InnoCentive
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- The correct title of this article is InnoCentive. The initial letter is shown capitalized due to technical restrictions.
| InnoCentive, Inc. | |
 |
|
| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | Indianapolis, Indiana, USA (2001) |
| Headquarters | Andover, Massachusetts, USA |
| Key people | Dwayne Spradlin, President & CEO Robert Kinney, CFO & VP, Operations Jill Panetta, Chief Scientific Officer |
| Industry | Open Innovation |
| Products | Open Innovation, crowdsourcing, research services |
| Website | www.innocentive.com |
InnoCentive is an "open innovation" company that takes research and development problems in biology or chemistry, frames them as challenge problems, and opens them up for anyone to solve them. They give cash awards for the best solutions to scientists who meet the challenge criteria.[1] Solutions have come from US, Europe, Russia, China, India, Argentina, etc.
The idea for InnoCentive came to Alpheus Bingham and Aaron Schacht after they attended a public lecture at the Santa Fe Institute.[2]. The company which is based in Andover, Massachusetts, was launched in 2001 by Jill Panetta and Alpheus Bingham.
InnoCentive calls the scientists who attempt the problems "solvers" and the companies these problems come from as "seekers." They state that Procter & Gamble, Dow AgroSciences and Eli Lilly are some of these "seekers". As of early 2007, InnoCentive's web site features an award from the non-profit "Prize 4 Life" foundation for $1 million for finding a biomarker that measures ALS disease progression, but the award amounts are typically in the $10,000 to $100,000 range. The problems listed are categorized as biology or chemistry problems, but use a very liberal definition of these disciplines. Examining the challenges shows examples from system network theory, manufacturing engineering, design, materials science, nanotechnology, etc.
In December 2006 the company signed an agreement with the Rockefeller Foundation to add a non-profit area designed to generate science and technology solutions to pressing problems in the developing world.[3]
[edit] External links
[edit] References
- ^ Prizes for Solutions to Problems Play Valuable Role in Innovation The Wall Street Journal Online, 25 January 2007. Retrieved 12 March 2007.
- ^ Special 20th Anniversary Edition of the Santa Fe Institute Bulletin, Fall 2004. (Page 27)
- ^ InnoCentive press release, 19 December 2007. Retrieved 12 March 2007.
