularly built in ecologically sensitive areas like
the guest and then take him or her to the local sites, go to a pub
beaches, forests, and wetlands.
together, enjoy a conversation drinking beers and so forth.

14. Key-Innovation
Couch surfing is based on mutual help, therefore users are also the
Inventing a totally new concept of journey - a journey that is based on
producers of the service.
relational qualities between a guest and a host without any form of
payment involved.
and to society.

Couch surfing is different from the conventional tour or accommodation
service in that it is based on what Buber calls ‘I-Thou’ rather than ‘I-It’
relationship, i.e., an encounter of a guest and a host without conceptual
anticipation which can develop into a relationship based on cultural
exchange.

Couch surfing is based on mutual trust between the members. However,

in order to build trust in the first place, a mechanism to ensure safety is
necessary. Couch surfing has two ways to ensure safety of the service -
vouching and verification. Please refer to the following exerpt for
detailed information.
“Not just anyone is a vouched for member. Members can only become
vouched for by an already vouched for CouchSurfing.com member.
Essentially, it’s a trust circle. What is the verification system? In the
verification process, we check to make sure your name and address are
correct and valid. Once you have completed the process, your profile
identifies you as a level 3 verified member. Other people viewing your
profile may feel safer about communicating with and meeting you
because you are verified. Some people choose to ONLY communicate with
other verified members. It’s all about your own personal preferences and
feeling about safety. For some people, verification may not be important.
For others, it is crucial. It’s up to you.”

Hitchhikers 7. Keywords

Hitchhikers • Sharing
http://www.hitchhikers.org • Empowering/enabling

2. Sub title
Hitchhiking web service in Europe 8. Service description and the aim (in brief)
A collaborative service with the main purpose to connect hitchhikers and

3. City/Country drivers.
Mainly Europe (originated from The Netherlands)

A group of consumers and producers

4. Starting year
1999
10. Target user
5. Number of users Travelers with and without cars
Not known
11. Image
6. Source
http://www.hitchhikers.org

Figure 1. Moodboard Hitchhikers.org was created by a group of people who are enthusiastic
hitchhikers and surfers with a motivation to connect hitchhikers and
drivers. They used simple web technologies such as bulletin board,
message, security image and Paypal transaction to implement their
ideas. Despite the concerns of how to establish trust between the users,
there are constant demand and supply of the service - 3~10 cases a day.
Users who need a ride or who can offer a space in their cars can register
in the bulletin board with a set of basic information such as name,
destination, time and date of the journey. Then a person who would like
to join them can contact them by sending a message.
14. Key-Innovation
Solving the needs of mobility and promoting social conviviality with

simple web technologies.
Not known

A driver who has empty seats or is seeking for someone to travel with, or
wants a small compensation can find a person who needs a ride. • Social benefits: By connecting people in needs (of a ride and of a travel
mate), hitchhikers.org provides opportunities for people to create new
relationship and therefore promotes social conviviality. As it grows and
replicates, they contribute to building a more trustful society.
• Environmental benefits: By sharing a space in a car which otherwise is
to be wasted, hitchhikers.org contributes to reducing the carbon
footprints of the travelers.

The platform is simple and autonomous. The contents of the platform are
composed of information given by users. Drivers who want to share a ride
post their travel information on the bulletin board and then people who
need a ride search for one in the list. The platform only connects people
and the rest, including money transaction, exchange of detailed
information of journey, occurs outside the platform.
and to society.
Relational qualities between people who share a car, social conviviality

Web database, bulletin board

A platform. A platform hosts one or more enabling solutions.
III. Theoretical framework on collaborative •
However, a platform is not a necessary condition for a collaborative
service on the digital platform service to exist. A majority of collaborative solutions in the case
study exist without a platform. Ones that exist on a platform are
1. Structural system of collaborative service on the digital FixMyStreet, PledgeBank and No 10 Petitions.
platform • An enabling solution. An enabling solution motivates and empowers
people to create or participate in a service to meet their needs.
In defining collaborative services on the digital platform, there was a
Thanks to the democratization of technologies, enabling solution
hypothetic idea of what it requires to be formed (3 criteria for selecting
provides a variety of choices with people to create a collaborative
the cases). The result of case studies clarified this hypothesis and
service more efficiently and effectively than ever.
confirmed that all the cases exhibit a common characteristic regarding
the environment in which it is formed and develops. The structural • A collaborative service. On top of the enabling solution lies a
system of collaborative service on the digital platform consists of 4 collaborative service created and accessed by users in both the
elements: an event, a collaborative service, an enabling solution and a digital and/or the physical world. An enabling solution may host only
platform. one collaborative service or multiple collaborative services. In the
case of the latter, the services may be homogenous, i.e., have the
Figure 1. The structural system of collaborative service on the digital
same goal, or heterogeneous, i.e., have different goals. Enabling
platform
solution makes services visible and accessible to a broader range of
people and allows them to form a network.
An event is the result of a collaborative service in digital and/or
!/0"2( physical form. e.g.) Diabetics • An event. An event is the result of a collaborative service in the
physical world. An event may vary in the size of participants, the
-*%%#$*.#,/0( A service created by users involves activities in the digital degree of interaction and the knowledge or physical assets required
)0./&10( and/or physical world. e.g.) Seattle Social Diabetics by the participants (e.g. a large smart mob vs. two people sharing
couches). These variables need to be considered when designing a
An enabling solution motivates and empowers people to collaborative service and an enabling solution.
!"#$%&"'()*%+,*"(( create a service to meet their needs e.g.) Meetup
A platform hosts one or more enabling solutions

