More on Microtasking

In an era when federal workers are being asked to do more with less, imagine being able to expand your agency's workforce without spending a dime.

That's the idea behind the State Department's Virtual Student Foreign Service program, which last fall launched a pilot micro-volunteering platform that allows State employees to post unclassified, short tasks that can be performed by eager college student volunteers. Wired Workplace reported on the program earlier this month.

Bridget Roddy, program manager for the VSFS program, said Monday that my report on the program already is making an impact at federal agencies. The Centers for Disease Control and the Environmental Protection Agency have both reached out to learn more about microtasking, she said.

Roddy said earlier this month that the General Services Administration also has contacted the State Department to discuss the idea of microtasking and whether it could be appropriate for GSA and the federal government at large.

The microtasking platform, which uses Sparked -- a task distribution and collaboration platform developed by San Francisco-based The Extraordinaries Inc. -- allows State Department workers to post tasks that require anywhere from 20 minutes to a couple of hours to complete. Any American college student with a dot-edu email address can sign up and agree to complete a task that interests them. State plans to launch the full-scale version of the platform within the next few months, meaning it would open up to all American college students.

Would your agency benefit from having a microtasking platform that farmed out short, unclassified tasks to the public? Could you or your co-workers buy in to the concept?