Looks like topcoder has had some success http://www.theregister.co.uk/2013/02/11 ... n_results/ Not used it myself.

But is it a zero-sum game?

It's much greater than zero-sum. Contests like these:1. spark the development/invention of things that would not have been invented otherwise2. help identify high-performance solution creators3. motivate solution creators to learn and develop new skills4. provide high-performance solutions at a low costContests such as the Longitude prize (accurate maritime chronometers), Orteig prize (non-stop trans-Atlantic air travel), and the various X-Prizes all help spur innovation.You could think of engineering contests like these as sporting events for engineers and inventors (and without the pointless making the same ball go in the same net in the same stadium over and over and over again).

Who has the copyright/IP? There was a time when (big) organisations did this (all behind closed doors). Now you don't need researchers any more. The oil and gas industry has experienced this evolution. 1. spark the development/invention of things that would not have been invented otherwise* Maybe.2. help identify high-performance solution creators* Possibly.3. motivate solution creators to learn and develop new skills* Can they not do it without this kind of sponsorship? 4. provide high-performance solutions at a low cost* Dat true. This is the goal I would say. It is very clever.

IP ownership rules vary by contest. In some cases, the winner hands over all rights (i.e., identical to the case with an employed researcher). Non-winners almost always get to keep what they developed and can further develop it and market it.Companies will always need researchers but may not need as many employees who are researchers. Many companies now realize that the number of smart people outside the company vastly exceeds the number of smart people inside the company. They also discover that great solutions might be found outside the industry.Why hire a full-time researcher when there's better and more diverse solutions accessible on an open or semi-open market?

privacy/legal issues in sight?

The winning entry was

V2

QuoteOriginally posted by: Traden4AlphaIP ownership rules vary by contest. In some cases, the winner hands over all rights (i.e., identical to the case with an employed researcher). Non-winners almost always get to keep what they developed and can further develop it and market it.True. But there is much more upside in this new setup. It certainly shakes up the ivory towers, to a certain extent. But as #2 would say "Information" is key.

QuoteOriginally posted by: outrunwhat I think is amazing is that these competitions always give *much* better solutions than 'state of te art' ivory tower methods. They basically blast them away.In 'professional' orgs techniek is not the only concern. But these orgs market and sell the product, something that cannot be done in the proverbial garage/attic.Oracle DB 1.0 was essentialy written by 2 developers.

Many people play physical sports for no pay in amateur tournaments that that they don't win. There's no outrage that most physical sport players get nothing monetary for their labours whilst providing something valuable to spectators. These coding contests are merely mental sports tournaments. Moreover, many students participate in these contests. Isn't it better for the students to solve real-world problems that contribute to inventing something new/better than having the students do the canned problems at the end of the chapter? Plus, I would think that the competitive element provides much more motivation than someone saying "do this homework by date X."

QuoteOriginally posted by: Traden4AlphaMany people play physical sports for no pay in amateur tournaments that that they don't win. There's no outrage that most physical sport players get nothing monetary for their labours whilst providing something valuable to spectators. These coding contests are merely mental sports tournaments. Moreover, many students participate in these contests. Isn't it better for the students to solve real-world problems that contribute to inventing something new/better than having the students do the canned problems at the end of the chapter? Plus, I would think that the competitive element provides much more motivation than someone saying "do this homework by date X."It's all context-sensitive. I want to learn maths from PhD professor, face to face.There is/was a breed of CS student that learned programming on a Home computer. That generation are in [35,45] bracket and probably are the best developers. Not sure how they compare with the internet-savvy club. Maybe more depth. I am not sure if the competitive element always works, especially in non-Western societies. It's about beating yourself.

QuoteOriginally posted by: CuchulainnQuoteOriginally posted by: Traden4AlphaMany people play physical sports for no pay in amateur tournaments that that they don't win. There's no outrage that most physical sport players get nothing monetary for their labours whilst providing something valuable to spectators. These coding contests are merely mental sports tournaments. Moreover, many students participate in these contests. Isn't it better for the students to solve real-world problems that contribute to inventing something new/better than having the students do the canned problems at the end of the chapter? Plus, I would think that the competitive element provides much more motivation than someone saying "do this homework by date X."It's all context-sensitive. I want to learn maths from PhD professor, face to face.There is/was a breed of CS student that learned programming on a Home computer. That generation are in [35,45] bracket and probably are the best developers. Not sure how they compare with the internet-savvy club. Maybe more depth. I am not sure if the competitive element always works, especially in non-Western societies. It's about beating yourself.Yes, it is context sensitive. I agree that one must not get trapped by the curse of those objectivist nouns, what? So different people have different learning styles and motivations and these contests are for everyone.So, some % of those from Western societies might be attracted to the competitive element of the contest. Yet some % of those in the Eastern societies might be attracted to the luck/fortune element of the contest. The point -- proven repeatedly by these contests -- is that there's a large global pool of capability that's attracted to these kinds of events that contain extrema members who are orders of magnitude higher in performance than the tiny pool of professional developers within a given organization.