3%#4*.5( e.g.) Zoes

2. 7 typologies of collaborative service diffused locational information.
Based on the primary goal of the collected collaborative services, the e.g.) Green Map and Open Green Map which aim to create a global map
cases were categorized into 7 typologies: of sustainable sites and events through grassroots collaboration;
FixMyStreet, an open-source project that reports, views, or discusses
• Producer/consumer network local problems like graffiti, fly tipping, broken paving slabs, or street
• Mapping diffused information lighting which can then be solved by the local councils.
• Aggregate social action
• Creating social network for conviviality Aggregate social action. In this typology, people act together and use
their collective power to achieve certain social goals.
• Mutual support circle
e.g.) PledgeBank, a website that enables people to achieve their goals by
• Competences, time and products exchange asking other people to do the same; No 10 petition, an e-petition solution
• Products, places and knowledge sharing in UK that delivers people’s petitions to the Prime Minister; Carrot mob,
a network of consumers who buy products in a form of a mob in order to
reward businesses who are making the most socially responsible
decisions. Its goal is to leverages consumer power to make the most
Producer/consumer network. In this typology, producers and consumers
socially-responsible business practices also the most profitable choices.
pursue mutual benefits by establishing a direct network. It is often found
in the food industry where producers and consumers create networks to
solve problems caused by long supply chains such carbon emission and
Creating a network for social conviviality. In this typology, the primary
degeneration of local food industries and to promote critical and
goal is to improve social conviviality by forming and reinforcing a social
responsible consumption.
network. Users are often from the same locality and interact face-to-
e.g.) Mapo Dure, a food cooperative in Mapo district of Seoul, South face and virtually on a regular basis.
Korea; GAS (Gruppi di Aquisto Solidale), a food purchasing group in Italy;
e.g.) Meetup, an enabling solution that allows people to form a network
Solidarius and Sistema FBES (Fórum Brasileiro de Economia Solidária)
of local groups hosts numerous collaborative services, i.e., individual
both of which are digital platforms to promote solidarity economy in
meetups. Among them ones that are organized by users in a specific
Brazil.
region for socialization such as Milano meetup; Peladeiros is a solution in
Brazil that helps people organize soccer matches; Vicini Vicini is a service
initiated by the Municipality of Rome to promote social conviviality of the
Mapping diffused information. In this typology, users collaborate to map community. It provides people with tools to organize neighboring parties.

goals (e.g. economical, political, environmental and social) and therefore
may belong to more than one typologies. Due to the limited research
Mutual support circle. In this typology, users provide mutual support to
scope of the light analysis, the focus was on the primary goal of the
one another in order to solve problems that they have in common.
collaborative services and secondary goals were not considered.
e.g.) Open Health project by the Design Council of UK intends to However, in some cases where the were identifiable, they were reflected
empower patients of chronic disease and their family members to in the matrix in parenthesis.
support themselves and those who have the same problem. One result of
this project is Activmob, a service organized by people in Kent to do
physical activities together.
Competences, time and products exchange. In this typology, people

collaborate through the exchange of competences, time and products.
e.g.) Time bank, a reciprocal service exchange based on a time-based

currency in which community members exchange their time to satisfy
their needs. Zero Relativo, an online bartering system in Italy which
allows people to exchange secondhand products.
Products, places and knowledge sharing. In this typology, people

collaborate through sharing products, places and knowledge.
e.g.) Hitchhikers, an online service that connects people in need of rides

and people who have empty seats in their cars; Couch surfing, a global
initiative of sharing couches between travelers while exchanging
different cultures and creating social network; Bookcrossing, a global
book sharing scheme in which one leaves a book in a public place to be
picked up and read by others, who then do likewise.
Table ? is a matrix of the cases vs. the typologies of collaborative service.

Each case was assigned to a corresponding typology based on its primary
goal. This implies that collaborative services may have multi-faceted

Table 1. Cases of collaborative service in typologies
(HM: Homogeneous, HT: Heterogeneous, S: Single)
case (column) - service Producers / Mapping Aggregated Creating Mutual- Competences Products, Type
typology (row) consumers diffused social action social support , time and places
networks information network for circles products knowledge
conviviality exchange sharing
Hitchhikers o HM
Social invention center o HM

in Hope institute
Peladeiros o HM
Vicini vicini o HM
Green map o HM
Open green map o HM
Grofun o S
Couch surfing o HM
Meetup HT
Pledgebank o HM
Shelfari o HM

Bookcrossing o HM
Mapo dure (platform) PLATFORM
Aka aki HT
Carrotmob o HM
GAS o (o) HM
No 10 Petitions o HM
FixMyStreet o HM
One life Japan o S
WiserEarth o HT
Solidarius o HT?
mySociety.org PLATFORM
(platform)
Sistema FBES o HT?
Activmob o HM
Zero relativo o HM
Timebanks o HM

