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    We encourage public participation in crowdsourcing competitions to find innovative government solutions.

News and Events on Challenge.gov

67 posts

Challenge.Gov FY22 Year In Review

Challenge.gov is proud to be part of an ecosystem advancing open innovation in the federal government and engaging the public in open ways. Through the collective efforts of federal challenge managers and the ChallengeGov team, Challenge.gov hosted more prize competitions from a greater number of federal agencies than in previous years. Review fiscal year 2022’s accomplishments, and five goals for FY23. — via Challenge.gov

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Feb 27, 2023

White House and GSA Celebrate Record Years in Prize Competitions, Citizen Science Efforts

White House & GSA Celebrate Record Years in Prize Competitions, Citizen Science Efforts—On July 20, GSA’s Open Innovation Program and the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) co-hosted the Open Innovation Forum in partnership with Digital.gov. The event was themed around building equitable partnerships and it celebrated OSTP’s biennial report to Congress that covers the federal government’s prize competitions, crowdsourcing and citizen science initiatives in fiscal years 2019 and 2020. — via General Services Administration

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Aug 03, 2022

Spotlight Chat

Challenge and Prize Community Spotlight Chat with the Small Business Administration

A discussion of lessons learned from implementing the Lab-to-Market (L2M) Inclusive Innovation Ecosystem prize competition with members of the prize planning committee, including the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP), the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), and the Science and Technology Policy Institute (STPI)– one of three federally funded research and development centers of the Institute for Defense Analyses (IDA), a non-profit corporation that assists the federal government in addressing national security issues.

Hosted by Digital.gov and the Challenge & Prize Community of Practice

2021

Another Year, Another Leap Forward for Prize Competitions

If federal agencies need an incentive to be more open and innovative in addressing critical issues, they need look no further than news this week from the White House. On August 10, the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy issued its Implementation of Federal Prize Authority Progress Report for fiscal year 2015, and
Aug 11, 2016

DARPA: A Case Study in Open Innovation

You may not know it, but the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, or DARPA, has changed your life. There’s the Internet, for starters. And if that isn’t enough, the agency also has played a pivotal role in shaping GPS, stealth aircraft and drone technology. In fact, ever since its creation under President Eisenhower, DARPA has
Jul 25, 2016

A Problem Without Definition Is a Challenge Without a Solution

A prize competition often starts with a problem. In order to get help to find a solution, people need to clearly understand your problem. Understanding and effectively communicating your problem isn’t easy, but it’s necessary. Problems are like spaghetti—messy and complex, says Denys Resnick, Executive Vice President of Strategic Programs at NineSigma Inc., which provides
Jun 08, 2016

Open Data Democratizes Innovation

Americans Use Public Data to Improve the Lives of Fellow Citizens Data is one of our most important national assets. It informs our policy and our national priorities. But as we have seen time and time again, the most effective way to govern is to engage with the public directly. Thanks to the President’s Executive Order requiring
Jun 02, 2016

Tapping ‘Teen Power’ — Challenging Youth with Prize Competitions

Sometimes in crowdsourcing, you want to take your problem straight to a specific crowd. And sometimes that crowd is still in school. Challenge.gov has seen many federal agencies launch prize competitions to educate and engage high school students. These include a NASA challenge that asked students to develop devices that could protect astronauts from radiation during space flight.
Jan 11, 2016

A Sense of Purpose: Strong Communities Can Overcome Big Challenges

Cook-offs, bike rides, parades and dance parties—these are not the traditional public hearing-style events for which government agencies are known. But these events helped to fuel the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) Rebuild by Design Challenge (PDF, 484 KB, 1 page, January 2016), boosting the collective morale among a complex, multidisciplinary network of engaged
Jan 04, 2016