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Challenges and Prizes Community of Practice

News and Events on Challenges and Prizes Community of Practice

33 posts

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 Spotlight Chat with National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Hear from NIST Innovation and Legal teams on the benefits of engaging legal counsel and establishing a legal framework for challenges and prize competitions in an agency.
Posts by Dr. Jarah Meador Posts by Craig Connelly Posts by Jeremy Glenn Posts by Emily Parkhurst
Apr 21, 2021
Video

Federal Crowdsourcing Webinar Series, Episode 1: Citizen Science

This is the first installment of GSA’s Federal Crowdsourcing Webinar Series, where we look at how to use crowdsourcing to reach beyond your walls and source talent and enthusiasm.
Posts by John McLaughlin Posts by Sophia B. Liu
Apr 09, 2019
Video

Federal Challenge & Prize Community of Practice Quarterly Meeting

Crowdsourcing experts from around the federal government come together to discuss trends, success stories and lessons learned in the use of competitions.
Posts by Andrew Hait Posts by Craig Jolley Posts by Debbie Bucci Posts by Elizabeth Cain Posts by Eric Mill Posts by Jennifer Shieh Posts by Jim Thompson Posts by Joseph Castle Posts by Kate Appel Posts by Nathan Dietz Posts by Toby Egan
May 15, 2018

​Want to Expand Your Innovation Base? Dive In, Run a Challenge, and Listen to Your Customers

The Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) is a small agency in the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) whose mission is to increase the interoperability and use of electronic health records and health IT. We don’t have the funding and personnel of larger agencies, and, for the most part, this is fine. The
Posts by Adam Wong
May 24, 2017

DigitalGov University in Review: 2016 Training Trends

Thanks to your participation, DigitalGov University (DGU), the events platform for DigitalGov, hosted over 90 events with 6,648 attendees from over 100 agencies across federal, tribal, state, and local governments.
Posts by Janelle Thalls
Jan 11, 2017

A New Prize Challenge for Virtual and Augmented Reality Learning Tools

Summary: The Administration has launched a new competition for virtual and augmented reality developers to create learning tools to support career and technical education. “I’m calling for investments in educational technology that will help create. . . educational software that’s as compelling as the best video game. I want you guys to be stuck on
Posts by Erik Martin Posts by Albert Palacios
Nov 18, 2016

GAO to Congress: Federal Agencies Are Making a Difference Through Open Innovation

Federal agencies confront tough problems every day. In searching for solutions, agencies will want to attract different perspectives, test new products, build capacity and communities, and increase public awareness. How do they do it? The answer: open innovation. Federal agencies need to engage and collaborate with all sectors of society, a task made easier by
Posts by Eric Beidel
Oct 21, 2016

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
Posts by Eric Beidel
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
Posts by Eric Beidel
Jul 25, 2016

The Content Corner: How to Leverage User-Generated Content to Resonate With Your Audience

User-Generated Content (UGC) is a buzzword as of late, popularized recently due to the ever increasing demand for new content. To define the phrase, let’s look to a shining example of it,Wikipedia, as a source, “any form of content such as blogs, wikis, discussion forums, posts, chats,tweets, podcasts, digital images, video, audio files, advertisements, and other
Posts by Kyle S. Richardson
Jul 11, 2016

White House: Challenges, Citizen Science Among Top Innovation Efforts of Past 8 Years

The White House this week released a report detailing the impact of 100 initiatives that have expanded U.S. capacity in science, technology and innovation over the past eight years. Evident throughout the report is the influence of Challenge.gov and CitizenScience.gov, two open innovation programs managed by the U.S. General Services Administration (GSA). In fact, among
Posts by Eric Beidel
Jun 24, 2016

700 Strong: Challenge.gov Crosses New Milestone in Open Innovation

Challenge.gov, the official website for crowdsourcing and prize competitions across government, celebrated its five-year anniversary in October 2015. Now, not even one year later, the site has reached another milestone. On Monday, two agencies launched new challenges, bringing the total
Posts by Eric Beidel
Jun 15, 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
Posts by Eric Beidel
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
Posts by Robin A. Thottungal Posts by Kris Rowley
Jun 02, 2016

The Challenge of Partnerships: ‘The Good, Bad and Ugly’ of Prize Collaborations

Well-executed partnerships can create better solutions and place them on a bigger platform. Poorly executed ones, on the other hand, can send federal agencies into a bureaucratic tailspin. To partner or not to partner: That is the question. “If you are going to do one, don’t do it because it seems like a good idea,”
Posts by Eric Beidel
Apr 29, 2016

Challenges, Crowdsourcing, Citizen Science: What’s the Dif?

There’s more than one way to harness the wisdom of the crowd. In honor of December’s monthly theme, we’re diving into and defining the various ways that federal agencies use public contributions to meet real needs and fulfill important objectives. Crowdsourcing Two’s company, three’s a crowd—and getting input from many is crowdsourcing. A White House
Posts by Ashley Wichman
Dec 16, 2015
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