3. The usage patterns of ICT in collaborative services based on Google maps, users have easier and more efficient
environment to create maps and more than 4000 sites have been
The light analysis revealed that the usage patterns of ICT by created in less than one year.
collaborative organizations varies from a mailing list to a highly
• Easy participation and withdrawal from collaboration thereby lowering
customized database depending on the goal of the organizations and
services. However, in all of them, ICT plays a role of “democratizing the threshold of participation. As much as the creation of a
innovation” (Hippel 2005). In other words, it provides novel ways of collaborative service has become easy, so did the participation and
production, i.e., peer-to-peer collaboration that is more democratic in withdrawal. This contributed to lowering the psychological pressure put
political aspect and more efficient in economical aspect than the upon users and gave users more freedom. This consequently eliminated
traditional mode of production (Benkler 2006). The case studies revealed barriers that kept people from participating in collaborative services
that collaborative services on the digital platform benefit from ICT such as economic burden, dedication of time and effort to the service.
mainly in the following ways: • Various incentive mechanisms that motivate people to collaborate.
Some cases employ incentive mechanisms used in a crowd-sourced
system in order to motivate people to participate and collaborate. For
• Sharing and creating the Creative Commons. Some cases were example, PledgeBank, a website where people publicize their pledges
developed using open source code or solutions that are free for non- and ask others to join, uses the bandwagon effect to attract people to
commercial uses, thereby dramatically reducing the cost and also participate by showing the number of people who have joined the
providing opportunities for others to replicate their initiatives. Such pledges.
cases are No 10 Petitions, FixMyStreet, PledgeBank and Open Green
Map.
• Various digital tools that improve productivity and enable efficient 4. Dual dimension of collaborative service and its use of
communication and interaction between the participants. In the cases
ICT
of Meetup and WiserEarth, organizing a face-to-face meeting has
become easier than ever through social network service, calendar, blog ICT and the dual dimension of collaborative service
and RSS. Carrotmob, an example of smart mob, would not have been
As it was mentioned in the introduction, collaborative service by
even possible had it not been for ICT. In the case of Green Map Service,
definition has a dual dimension of production: the first dimension is the
since it was launched in 1995, users have collaborated to create maps
production of a solution, i.e., a service that solves social problems of
of over 400 cities from 55 countries (in December 2008). With the
users. Because this is the main goal of a collaborative service and the
launch of Open Green Map in 2008, a digital version of Green Map

outcome is visible and measurable, all the service design tools that are
currently available are dedicated to this dimension, i.e., how to design a
solution that most effectively solves the existing social problems. In this 5. Collaborative service and social network
paper, the focus is on the other dimension, the production of social Granovetter’s weak ties
capital. Social capital5 is crucial to the existence of a collaborative
service. As Cipolla (2007) claimed, a collaborative service requires According to Granovetter, interpersonal ties in an organization are
relational qualities as a prerequisite and they are amplified as the result categorized into three types: strong ties, weak ties and absent.
of the service. In addition to the relational qualities, another essential
social capital produced by collaborative service is social network. In the
next paragraph, how the production of a solution and the social network Key concepts
of collaborative organizations are enhanced by ICT is explained.
1. Strong ties and weak ties
In ‘The strength of weak ties’, Granovetter introduces the notion of

ICT and the production of a solution. The degree to which each case of strong ties and weak ties that exist between individuals.
collaborative service makes use of ICT varies from a simple mailing list to
a highly customized database. However, in all of them, ICT plays a role of
“democratizes innovation” (Hippel 2005). It has introduced a novel way Granovetter claims that “the strength of a tie is a (probably linear)
of production, peer-to-peer collaboration that is more democratic in combination of the amount of time, the emotional intensity, the intimacy
political aspect and more efficient in economical aspect than the (mutual confiding), and the reciprocal services which characterize the
traditional mode of production (Benkler 2006). tie.” He defines the strength of a tie as the following:
“Consider, now, any two arbitrarily selected individuals-call them A

and B-and the set, S = C, D, E, ..., of all persons with ties to either or
ICT and the production of social network. It has been said that as ICT
both of them." The hypothesis which enables us to relate dyadic ties
improves the productivity of solutions, it creates and reinforces the
to larger structures is: the stronger the tie between A and B, the
social network of collaborative organizations as a byproduct. This in
larger the proportion of individuals in S to whom they will both be
return contributes to the spread of the solutions. This can be explained
tied, that is, connected by a weak or strong tie. This overlap in their
by the notion of weak ties and strong ties by Granovetter.
5 Among many definitions of Social capital, one by Putnam best describes social capital in this context: ‘features of social organization, such as networks, norms and social
trust that facilitate coordination and cooperation for mutual benefit’ (Putnam 1995)

friendship circles is predicted to be least when their tie is absent, because, by definition, strong ties exist between two nodes only when
most when it is strong, and intermediate when it is weak.” 6 there exist a group of individuals that both of them are tied to.
Figure 2. A sociogram that illustrates a local bridge A-B of degree 3. Local bridge of degree n means that the shortest path between its two
(Dotted lines indicate weak ties and solid lines indicate strong ties) points (other than itself) is n. In figure ?, the local bridge A-B is of degree
3 and in figure ?, it is of degree 13.
Critical distance is defined as “a distance [length of path] beyond which

it is not feasible for one node to communicate with another because of
costs or distortions entailed in each act of transmission.” In figure ?, a
local bridge A-B is of degree 13. It means that if a weak tie between A
and B did not exist and the critical distance is less than 13, the
connections between A, C, D, E and B would not be established.
Strong ties exist typically within families, cliques and take decades to be
formed. On the other hand, weak ties are formed by any kind of
interpersonal interaction and therefore take relatively short amount of
time to be formed.
2. Bridge, local bridge and critical distance
Bridge is “a line in a network which provides the only path between two
points”. In figure ?, the line that connects A and B is a bridge since it is
the only path that connects the two points. All bridges are weak ties
6 Granovetter (1973)

