Krakow, one of the biggest cities in Poland (700 000 inhabitants), is facing many problems that can be solved by people themselves, the main problem is to find an easy and transparent way to organise information and connect with each other. In order to do it people need a good communication tool that will enable them to organise and judge problems and to organise and judge community members based on their knowledge and involvement. By using an implementation of the free, open-source “question and answer” system “www.osqa.net” under the name “Fix My City”, that provides a way to moderate problems and reputation system for the members of the community, people can achieve both goals: (1) trust more or less some community members based on the point system and (2) to easily find the best solutions for the problems. Educating and promoting “Fix My City” will help the city inhabitants to join and learn about their own community, exchange their own knowledge, react fast to problems that need collaborative help, find solution to complex issues. Because of the benefits of the system, the amount of the problems solved, more people will use the “Fix My City”.
The Internet website Fix My City enables anyone to publish information about an important city problem that needs to be solved and anyone to propose a solution to this problem. While the solution in real world is reached the problem is “closed”. Fix My City website gives a possibility for the city inhabitants to crowd-source community building of people who are solving city problems. The system enables people to find solutions to problems like: abandoned vehicles, dog fouling, fly posting or graffiti, street cleaning or any more complex issues. It is achieved by offering an open-source, free, on-line problem and solution system that is moderated by its members. Moderation rights are gradually assigned to the site users based on the accumulated "reputation" points. These points are added to the users account when others vote for his/her problem or solution. These points reflect the level of trust of the community. The system will be freely available to anyone who has an Internet connection.
“Fix My City” is a problem and solution exchange: a place where problems can be solved by giving the right information or motivating people to act. After someone publish a problem, members of the community propose solutions. Others vote on those solutions. Very quickly, the solutions with the most votes rise to the top. You don’t have to read through a lot of discussion to find the best solution. Like topics on Wikipedia, problems and solutions on “Fix My City” can be edited. If someone writes the beginning of a great solution, someone else can enhance it and make it even better. The site is free and open to everyone. You don’t have to register, but if you do, you collect reputation points when people vote up your solution, which will appear next to your name. All problems on “Fix My City” are expected to be objective and have concrete solutions.
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