The vPEN can operate virtually using a crowdsourcingmodel that allows them to communicate with the organization and amongst one another to generate concepts and build upon ideas.
It may be argued that the prevailing economic condition is partially to blame for this, as businesses continue to adopt the crowdsourcing business model in order to access cheap and free labor.
Connecticut, TopCoder has pioneered the model of crowdsourcing in that industry, spawning a global community of 450, 000 freelance software developers from 200 countries.