Figure 3. A sociogram that illustrates a local bridge A-B of degree 13 Strong tie Weak tie
• Formed within families, cliques • Formed by any type of interaction
and relatives • Takes relatively short time to be
• Arguably takes decades to be formed
formed • Observed in a network
• Observed in a group • Observed in the physical side of
• Observed in the physical side of collaborative services and more
collaborative services frequently in the digital side
• Information is self-contained • Information is diffused
Because of the attributes of strong and weak tie in relation to the

diffusion of information, Granovetter claimed that “individuals with
many weak ties are … best placed to diffuse a difficult innovation, since
some of those ties will be local bridges.” (Granovetter 1973) If we
interpret this statement in the context of social innovation, the diffusion
of social innovation is achieved through weak ties and the success of
replicating a collaborative service depends on how many weak ties
members of collaborative organization establish. Before discussing this
further, it is necessary to consider how ICT influence the formation of
weak ties. This report does not provide a profound analysis on the nature
of personal interaction in the virtual and physical space but given the
Strongly tied people tend to form an isolated and exclusive group fact that a variety of ICT are available in everyday life that allow people
whereas weakly tied group tend to form an open and distributed to form relationship with others - whether it be the creation of new
network. This social network structure also influences the flow of relationship or the reinforcement of existing relationship - much more
information so that, in a strongly tied group, information tends to be efficiently than in the physical space and that barriers of forming new
self-contained and in a weakly tied group, information tends to diffuse relationship that exist in the physical world such as the physical distance,
over the network because those which are local bridges create more, and cultural difference and language can be reduced with these technologies,
shorter, paths for information flow (Granovetter 1973). Table 3 it can be said that collaborative organizations that adopt ICT have
summarizes the comparison between strong tie and weak tie. advantages over ones that rely on face-to-face communication in
establishing new personal ties.
Table 3. A comparison between a strong tie and a weak tie.

Going back to collaborative service on the digital platform, ICT not only

reinforces the existing social network of the users but also expands it by
creating weak ties. It is these weak ties that effectively spread the
innovative ideas of collaborative services, thereby creating a synergy
effect. In section IV, the social networks of collaborative organizations
are explored.

other countries. Some of them may not be in the condition to participate
VI. The social networks of collaborative in a gardening activity but they share the core value of GROFUN which is
organizations “to create a working model which can be adopted by more communities
in the future and give the people at the grass roots the power back to
sustain themselves and their families with healthy, fresh food in an ever
more energy-scarce future” (http://www.grofun.org.uk/). As a result,
1. GROFUN GROFUN grows from a group of 10 members who garden together to a
The process of spreading a collaborative service can be described in the group of 120 members who share the same philosophy (Figure 2).
following hypothetical story based on one of the case studies called
GROFUN (Growing Real Organic Food in Urban Neigbourhoods).
Figure 2. GROFUN in the phase of expansion
Nadia, a pioneering leader with a vision of urban gardening introduces an

innovative idea called ‘GROFUN’ and put it into practice with her
neighbors in Bristol that she is connected to via strong and weak ties.
This forms a closed group, a collaborative organization (Figure 1).
Figure 1. GROFUN in the phase of a closed group
GROFUN members like their idea and decide to do it in a larger scale. In

order to share information and communicate better with increasing
members and to diffuse its idea, Nadia decides to create a group in
Yahoo! Group. People start joining the group from other areas of UK and

The weak ties formed in the virtual space help diffuse the initiative of
GROFUN and connect people of similar initiatives. People inspired by
GROFUN start similar services in their own communities. ICT also helps
similar initiatives to be connected, eventually forming a network of
urban gardening groups. (Figure 3)
Figure 3. GROFUN in the phase of a network
Cases that show a similar pattern: Mapo Dure

2. PledgeBank Figure 5. PledgeBank groups being formed
PledgeBank is an opensource website that empower people to do what

they want by making pledges and asking other people to do the same.
Figure 4. Pledgers
Figure 4 illustrates the beginning phase of PledgeBank where there are

pledgers but not yet people who follow them.

As time passes, more users join PledgeBank and make pledges as well as
follow other people’s pledges. Depending on the content of pleges, users
may or may not interact with one another. According to the case study,
most pleges do not end up forming neither strong nor weak ties. There
exist no personal tie between them according to the notion defined by
Granovetter. However, in the figure, the relationship between a pledgers
and followers is described as grey dotted lines in order to distinguish the
follwers from pledgers without any followers. In a group of a radiant
shape, the node in the center is a pledger and nodes that connects it
through grey dotted lines are followers (Figure 5).
Figure 6. Pledgbank at the mature level
As PledgeBank reaches its mature level, there are more pledges and
more followers, making the sociogram more densed.

Transition from stage 2 to stage 3 is enhanced by the fact that
PledgeBank is an opensource solution. Anyone who is willing to start a
service similar to this can use the source of PledgeBank for free and
develop his or her own solution.
Cases that show a similar pattern: No 10 Petition, Carrotmob, Social

invention center by Hope Institute, FixMyStreet
3. Meetup
Meetup is an enabling platform that promotes face-to-face meetups
between people in the same community. The goals of Meetup groups vary
from making friends to fighting a chronic disease. But they share in
common that there is a leader who manages groups and organize
meetups and that people interact in the physical place on a regular basis.
Figure 7 shows the early phase of Meetup where people have just created
groups but there are no member yet.
Figure 7. Meetup group leaders
As Meetup become more popular, more groups are created and more
people join the group as it is illustrated in Figure 8. In a group, members
are connected through strong and weak ties (mostly weak ties).

Figure 8. Meetup groups In Meetup.com, users can search groups in their neighborhood based on
their location and topic. If you are a member of a group, Meetup.com
even recommends groups similar to your group in your area. This makes
the enabling solution visible to users and increases chances to join new
groups. This is whay happened in Figure 9. As the enabling solution
reaches its mature level, more groups are formed, more users join groups
and inter-group ties are formed.

Figure 9. Meetup at the mature level
4. Zerorelativo
Zerorelativo is an online barter community in Italy. It was built and
managed by Paolo Severi. It is a small enterprise with 5 employees.
Figure 10. Zerorelativo founder and staffs
In Zerorelativo, collaboration is mutual, i.e., it takes place between two

people who want to exchange their goods. Figure 10 describes this
mutual relationship. The characteristic of the relationship is mainly weak
tie (or absent) because no activity other than exchanging goods is
Cases that show a similar pattern: GAS, Activmob, TimeBanks officially promoted by the enabling solution.

