Competitions, prizes, and outreach programs that are helpful for strategic foresight and futures research.



Open Innovation Networks & Competitions
Open Innovation is a term coined by Henry Chesbrough at the Center for Open Innovation, UC Berkeley. See his book, Open Innovation: The new imperative for creating and profiting from technology,2003
Hypios
A social marketplace for business solutions.
Ideagora
Jim Morrison's Innovate Journal (2004-2009) (educational innovation) community. Ideagora started by Denise Easton and Alan McCord 2008.
InnoCentive
Oldest and largest innovation network. Open innovation community of smart, creative people who provide solutions to tough problems in business, science, product development. Founders were from Eli Lilly (1998). P&G, many others use it. Takes R&D problems, frames them as "challenge problems", and opens them up for anyone to solve them. It gives cash awards for the best solutions to solvers who meet the challenge criteria. In 2006 InnoCentive signed an agreement with the Rockefeller Foundation to add a non-profit area designed to generate science and technology solutions to pressing problems in the developing world.
InnovationXchange
Australian created international knowledge exchange, whose purpose is to identify and create collaborative business, research and policy opportunities. This unique not-for-profit business model supports open innovation.
NineSigma
An open innovation services provider that helps client companies develop and maximize value from their innovation programs. Started by a Case Western Reserve professor. HQ in Cleveland, OH, offices globally.
One Billion Minds
Open innovation platform connecting Students and Alumni from top universities to Corporations and Non Profits looking to discover innovative solutions to challenging problems in business, tech, and social innovation. Focused on engaging students globally in for-profit and non-profit solutions, with an emphasis on the developing world.
Top Coder
Open innovation platform for online computer programming competitions in the Java, C++, and C# languages. Competitions take place twice a week, and members can win from $25-$300.
Yet2.com
Focusing on high tech product R&D problems and solutions.
YourEncore
Open Innovation for helps companies accelerate innovation by connecting them with retired scientists and engineers to leverage their expertise.

Prizes & Outreach
Benjamin Franklin Awards
Started in 1824, the oldest and most prestigious annual awards in Science and Technology.
International Fire Fighting Robot Contest (Trinity College, Hartford CT)
A leading, affordable open-entry robotics contest. Small, smart robots extinguishing candles. Fun!
RoboCup
The best annual robotics competition. The goal: "By 2050, fielding a team of fully autonomous humanoid robots that beat the world's best soccer players." Annual soccer playing competitions in multiple robotic classes.
Shell / The Economist International Writing Prize (Annual)
$20K 1st Prize, $10K 2nd, $5K 3rd. 2,000 words. Announcement March, Deadline in August. "Encouraging thinking about the future." (So far, only narrow consideration of accelerating technological change).
Turner Tomorrow Award (1991 only)
"Best future-oriented novel providing positive solutions to global problems."(Ted Turner)
$500K first prize: Daniel Quinn's Ishmael. Runner-ups: Sara Cameron's Natural Enemies, Andy Goldblatt's The Bully Pulpit, Janet Keller's Necessary Risks. (Primarily environmentalist and spiritual themes. Not deeply futurist novels.)
World Food Prize
Annual award for the person who does the most to increse the quantity, quality, or availability of the world's food supply.


High School
Cosmos
Advanced mathematics and science pre-college program for the University of California.
FIRST Robotics Competition
Shows students the promise of technological fields and that the basic concepts of science, math, engineering, and invention are exciting and interesting. (Dean Kamen, DEKA)
Future Lab
A high school "future science and technology" tour, co-produced by James Canton, Institute for Global Futures and iHigh, a leading high school events marketing co.
Future Problem Solving Program (FPSP)
Annual competition rewarding futures thinking in high school. Over 250,000 students annually participate in the program internationally. Since 1974.
Global School Net
Promoting online collaboration and futures thinking for high school students since 1984.
Intel Science Talent Search
America's oldest and most highly regarded pre-college science contest. $100K 1st Prize, $20K 2nd, $5K 3rd.
Junior Achievement
A nonprofit movement that reaches 4 million K-12 youth helping them to use and understand free enterprise, business, and economics to improve the quality of their lives
National Youth Leadership Forum on Technology
Annual ten day event mixing top high school students, educators, and industry professionals.
Odyssey of the Mind
International educational program that teaches creative problem-solving through friendly, team competitions for students from kindergarten through college. Thousands of teams from the U.S. and 25 other countries participate annually. Since 1978.

University
IEEE and International MicroMouse Competitions (UC Davis, etc.)
Very small student-built robots run mazes for minimum times. Started in 1970's. Many unconnected events run annually in North America and the U.K.


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