Prizes, Challenges and Open Grant-Making

Promoting innovation through prizes, challenges and open grant-making was considered at a recent one-day private-public sector conference co-hosted by the White House and the Case Foundation.  The 200 plus participants were attracted by the promise of prizes, challenges and grant-making to mobilize the creative and intellectual energy of large numbers of people.   

The session focused on U.S. experience but may be helpful to those working in development. Participating organizations included a number of private sector companies  (Pepsi, American Express, Eli Lilly) which  have managed  different kinds of challenges, along with public sector agencies with similar experiences (National Aeronautics and Space Administration - NASA,  U.S. Department of Energy). There were also resource people who study innovation and competitions - the 2009 McKinsey report “And the Winner Is…. ”  and Harvard Business School professor Karim Lakhani’s article ("How to Manage Outside Innovation") MIT Sloan review were referenced.  Finally, there were representatives from organizations who design and manage competitions (e.g. X Prize, InnoCentive, Topcoder).       

Several people pointed out that using prizes is hardly novel - historically, prizes been used to spur inventions (how to calculate longitude) and achievement (first flight across the Atlantic).  And most people are aware of contemporary prizes intended to recognize achievement (Nobel Prize, Booker Prize, Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership). 

There is data, however, that we are in a period of renaissance in prizes and challenges - the number of competitions and the amount of money involved has grown rapidly since 2000, driven by the entry of new philanthropists. Also notable is a gradual shift from awards for cultural achievement to growing attention on global problems.

In addition, the growth of the web together with the development of new software tools and services to support competitions have increased the practicality of launching competitions and prizes in developing country contexts.  In future, anyone with access to a web interface becomes a potential innovator on a global scale. 

I left the session feeling both inspired and concerned. Inspired as competitions and prizes seem to offer a practical way to surface new, possibly game changing, ideas. Concerned as each of the organizations which had sponsored prizes were clear about the time, expertise and cost involved in shaping and managing prizes and challenges which  actually  yield results. As in all things, quality counts.