Crowdsourcing: innovative web site offers cash for water solutions

An open innovation marketplace uses “crowdsourcing” to solve water and sanitation challenges in exchange for the opportunity to earn cash awards.

Corporations and non-profits referred to as "Seekers" come to InnoCentive.com to post "Challenges" - unique professional, academic and research problems for which they are seeking a solution. Each Challenge contest offers a cash award for solutions chosen from all those submitted. Anyone can create a free account to become a "Solver" and offer his or her unique solution to a challenge.

Cash awards offered range from US$ 5,000 to US$ 1 million (€ 3,500 - € 700,000 ). Up to November 2009, nearly US$ 5 million (€ 3.5 million) in prize money has been awarded to 539 Challenges.

One group of Challenges – the GlobalGive Back Innovation Challenge - focuses on solving problems in developing countries. Within this group, the Rockefeller Foundation is sponsoring a series of water and sanitation challenges. In 2008 it awarded a prize for a design for dry-based biolatrines for rural schools in Africa. Currently it is offering US$ 20,000 (€ 14,000) for each of the following two water challenges (deadline 11 March 2010):

• Design of a Low Cost Rainwater Harvesting Storage Tank in a Wetland Region (India)
• Make Water from Lake Victoria Safe to Drink!

Web sites:

• InnoCentive.com - GlobalGive Back Innovation Challenge
• InnoCentive.com - Developing Countries Pavilion

Contact: InnoCentive, Inc., Waltham, MA, USA, contact page

Source: ARA / Atlanta Daily World, 19 Nov 2009

Keywords

• Africa
• South Asia
• Financing
• Sanitation - Ecological sanitation
• Water supply