Figure 11. Mutual ties betwen Zerorelative users Figure 12. Zerorelativo at the mature level
As the enabling solution gets mature, more mutual ties are formed. It Cases that show a similar pattern: Hitchhikers, Couchsurfing
may result in the creation of similar communities. These communities
can be connected with one another and form a bigger online barter
community network (Figure 12).

5. Green Map Service (GMS) Figure 13. Early phase of Green Map Service
GMS started by Wendy Brawer as a Green Apple Map in 19? and launched
a worldwide Green Map Service in ?. GMS uses its website
(www.greenmap.org) as an enabling platform to scale up the service
where users download the toolkit necessary to make a map. Figure 12
describes the founder and staff members who manage the service.
Figure 12. The pioneer of Greem Map Service
It is presumed that when the service was in its early phase, it may have
depended its diffusion on the founder’s personal weak and strong ties
because the service was not well known at that time as it was not known

to many people by then. Then as it became more popular, more people Figure 14. Green Map Service at the mature level
participated in creating maps of their own communities. On the website,
one can check who are working on the Green Map of one’s town, thereby
offering a possibility to collaborate. This is why there exist weak ties
between groups in Figure 14.
Cases that show a similar pattern: Open Green Map

V. Reference 10.MANZINI, E. & JÈGOU, F. (2007) Creative communities for sustainable
lifestyles (CCSL). Milano, Politecnico di Milano & Strategic Design
Scenarios.
1. BAUWENS, M. (2005) Peer to peer and human evolution - On "the P2P 11.MERONI, A. (Ed.) (2007) Creative communities | People inventing
relational dynamic" as the premise of the next civilizational stage. sustainable ways of living, Italy, Edizioni POLI.design.
[Online PDF]. Available at <http://www.networkcultures.org/weblog/ 12.PUTNAM, R.D., (1995), “Bowling Alone: America’s Declining Social
archives/P2P_essay.pdf> [Accessed 18 June 2009] Capital”, Journal of Democracy 6, 1, 65-78.
2. BENKLER, Y. (2006) The wealth of networks: How social production 13.SELIGMAN, M. E. P. & CSIKSZENTMIHALYI, M. (2000) Positive
transforms markets and freedom, New Haven and London, Yale Psychology: An Introduction. American Psychologist, 55.
University Press.
14.RHEINGOLD, H. (2002) Smart Mobs: The Next Social Revolution, New
3. CIPOLLA, C. (2007) Designing for interpersonal relational qualities in York, Basic Books.
services: A model for Service Design theory and practice. PhD thesis.
Department of Industrial Design and Multimedia Communication. 15.UNKNOWN (2006) Social Silicon Valleys - A manifesto for social
Milano, Politecnicdo di Milano. innovation. What it is, why it matters and how it can be accelerated.
The Young Foundation.
4. CIPOLLA, C. & MANZINI, E. (2008) Service qualities. Milano, Politecnico
di Milano. 16.UNKNOWN (2009) Social innovation wins the backing of President
Obama and Barroso. The Young Foundation. Available at < http://
5. COOPER, M. (2005) The economics of collaborative production in the www.youngfoundation.org.uk/social-innovation/news/social-
spectrum commons. IEEE, 379-400. innovation-wins-backing-president-obama-and-barroso > [Accessed 18
6. HALME, M. (2005) Sustainable consumer services: Business solutions for June 2009]
household markets, London, Earthscan. 17.VEZZOLI, C. (2007) System design for sustainability, Italy, Maggioli
7. JEGOU, F. & MANZINI, E. (2008) Collaborative services: Social Editore.
innovation and design for sustainability, Milano, Edizioni Poli.design. 18.Brawer, W. Green Map. 1992 [cited 2008 December 28th]; Available
8. MANZINI, E. (2005A) Design for sustainability - How to design from: www.greenmap.org
sustainable solutions. Milano, INDACO, Politecnico di Milano. 19.Jasper and others. Hitchhikers. 1999 [cited 2008 December 28th];
9. MANZINI, E. (2005B) Creative communities, collaborative networks and Available from: www.hitchhikers.org.
distributed economies - Promising signals for a sustainable 20.Comune di Roma. Vicini Vicini. 1999 [cited 2008 December 28th];
development. Milano, INDACO, Politecnico di Milano. Available from: www.festadeivicinidicasa.it.

VI. Appendices
1. Light analysis format
2. In-depth analysis format

TEMPLATE FOR THE ANALYSIS OF COLLABORATIVE SERVICE
This template is based on the template developed by Anna Meroni for her Strategic design
class to analyze collaborative services. Use this template to describe a service. For the
definitions of a service and a platform, please refer to the page of the template.
Author of the case research

Country: xxxx
Step 1. identity card (Light analysis)
Objectives of step 1:
To provide a complete but synthetic overview of the case.
To classify the case according with the main criteria and key words adopted to evaluate
sustainable and innovative solutions.
Title. Also include the link to the service.

xxxx
Formal name of the solution, name used by the people, significant title given by the
researchers…
e.g.
Vegetable Gardens in Parco Nord (www.parconord.it)
Sub title
xxxx
Formal subtitle of the solution or used by the people (max 150 characters)
e.g.
(ref. case: Vegetable Gardens in Parco Nord, Milan)
Raising fruits and vegetables in town
City, Country
xxxx
e.g.
Milan, Italy
When was it launched?

xxxx
e.g. 1997
Source
xxxx
Where the info comes from.

