NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Thursday, July 3, 2014

As the global trend for corporate prize winning competitions to drive innovation increases, a new US report offers guidance for the public sector, Not for Profits and philanthropic foundations on cultivating the winning opportunities.

A report released through Deloitte Consulting explores the burgeoning field of corporate and government prize competitions saying prizes increasingly serve as a creative mechanism for engaging the public, driving innovation and paying for results.

The Craft of Prize Design: Lessons from the Public Sector explains how the recent growth in the use of prizes has created an unprecedented opportunity for prize designers to share best practices and learn how to design the most effective competitions.

The study was funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies, the Case Foundation, the Joyce Foundation, the Knight Foundation, Kresge and the Rockefeller Foundation. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy also served as a key partner in the development of the report.

The report found that in the last four years, more than 50 US federal agencies have engaged citizen problem-solvers in more than 350 prizes. It said US philanthropies were also designing and launching sophisticated prizes in increasing numbers to tackle different types of challenges – from strengthening communities to encouraging more sustainable energy consumption to cultivating innovative solutions from city governments.

In Australia, technology giant Google extended it its global ‘innovation challenge’ to Australian Not for Profits offering a share in $2 million in grants to turn their technology-driven ideas into reality.