The tragedy of the leaking oil well in Gulf of Mexico continues. BP is hoping its latest capping scheme will succeed. But in the meantime all we can do is watch, wait and hope.
Right?
Well, no. Why not come up with a solution? BP is dedicating some of its resources to heading a team asking for ideas from the public. It has so far received over 32,000 ideas.
This is crowd-sourcing in action. Originally used in a business context, the term ”crowd-sourcing” refers to the using ideas from a very wide but non-expert audience to try and solve intractable problems that are baffling the experts. The crowd has a new perspective, has an enormous collective imagination and can suggest something completely unexpected.
However there have been some criticisms of BP for not releasing enough detailed technical information about pressure, pipe diameters, depths and so on.
As summed up by Prof Steven Sears, chairman of the petroleum engineering department at Louisiana State University, it is unlikely that ”a random guy with an English degree” will crack this problem. It is probably going to be someone with a science background. Perhaps ”… someone who has some tangential experience – it isn’t some experience that BP thinks to tap.”
Many parts of the media have ridiculed the whole idea – “If the experts can’t solve it then what is the point of asking us?” they cry.
Personally I salute BP for this – the cost is minimal and although the chances are perhaps small they are exploring all avenues, swallowing their pride and asking the whole of society for help.
So if you have any ideas, let BP know today! You never know, they might not have thought of it…..
Some links
//Esther Crooks
