Perspectives on Innovation

We recently completed an Ideation Challenge for the Sandler-Kenner Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer which looked for new tools and approaches for earlier diagnosis of this deadly disease. We spoke with Dr. Gregory Echt, Chairman of the Foundation, about his experience with the Challenge process and the results. 

Hello Dr. Echt. As we understand it, this was your first experience with Challenge Driven Innovation. How did it go?

We felt the InnoCentive Challenge went very smoothly. We appreciated the help and support of your staff in guiding us through the process, as well as helping us to understand how to most effectively formulate our Challenge and to review submissions. 

Was there anything that particularly surprised you during the Challenge?

We were pleased with the number of replies and equally impressed with the overall quality of the responses. They were thoughtful and demonstrated novel and critical thinking skills, often utilizing research approaches from other areas of science. The reach of the Challenge was astounding — we had interest from over 500 Solvers in 57 countries. Over 60 submissions came from 17 countries, which confirmed to us that early detection of pancreatic cancer is a pressing worldwide problem. 

You ended up making four awards totaling $12,500.  Tell us about some of the solutions you received and their possible impact.

I want to reiterate that I was very pleased with the quality of all of the submissions. In general, we found the winning solutions remained focused on our goal, which is to develop highly sensitive detection tools that can be easily implemented by medical professionals and eventually cost effective enough to become part of a routine medical practice. The winning team from New Delhi applied their expertise and knowledge gained through studies on the development of a non-invasive early diagnostic method for tuberculosis. The three recognition awards had varied backgrounds. One is a senior lecturer in molecular microbiology, and another has an M.D.-Ph.D. in biophysics with an interest in the nano-technological side of bioresearch.  The third recognition awardee proposed the use of a 3D non-invasive high resolution ultrasound. Interestingly enough, this awardee was motivated by a family member who had recently been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

I believe that you have been in touch with the winning Solvers. Can you tell us more about those conversations and your plans for the winning solutions?

We have been in touch with all of the Solvers. They have all expressed their appreciation for the recognition of their work. One of the awardees indicated that his research team would use this award to fund a pilot study. We have also put the winning Solvers in touch with each other, encouraging them to learn from each other and to continue the discussion on early detection. We plan to follow these researchers in order to encourage the development of their ideas.

Our Solvers always welcome feedback.  Is there any advice you would offer after reviewing so many submissions? (more…)

We recently announced a Challenge with the Humanitarian Innovation Fund (HIF) to improve sanitation and containment of waste during humanitarian responses to natural or man-made disasters. A solution to this Challenge would benefit thousands of people displaced by these disasters, often in already-vulnerable communities. We spoke recently with Nicolas Kröger, Manager of the Humanitarian Innovation Fund, about the Challenge and its potential impact. [Ed note: A press release of the Challenge announcement can be found here.]

Hello Nicolas.  There are clearly many immediate as well as long-term needs that people affected by disasters such as earthquakes or tsunamis have. Can you tell us why you decided to focus this Challenge on sanitation?

Hello, and thanks for the opportunity to discuss this important Challenge. When we first looked at the possibility of organizing a Challenge with InnoCentive, we were aware that we would have to leave out many of the needs that people affected by disasters have. As a result, we knew that whichever sector we decided to focus on as a first Challenge would have to be built around a broad consensus within the sector.

We thus decided to survey the humanitarian community and ask where they thought innovation was most needed in the system. Unsurprisingly, we received many answers, but most were high-level and outside the scope of the HIF and/or the Challenge we wanted to establish. However, from the top three sectors coming out of the survey, the more specific and tangible Challenges suggested were to be found in the WASH area. For example, the appropriate water treatment technologies for immediate relief phase, an emergency toilet ‘platform’ that enables adaptations that are culturally appropriate, hand hygiene technologies for emergencies, and so on.

A gap analysis that had been initiated by the WASH sector further suggested that while a lot of effort and resources were being put into water treatment, hand washing, sanitation and hygiene promotion have been proven to have a much bigger health impact. Sanitation therefore seemed to be a good place to start.

The Challenge mentions particular issues with providing latrines in urban environments.  Can you say more about the limitations and obstacles in these situations?

With more than half the world population now living in urban centers, and the trend moving upward, an increasing number of disasters will have an impact on urban contexts and populations. These pose specific challenges for humanitarians responding to a crisis. Up until now, most tools and approaches have been developed with rural areas in mind and they need to be rethought for urban areas which pose a distinct set of challenges.

Urban environments are not all properly planned and developed: about a third of the urban population is actually living in slums or informal settlements with poor or no existing sanitation services. In these usually crowded and confined areas, the lack of both adequate water supplies and proper sanitation (e.g., open drains, sewers) increase the risk of disease transmission. This necessitates rethinking the way we build latrines. Additionally, existing solutions don’t take into account the specific nature of urban centers with their hard-to-dig pavements and concrete which make the current pit latrine design impractical with regards to time and resource constraints following a disaster.

This is a Theoretical Challenge with a non-exclusive license.  Has the HIF thought about what it will do to develop and implement the winning solution? Read the rest of this entry »

Hello Solvers,

We are currently doing a study with researchers at Erasmus University (Rotterdam, Netherlands) concerning open innovation and prize-based crowdsourcing. They have already conducted personal interviews with several Solvers and as a follow-up will be sending out a survey this week to a few thousand active Solvers. In the researcher’s words:

“We aim to understand your motivations, perceptions, thoughts, and how you solve Challenges.”

