MIT Center For Collective Intelligence - History and Mission

History and Mission

CCI was founded in 2006 by professor Thomas W. Malone. To a great extent, this is a continuation of the research Malone and his colleagues have conducted at the Center for Coordination Science, as well as within initiatives such as "Inventing the Organizations of the 21st Century".

The center's mission is to find novel answers to one basic research motif: "How can people and computers be connected so that—collectively—they act more intelligently than any individuals, groups, or computers have ever done before?'"

In order to answer this question, the researchers conduct three types of research:

1. Collecting examples and case studies of collective intelligence applications.
2. Creating new examples and tools that harness the collective intelligence of people
3. Systematic studies and experiments

Finally, they also work on developing theories to explain the phenomena of collective-intelligence.

The center is sponsored by several corporates and non-profit organizations.