During the presidential campaign, Barack Obama promised to expand the use of prizes to promote advancement in the field of consumer technology. According to the White House, prizes have several important advantages over traditional grants and contracts: attracting small entrepreneurial firms, paying only for results, and establishing goals and objectives without having to designate the best path beforehand.
Our research shows that several government departments are adopting the prize model. The U.S. Department of Energy, for example, launched the L Prize competition in 2009. According to the agency Web site, "L Prize is the first government-sponsored technology competition designed to spur lighting manufacturers to develop high-quality, high-efficiency solid-state lighting products to replace the common light bulb." The winner will receive fame -- and a $10 million cash prize.
Similarly, on July 31, 2009, NASA announced the CAFE Green Flight Challenge, which offers up to $1.65 million to the team that can successfully develop an aircraft that exceeds an equivalent fuel-efficiency of 200 passenger miles per gallon.
It's important to note, however, that neither of these competitions are entirely new. L Prize, for example, was authorized by the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, signed into law by former President George Bush. NASA has likewise held similar competitions in 2007 and 2008. This is important, because President Obama specifically promised to expand the use of prizes, not just continue with the trend.
That said, it still appears that President Obama is making some progress. In a June 17, 2009 blog post, Thomas Kalil, the deputy director for policy with the Office of Science and Technology Policy, wrote that "the Open Government Initiative is interested in exploring how the government might partner with foundations, nonprofits, philanthropists, and the private sector to support additional high-impact prizes, and to harness the power and reach of 'innovation marketplaces' to achieve important goals." Kalil called on the public to visit the OSTP blog and to leave comments with suggestions as to which prizes the government should sponsor.
With the continuation of previously held competitions by various government departments, and with a public announcement that the federal government is looking for ideas for additional prizes, we rate this one In the Works.