I just wanted to give you a heads-up that you might receive this survey in the coming days and mention a few things:

1. The survey is anonymous. It will mention a specific Challenge to which you submitted a solution, but the researchers will not know who you are or see your actual submission – they will just know that you submitted to that particular Challenge. Again, your responses will be treated anonymously and only be used for academic purposes and improving our services.
2. Any Solver who opted out of receiving emails from InnoCentive will not receive the Survey.
3. The survey is targeting “active” Solvers, that is, those that have submitted to several Challenges in recent history. Some will be award winners and some will not.
4. The survey should only take about 15 minutes of your time.

Not everyone will receive a survey, but please check your email (and spam-box) for the survey next week. We ask that you answer all questions as accurately and honestly as possible so that we can build your feedback and insights into our future Challenges and serve you better.

Thank you in advance!

Michael Albarelli
InnoCentive-Erasmus University Research Team

We recently posted a Challenge with the New York & New Jersey Minority Supplier Development Council (The Council) which seeks to identify innovative products and services that drive sustainability, create supply chain efficiencies, and benefit urban and rural communities and business owners. The Challenge offers Minority-Owned Business Enterprises and diverse organizations looking to highlight their innovation, build capacity, and develop supplier relationships with large publically traded corporations, as well as public sector agencies, an opportunity to gain local and national exposure and drive new business opportunities. We asked Kevin V.G. Wells, General Counsel and Director of Compliance for The Council, to chat with us about the Challenge.

Hi Kevin – we appreciate you taking the time to join us. Can you tell us more about The Council and its interest in promoting innovative products and services?

Absolutely. The Council has been proudly operating for close to 40 years. It links its minority supplier network, consisting of start-ups through companies with over $2 billion in revenue, to commercial contract opportunities. Our organization has three core functions: 1) Provide private-sector certification in New York and New Jersey for US entrepreneurs whose businesses are at least 51% Asian-American, African-American, Hispanic-American, Native-American or Pacific-Islander owned, operated, and controlled; 2) Facilitate contract opportunities for Council-certified suppliers with its Fortune 500 membership; and 3) Develop minority supply chains by cultivating innovation.

The Council focuses on minority supply chain development rather than minority business development. It channels diversity into the supply chains of its Fortune 500 corporate membership. These thrusts are geared toward businesses in the fields of science, technology, manufacturing, and environmental betterment. Today, if a diverse business does not address these areas, we strongly believe that it will fail.

How does this Challenge fit into your plans for your upcoming Sustainability Summit?

This Challenge is a vehicle to promote minority supply chain development and innovation within the emerging domestic market. It is also a funnel for all submitting Solvers to actively participate in our Sustainability Summit. Participants will have the opportunity to present their core competencies and to learn from the competencies of others. 

So it sounds as though the monetary prize for this Challenge, a total of $10,000, is only part of the incentive for Solvers to participate. Is that right?

That is correct. The Sustainability Summit will not only laud four winners of the Challenge, but it will also provide 40 semi-finalists the opportunity to showcase their innovative products or services. As part of this Summit, The Council is promoting an Innovation Arena. Fortune 500 companies, global business entities, venture capitalists, government representatives, environmental thought leaders, and small/medium businesses will have the chance to vet these semi-finalists as resources for their respective needs. The Sustainability Summit will take place at the Sentry Center in New York City on October 9, 2012.

The Council’s mission is to facilitate contract opportunities for Minority-Owned Business Enterprises (MBEs), yet the Challenge is open to all companies. Can you tell us a bit more about that decision?

If diversity drives innovation, our challenge pool must represent the best and brightest. Within that pool of Solvers, businesses representing the emerging domestic market will be highlighted. The Council has always encouraged its certified suppliers to create strategic partnerships, and we believe that this Challenge will facilitate that opportunity. 

You are seeking innovative and sustainable products and services that also bring benefits to urban and rural communities. Could you elaborate on the targeted community criteria, and also talk about US versus global markets? (more…)

Our daily lives are increasingly touched by the sharing of information online. In our personal lives, we update facebook via mobile, shop online, and use internet banking; we get to work and use email, online transfers, and share data. This is all making things easier for us, but it has also been making it easier (and more attractive) for exploitation of that data.

As we move further into a web-integrated way of running our lives, authentication becomes increasingly important. Better access control and information protection are crucial if we are to keep enjoying the latest technological developments.  

This is the compelling force behind our latest Challenge that we are running with IT solutions provider Emergent Consulting, who is looking for creative ideas in authentication through portable devices in the Emergent Authentication Challenge. These devices are increasingly being utilized for their features like touch screens and sensors, and easier software programming through things like apps, to provide innovative security solutions. Accordingly, there is huge potential for a lot of exciting ideas to come in authentication.

Along these lines, the Challenge is designed to attract innovative individuals and startups to show off what they are up to in this space. First off, there are no requests or claims on IP. Second, the Challenge is an open one: we’re seeking ideas from mobile phones, tablets, handheld consoles, RFID technology, NFC devices, smart cards, GPS – the list goes on. The competition is a great opportunity to showcase what you or your startup can do, whilst competing for a $10,000 prize!

If you are interested and want to learn more, check out the additional details on www.emergentchallenge.com, or contact us directly.