Government-sponsored prize competitions have allowed agencies to save money on new projects, better hedge risky investments and improve results by bringing together people from a range of disciplines, a report released Tuesday by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy said.
Challenges also allow agencies to "establish an ambitious goal without having to predict which team or approach is most likely to succeed," the report said.
Federal agencies have sponsored more than 150 prize competitions since Congress established governmentwide authority for the challenges with the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act signed in January 2010.
The Obama Administration established a policy framework for the competitions in March of that year and launched Challenge.gov, a one-stop shop for government competitions, in September 2010
The OSTP report details numerous challenges that yielded innovations but doesn't break down likely cost savings that resulted.
The Energy Department, for instance, helped sponsor the Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize, which offered $10 million to teams that built cars that could reach fuel efficiency levels above 100 miles per gallon.
"As the prize did not dictate a single approach, it incentivized 111 teams from around the globe to develop a new generation of technologies in the field," the report said.
Joseph Marks
Joseph Marks covers government technology issues, social media, Gov 2.0 and global Internet freedom for Nextgov. He previously reported on federal litigation and legal policy for Law360 and on local, state and regional issues for two Midwestern newspapers. He also interned for Congressional Quarterly’s Homeland Security section and the Associated Press’s Jerusalem Bureau. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Wisconsin and a master’s in international affairs from Georgetown.
Addressing the 3 Biggest BYOD Security Threats
Mobile Apps: New Ways to Connect Government with Citizens
Continuous Monitoring As a Service: A Shift in the Way Government Does Business
sponsored
3 Ways Data is Improving DoD Performance
JOIN THE DISCUSSION
By using this service you agree not to post material that is obscene, harassing, defamatory, or otherwise objectionable. Although Nextgov does not monitor comments posted to this site (and has no obligation to), it reserves the right to delete, edit, or move any material that it deems to be in violation of this rule.