What term describes a problem-solving model where tasks are outsourced to a large group or community?

The term that describes a problem-solving model where tasks are outsourced to a large group or community is crowdsourcing. This practice leverages the collective intelligence and creativity of a diverse group of people, often through digital platforms, to solve problems or generate ideas. Crowdsourcing harnesses the skills and input of many individuals, which can lead to innovative solutions and greater efficiency than traditional processes that rely solely on in-house expertise. It effectively opens up the problem-solving process to a wider audience, enabling organizations to tap into resources and insights from around the world.

In contrast, grid computing refers to the pooling of resources in a networked environment to enable large-scale computing tasks. Cloud computing involves delivering hosted services over the internet, such as storage or applications, rather than focusing on solving problems through community input. Outsourcing typically means contracting out specific business functions or processes to third-party providers, but it does not necessarily involve a community-based model of problem-solving. These distinctions clarify why crowdsourcing is the most precise term for the model described in the question.