De-risking unknown innovation
Challenge prizes do the exact opposite. They encourage and support multiple approaches to solving a problem, and help entries to progress through different stages. With an objective and expert judging panel making all final decisions, the process ensures that the most promising solutions progress with seed funding and expert-led capacity-building support, regardless of origin.
In addition, solutions can only win the overall prize once proven to work, removing the associated risk that influences decisions for traditional funding. This approach creates a level playing field for well-known and unknown innovators to compete on equal footings.
Additionally, challenge prizes do not specify how a problem should be solved. This means they allow for multiple and diverse solutions to progress through the competition. Although there is a winner, Challenge Works’ experience of running challenge prizes for a decade has shown that the format produces multiple solutions that go on to make a positive contribution to society.
Three centuries of challenge prizes
Despite embodying our modern values of democracy, challenge prizes have been used for centuries. In 1714, the original Longitude Prize took place, launched by the British government of the time to develop an accurate and useful way of measuring longitude for sailors, who were increasingly unable to safely navigate crucial eastward trade routes.
Since then, challenge prizes went on to play a vital role in the development of technologies through the industrial revolution – including behind railway and aviation breakthroughs.
Although they fell out of use after the Second World War with grant funding becoming dominant, they have experienced a revival in the last decade thanks to their ability to unearth unexpected solutions to great problems and tap into a rich seam of global innovators.
It goes without saying that for a challenge as wide-reaching as dementia a level playing field for innovators is crucial. Incentivising new tools that help people living with dementia live joyful, fulfilling and independent lives, requires solutions as diverse as the people they are designed to help.