• Persons (the people you contacted):
_(on the provider/promoter side) name, surname, job description, company/organisation,
tel/e-mail, …
_(on the user side) name, surname, work, tel/e-mail…
• Internet url, newspaper or magazine references…
Existence of a platform
(Platform here is defined as a system that provides a series of services that includes the very
case being analyzed.)
Key-words
Words people would use to search for the solution: they refer to the "organisational key
ideas” supporting the solutions. They define "how" the function is performed.
Choose one option among the following list, or "propose" a new one whether really-really
no-one match with your case :
• Exchanging
• Sharing
• Networking
2
• Integrating functions
Service type
Check the corresponding type in each variable)

□ Producers/consumers networks (es: purchasing groups; local markets, …)
□ Community-based initiatives (es: community-based tourism, community based agriculture, …)
□ Result-oriented encounters (es: car pooling, street games organizations, …)
□ Mutual-support circles (es: circle of care for diabetic, allergic, obese people, …)
□ Caring and support activities (es: support elderly people at home, mobility in isolated places, …)
□ Competences, time and products exchange (es: time banks, sharing tasks,…)
□ Products and places sharing (es: car sharing, co-housing, community services, …)
□ Mapping diffused information (es: city maintenance, local resources availability, … )
Type of collaborative digital service provided (check the corresponding type in each variable)
Variables Types
Relationship of □ community – community
interaction □ individual – community
□ community – individual
□ individual – individual
Activitiy □ to co-create
□ to share
□ to exchange
□ to buy and/or sell
□ to entertain
□ to educate and learn
□ to care
□ to help
□ to participate in political activities
□ others:
Objective □ to improve welfare
□ to improve safety
□ to improve productivity
□ to improve social conviviality
□ to reduce environmental impact
□ to disseminate ideas
□ to have economical benefits
3
□ others:
Service description and the aim (in brief)
xxxxx
e.g.
Meetup is the world’s largest network of local groups. Meetup makes it easy for anyone to
organize a local group or find one of the thousands already meeting up face-to-face. More
than 2,000 groups get together in local communities each day, each one with the goal of
improving themselves or their communities.
Meetup’s mission is to revitalize local community and help people around the world self-
organize. Meetup believes that people can change their personal world, or the whole world,
by organizing themselves into groups that are powerful enough to make a difference.
Service promoter/provider
xxxx
The actor providing/organising or promoting solution.

Select one option in the following list:
• Big enterprise
• Small Medium enterprise
• NGO
• Cooperative
• Association
• International organisation
• Academic institution
• Government
• Municipality
• add…
e.g.
Consortium Parco Nord, Milano
• Association
4
Target user
Xxx
e.g.
Drivers who have empty seats and need a company to travel with and travellers who need a ride.
Image
Add one image: the best and most meaningful image among the pictures you have…
Eg.:
Problematic background and context (in brief)

xxxxx
Description of the context where the solution has been developed: historical background of
the solution and situation where the it takes place: it is the geographical area and the
social/economic fabric where the demand of this service has emerged.
(max 350 characters).
Eg.:
“Parco Nord” is a big semi-urban park in the Milanese hinterland very close to peripheral residential areas. As
many other parks, it suffers for carelessness and have huge spare spaces that could instead be devoted to many
other uses.
(ref. case: Ateliers Avelo. Workshop facilities for environmental friendly commuters. Brussels)
5
An association, Les Ateliers de la Rue Voot, is the frame within Ateliers Avelo has been originated. It is a multi-
activity association aiming at proposing activities through direct participation of the user: it is located in a popular
residential suburb of the city suffering for typical problems such as people isolation and car based mobility.
Solution description
xxx
Description of the solution that is being provided to users. Be sure to cover the following
points:
- What is the aim of the solution and to what need does it address?
- How does the solution work in brief?
- To what personal and societal values does it address?
(max 500 characters)
Eg.:
Vegetable Gardens is a service provided by a consortium of 6 municipalities around the park “Parco Nord” in the
Milanese hinterland. Applying to the Vegetable Gardens scheme means to have the possibility to rent an
allotment where to raise your own fruits and vegetables. Allotments are very close to residential areas. The
service is open to pensioners, housewives or unemployed, who are older than 60-years-old: it gives them the
possibility to socialise and to enjoy out-door activities.
Ateliers Avelo aims at changing commuting attitude in a city area where people use a lot their car. It does so by
promoting the use of bikes and empowering individuals to take care and maintain them. It provides spaces,
infrastructures and qualified personnel to whoever wants to repair the bike: people can find pieces to be reused
and to substitute, working tools and any kind of support they might need. They can also participate to the
reparation of old bikes that will be offered to charities.
Key-Innovation
xxxx
Synthetic description in one sentence of the key innovation and distinctive value of the
solution. (max 150 characters)
Eg.:
(ref. case: House sharing between students and pensioners, Milan)
Accommodation of students at lonely pensioners

Allotment of spare spaces to elderly in a semi-urban park, to raise vegetable and fruits in town.
6
Enabling individuals to take care of, and maintain, their own bike.
Who are the partners?

xxxx
List the partners involved in establishment and management of the platform if there is any.
e.g. Commune di Milano
Social, economical and environmental benefits if any (in brief)
xxxx
Why the solution seems to be promising in terms of sustainability. What is the benefit of this
solution?
Eg.:
Caring for their own garden the involved people generate individual and social advantages. In addition the
solution generates a well kept green area near, or in-between, the city. It produces some vegetables for local
consumption and, doing so, it reduces the demand for food coming form far away.
To what extent do users participate in providing the service?

