Mary-Louise Hoffman
Data from the Office of Science and Technology Policy shows that federal agencies hosted 87 technology-related prize competitions during fiscal 2013, an 85 percent increase over the prior fiscal year..
Cristin Dorgelo, assistant director for grand challenges at OSTP, wrote in a blog post that the White House has been urging agencies to use prize programs to seek tools and methods that can help the government achieve its missions.
Dorgelo says the number of America COMPETES Act rewards last year increased by more than 50 percent compared with 2012 figures and grew six-fold compared with 2011 levels.
Eleven agency-backed contests in fiscal year 2013 offered $100,000 in cash prizes or more.
Several of last year’s prize-based initiatives challenged innovators to leverage open government data and develop software programs, Dorgelo wrote.
