Biomedical Engineering Reference
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signatures of task consistency, scale, duration, and human motivation: Nowak
[83] presents multiple rules showing that sustained cooperation in a large
community requires the contributors to perceive more benefi t than in a small
community. Only in a small community, such as ChemSpider today, are the
intangible benefi ts (reputation, friendship, reciprocity) strong enough to
sustain cooperation over time, and it is only over time and with a consistently
applicable skill set (organic chemistry) that a small number of committed
individuals can come to dominate the statistics. In contrast, the large chal-
lenges of Chapter 6 are diverse (and so will tend not to reengage the same
expertise) and time limited (typically two to three weeks).
There is more to explore, such as to what extent crowdsourcing signatures
refl ect task diffi culty, constrained access (anonymous versus password-
restricted subscription), scientifi c discipline, or monetary reward (where analy-
sis of Innocentive's statistics would be useful). In any case, we certainly agree
with Chris Anderson [79] that wise players exploit both the head (the contribu-
tors you already know and access in traditional teams and workshops)
and
the
tail (the huge number you do not know and now can access electronically).
28.9 ROLE OF “ OPENNESS ” — HOW FAR CAN
COLLABORATION GO?
Collaboration in drug discovery and development has traditionally been a
regulated exchange between known players, often based on formal contractual
arrangements. At some level this is at odds with effectively exploiting the
ability of densely connected networks, such as the Web, to provide opportuni-
ties for unexpected innovation and contributions. Success on the Web can be
measured to a large degree by the extent to which your content is linked to,
commented on, copied, and reused. Innovation on the Web is driven by con-
nections made between people, between ideas, and often between the unex-
pected juxtaposition of, in many cases illegally copied, content. Where the free
fl ow of information and content is supported, both technically through effec-
tive online tools for sharing and legally through open licensing, the Web
effectively supports innovation around that content and information.
The potential of the Web lies in connecting people and insights through the
discovery of shared common interests. In drug discovery the identity of those
common interests is often proprietary or patentable secrets. While the col-
laborative frameworks described in this volume offer opportunities to bring
costs down, bringing a drug to market will remain expensive. It is tempting to
simply declare that the necessity to protect future return on investment in new
treatments is simply incompatible with the free movement of information on
the Web. It is challenging to enter into a nondisclosure agreement with people
you cannot identify without disclosing the key information.
The distance, however, may not be as great as it seems. The traditional
process of publication through peer-reviewed journals and patents is one of
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