During the recent years,  a wave of innovations that rely on digital technologies, and that address  societal or environmental problems have been emerging, alongside with their supporting organisations and institutions. While these innovations are currently –and mostly- clustered in cities and reach out to people only with digital literacy, they have certain characteristics that can be promising to change the way modern societies tackle with problems, by bringing in crowds, emphasizing openness and inclusion, participation and transparence.  In this area, currently we are conducting a research project with Cedric Gossart to analyse  their potential to change the ways in which societies deal with social and environmental problems.