Can Crowdsourcing Save a Country?

Can an online grassroots initiative turn around a country's economy? That's the idea behind "The Ideas Campaign." The brainchild of one of Ireland's leading online agencies, the campaign hopes to inform the Irish about the real state of their economy, and tap into the collective intelligence to foster conversation about how the country can regain its competitiveness. It's just a one-month campaign, but it was able to gain awareness with the backing of Ireland's leading media outlets (I'm assuming for free).

The initiative taps into the best of the Irish spirit and pride of the Celtic Tiger. From the Ideas campaign: "we’re an entrepreneurial race, ranking second in the world for business start-ups. No, we didn’t make that one up. That’s what the think-tank, the OECD, no less says."

Have you ever known an Irishman who wasn't proud? When I was in Ireland at the height of the Tiger, I spoke to many young Irish who were proud of what had been accomplished. Back then, the young Irish felt they needed to "give back" and help other European countries out (like Poland). It will be interesting to see if that spirit of "giving" will be focused on their own turf.
www.ideascampaign.ie