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Collective intelligence is an omnipresent phenomenon. Humanity has taken advantage of it for ages. In the past, connecting to any number of people worldwide was difficult or simply not possible. However, with the introduction of modern technology, the barriers inhibiting large-scale person to person connectivity have been considerably reduced. The resulting networks are enormous in size, and have newfound and incredible potential to tap into. As innovation is a key driver of competitiveness, it is of interest how companies can take advantage of collective intelligence for the creation of innovation. It is the purpose of this work to elaborate on how collective intelligence contributes to innovation and how this contribution can be increased.

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Michaela Zehetner started her carrier in Sales and Marketing within the food industry. After five years she switched to the construction machine industry. She wroteher thesis in the course of the study program "Global Sales and Marketing". Today she is collaborating in diverse teams to support her employer s development towards a Smart Factory.

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