Crowdsourcing for Mobile Data Management

Crowdsourcing refers to a distributed problem-solving model in which a crowd of undefined size is engaged in the task of solving a complex problem through an open call. This novel problem-solving model found its way into numerous applications on the web for voting, fund-raising, micro-works and wisdom-of-the-crowd scenarios. On the other hand, the shift of desktop users to mobile platforms in the post-PC era, along with the unique multi-sensing capabilities of modern mobile devices are expected to eventually unfold the full potential of Crowdsourcing. Smartphones offer a great platform for extending and diversifying web-based crowdsourcing applications to a larger contributing crowd, making contribution easier and omni-present. This advanced seminar presents the fundamental concepts behind crowdsourcing and its applications to mobile data management. In the first part of the seminar, we will overview the crowdsourcing research landscape from a variety of perspectives, with a particular emphasis on the latest data management trends. In the second and more extended part of the seminar, we will focus on an in-depth coverage of emerging mobile crowdsourcing architectures and systems, through a multi-dimensional taxonomy that will address location, sensing, power, performance, big-data and privacy among others. Furthermore, we will overview a number of in-house crowdsourcing prototypes we have developed and deployed over the last few years. The seminar concludes with challenges, opportunities and new directions in the field.