Emergence of collective intelligence in online communities

The main focus of this study is on the scientific identification of preconditions for collective intelligence (CI) to emerge and the prediction of possible development scenarios based on qualitative research results. The research subject is online communities that use innovative social technologies encouraging collective decision making, creativity, entrepreneurship and cooperation. The research treats such platforms of indirect communication as environments for the development of CI. The qualitative content analysis aims at exploring similarities, differences, and relations between interview segments and the theoretical framework for CI Potential Index. Qualitative research allows to deepen the understanding of CI and specifies a further direction for theoretical and empirical research. The research conclusions lead to the re-design and alteration of the proposed methodological framework for CI Potential Index. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc All rights reserved.