Challenge.gov, the online challenge platform administered by the US government has achieved a major open innovation milestone.
This week, two agencies launched new competitions bringing the total number of challenges in its near 6-year history to across the 700 mark.
The actual 700th challenge is Start a SUD Startup, organized by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). It is seeking to award biomedical scientists up to $100,000 to help them turn their research ideas into business opportunities.
The other challenge issued this week is NASA’s $500,000 Vascular Tissue Challenge to improve the resiliency of the human body in space. Prizes will be given to the first three teams that can “create thick, human vascularized organ tissue in an in-vitro environment while maintaining metabolic functionality similar to their in-vivo native cells throughout a 30 calendar day survival period.”
Impressive History
During the history of Challenge.gov, more than 300,000 people have taken part from every country on the planet and from every state in the USA. And more than $220 million in prize money has been awarded.
But most importantly of all, a great number of innovative solutions have been presented in multiple areas, such as:
To read more about Challenge.gov and to take part in its challenges, click here.