Offering a cash prize to encourage innovation is all the rage. Sometimes it works rather well
A CURIOUS cabal gathered recently in a converted warehouse in San
Francisco for a private conference. Among them were some of the world’s
leading experts in fields ranging from astrophysics and nanotechnology
to health and energy. Also attending were entrepreneurs and captains of
industry, including Larry Page, the co-founder of Google, and Ratan
Tata, the head of India’s Tata Group. They were brought together to
dream up more challenges for the X Prize Foundation, a charitable group
which rewards innovation with cash. On July 29th a new challenge was
announced: a $1.4m prize for anyone who can come up with a faster way to
clean oil spills from the ocean.
The foundation began with the Ansari X Prize: $10m to the first private-sector group able to fly a reusable spacecraft 100km (62 miles) into space twice within two weeks. It was won in 2004 by a team led by Burt Rutan, a pioneering aerospace engineer, and Paul Allen, a co-founder of Microsoft. Other prizes have followed, including the $10m Progressive Automotive X Prize, for green cars that are capable of achieving at least 100mpg, or its equivalent. Peter Diamandis, the entrepreneur who runs the foundation, says he has become convinced that “focused and talented teams in pursuit of a prize and acclaim can change the world.”
To read the full, original article click on this link: Innovation prizes: And the winner is… | The Economist