xxxx
e.g. The platform of One Life Japan is a blog with its major goal of delivering intemplateion
on the services it provides. On this platform, users play a role of no more than readers. In
order to get additional intemplateion or make reservations, they are asked to send an email
or make a call to a person in charge.
Describe positive qualities that this service creates to the members and to
society.
xxxx
7
A platform for collaborative services is open (or is called an open platform) if it allows users
meet their own needs by creating services that the service provider does not provide yet or
provides but has failed to do well.
e.g. Zoes platform is open because it provides a service called ‘Zoes in action’ in which users
can create their own collaborative services using open-source toolkits provided by Zoes.
Enabling technologies. If applicable, describe the technologies and their roles in

the collaboration.
xxxx
e.g. Mobile SMS is used to make a reservation and confirm it. It also employed e-commerce
system with geographic data of users so that people can purchase products from the
producers located nearest to them.
8
In-depth research template
Step 2. case description (In-depth analysis)
To provide a deep description of the solution, of the way it works and of its level of
development.
Problematic background and context
xxxx
Extended presentation of the context where the solution has been developed: historical
background of the solution and situation where it takes place: it is the geographical area and
the social/economic fabric where the demand of this service has emerged. Be sure to cover
the following topics:
- What are the characteristics of the geographical place, the inhabitants and the activities
(business, social…) in the area?
- Why did the solution come to life?
- What are the drivers of the solution (e.g. economic, security, necessity, lifestyle driven,
etc.)?
- What are the personal motivations to start or to join the solution?
Eg.:
“Parco Nord” is a big semi-urban park in the Milanese hinterland very close to peripheral residential areas. As
many other parks, it suffers for carelessness and have huge spare spaces that could instead be devoted to many
other uses.
The Consortium that manages the park wanted to provide services in order to face the above problem but also to
find solutions to the common isolation many people, especially pensioners, go through. Such peripheral
residential areas suffer also for the lack of public spaces where people can meet and of entertaining services for
children, teens and elderly.
In the recent past (and, in some cases, also in the present) the ground alongside the railway paths was given to
retired people to be farmed: from this solution derives the idea to divide in allotment some parts of the park to be
farmed and raised by those who want to join the scheme and are eligible.
Solution description
xxxx
Extended description of the solution that is being provided to users. Be sure to cover the
following points:
- What is the aim of the solution and to what need does it address?
- How does the solution work in detail?
- Why is the innovation interesting?
- To what value (positive qualities) does it address (both societal and personal value)?
Eg.:
Vegetable Gardens is a service provided by a consortium of 6 municipalities around the park “Parco Nord” in the
Milanese hinterland. Starting from the traditional idea of the “railway vegetable gardens”, the park proposes the
‘rent’ of vegetable gardens to pensioners, housewives or unemployed, who are older than 60-years-old. Users can
farm and grow up whatever they wish, but they have to assure a regular maintenance and to demonstrate to
take care of it. Further, they are requested to look after common spaces. Once in a while they are asked to
participate to meetings and training seminars. The rental process include a 6-years renewable contract and the
following facilities for farming:
_ the chest for recovering the equipment
_ the concrete tiles for the paths
_ postal costs and secretariat
_ water for minimum 3 half-days per week
_ disposal of non-compostable waste
Besides raising fruits and vegetables the solution gives the possibility to people to socialise and to enjoy out-door
activities
Timeframe
xxxxx
Indicate from when the solution is, or will be, viable. (year and month)
Digital and physical activities
Digital activities (pay attention to the required physical assets, type of interaction, size of
community)
Physical activities (pay attention to the required knowledge competence, type of interaction, ,
size of community)
Formalization
What rules does it have that members have to abide by?
11
Step 3. solution elements and technologies
To understand and describe the complexity of the solution in terms of it components
(products and services): what and who is needed to get that result.
Solution Elements
_ xxxxx
_ xxxxx
_ xxxxx
List the main/key elements of the solution. Elements are the products (included some
specific places as shops, equipped corners…) and the services that enable the solution to be
provided
Technologies
_ xxxxx
_ xxxxx
_ xxxxx
List the key technologies used in the solution: they can be ICT technologies, mechanical
technologies, electronic technologies….
12
Development and management of an enabling solution
1. Who developed the website (the promoters themselves, professional freelances, external
software company...)
2. Was it a volunteer or paid work?
3. Who pays for the maintenance?
4. What economic model to develop/maintain (membership, project, ad hoc fundraising, …)
5. Is it released in open source / free software; if yes, where?
Features
What kind of features does the service have?

_ e-commerce
_ Blog
_ Wiki
_ Newsletter
_ RSS
_ Search
_ Geo-reference
_ Open source
_ Multilingual service
_ Multimedia contents
_ Upload & download files (e.g. images, movies, documents)
_ Money transfer
_ Online poll
_ Bulletin board
_ Appointment & calendar
_ Use of tagging systems
_ Social networking (profiles/groups, etc.)
_ Widgets and other “external” web applications (plugins to other apps)
_ Else:
13
Step 4. system actors
To understand and describe the complexity of he solution in terms of the actors involved in
its performance and development.
System actors
name description role

..... .... .....
..... .... .....
System actors are the different stakeholders taking part in the solution. They can be
associations, institutions, companies, group of people, individuals including the users
performing specific tasks and roles in the system.
Eg.:
Giovanni He is one of the urban farmer who has joined the solution. He Active user
is 73 years old and lives with the wife close to the area of the
vegetable gardens.
Consortium Parco Nord It is the organisation managing the entire Parco Nord. The 6 Promoter and
municipalities around the park take part into the Consortium: provider
Milano, Sesto San Giovanni, Cinisello Balsamo, Bresso, Cusano,
Cormano. And also the District of Milano.
AMSA Agenzia Milanese Public company which collect the waste Service Supplier
Servizi Ambientali
Chest producer Equipment provider selected by the Consortium through public Product Supplier
competition on the base of the best economic offer.
Maintenance provider Service provider selected by the Consortium through public Service Supplier
competition on the base of the best economic offer.
14
Step 5. case evaluation
To make the effort to draw some first conclusions from the case.
To give a qualitative view of the benefits provided by the solution and to highlight its most
promising features.
Society
xxxxx
Values and benefits for society on a collective and individual basis. Add critical points.
(max. 600 characters)
Eg.:
Caring for their own garden the involved people generate individual and social advantages. The individual ones
are: entertainment, improvement of the family economy (thanks to the auto-production of vegetables) and, for
the elderly, the opportunity to remain active and to perceive themselves as useful. The social advantages are the
city re-vitalisation (by introducing new day-to-day activities) and the public space regeneration (by managing the
public area where the vegetable gardens are in). A limit of this program is that it is dedicated only to the elderly
people.
Environment
xxxxx
Values and benefits for environment. Eventual critical points.

Eg.:
It generates a well kept green area near, or in-between, the city. It produces some vegetables for local
consumption (no transport and no package is needed) and, doing so, it reduces the demand for food coming
form far away.
It offers the possibility to use the organic home wastes as compost in the garden. It promotes a culture of
gardening and of natural food.
Economy
15
xxxxx
Economic values and benefits for individuals and families, society and business. Eventual
critical points (max. 600 characters)
Eg.:
It improves the family economy (not only for the people that directly take care of the garden). It improves and
maintains the quality of a green area in a very economic way. It may stimulate some little local economic
enterprise: gardening shops, selling or renting of gardening tools, professional gardeners cooperatives,…).
Perspectives and reproducibility
xxxxx
Cover the following topics:

_Why the case seems to be promising in terms of sustainability?
_Which are the success factors and possible risks of failure in the short and in the long term?
_Is the solution potentially reproducible or context specific? Which are the other potential
application areas of the solution or of the approach proposed by the solution?
Eg.:
It promotes positive behaviours and cultural attitude: a new relationship with nature, through the culture of the
garden. A new relationship with food, trough the auto-production of vegetable. A new relationship between
personal and common interest.
It reinforces an idea of self-sufficiency, an one hand, and of cooperation, on the other.
It increases the urban (or suburban) green and, in perspective, a new idea of the relation between urban and
green spaces..
Possible improvements
xxxx
Could the solution be improved from a designer point of view? Is there a demand for new
products and/or services? (max 350 characters)
Eg.:
The solution could be improved by providing the urban farmers with more useful tools (even in common) to
cultivate the garden and to storage their own stuff. In addition, a more affective teaching service about farming
techniques and garden diseases is needed.
16
Step 6. Researcher’s comments
xxxxx
Personal comments from the interviewers, interpretation of the results, points of view, open
questions, difficulties encountered in the work, lack of reliability of the intemplateion…
should be added here.
17
The relationship between a service and a platform
Terminologies used in the template
• Platform: A platform holds one or more services…

• Collaborative service: A collaborative service is based on peer-to-peer, collaborative
relationships and, consequently, on a high degree of mutual trust. It provides values that
correspond to social needs of target users.
• Feature: A feature is a functional brick embedded in a service to achieve a specific goal
of the service.

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ZOES Final Report: Case studies of collaborative service on the digital platform

Written by Joon Sang Baek

Advised by Ezio Manzini

Fondazione Culturale Responabilità Etica

Collaborative services on the digital platform | 1

You are free:

Attribution. You must give the original author credit.

Collaborative services on the digital platform | 2

II. Case list......................................................................................12

1. Producer and consumer network ....................................................................12

Sistema FBES (Fórum Brasileiro de Economia Solidária) .............................................19

Mapo Dure ...................................................................................................31

One Life Japan ..............................................................................................37

2. Mapping diffused information .......................................................................42

Open Green Map ............................................................................................46

Green Map ...................................................................................................50

3. Aggregated social actions ............................................................................53

Social invention center by Hope Institute ..............................................................61

Katrinalist PeopleFinder Project .........................................................................67

Collaborative services on the digital platform | 2

5. Mutual-support circles ................................................................................98

6. Competences, time and products exchange .....................................................105

Zero relativo ...............................................................................................111

7. Products, places and knowledge sharing .........................................................115

Couch surfing ..............................................................................................124

III. Theoretical framework on collaborative service on the digital platform....131

1. Structural system of collaborative service on the digital platform ..........................131

2. 7 typologies of collaborative service ..............................................................132

3. The usage patterns of ICT in collaborative services ............................................135

Collaborative services on the digital platform | 3

5. Collaborative service and social network ........................................................136

VI. The social networks of collaborative organizations..............................140

5. Green Map Service (GMS) ...........................................................................148

VI. Appendices ...............................................................................151

Collaborative services on the digital platform | 4

Collaborative services on the digital platform | 4

Collaborative service is distinguished from other services in that it

Collaborative services on the digital platform | 5

2 The results are available on http://www.sustainable-everyday.net/codi/?cat=1

Collaborative services on the digital platform | 6

Collaborative services on the digital platform | 7

1. Producer and consumer network

• One Life Japan

Collaborative services on the digital platform | 8

8. Service description and the aim (in brief)

Collaborative services on the digital platform | 9

A group of consumers and producers

10. Target user

Consumers in Italy. Until now, GAS members tend to be well educated

Figure 1. GAS website

12. Problematic background and context (in brief)

Conventional models of purchasing food do not show how it is produced

Collaborative services on the digital platform | 10

17. To what extent do users participate in providing the service?

15. Who are the partners?

GAS creates a sense of responsibility in purchasing foods, care for

19. Enabling technologies. If applicable, describe the technologies and

Collaborative services on the digital platform | 11