Using challenge prizes to scale ideas

Vicki Purewal - 29.06.2012

We recently published two blogs summarising discussions from our Centre for Challenge Prizes launch. These covered two of the questions we posed for discussion at the launch:

The were on: On which issues could challenge prizes have the greatest impact? and Which for you are the most important features in the design of a challenge prize?

Here is a summary of the final two discussion questions from the launch:

What don't you know yet about challenge prizes that would be really useful to know?

There was clearly a demand for more understanding of the impact of prizes:

How do challenge prizes compare with traditional methods, and (pre-empting the last question below) how you can combine challenge prizes with other approaches?
What methods can be used to use for evaluating prizes?
What are the economic impacts of prizes?
Do participants end up collaborating?
What are people's motivations for responding to a challenge?

Common questions on prize design and delivery:

How to use funds both across a set of innovation approaches and within a prize design
How to get maximum value/impact from a prize - including what to do as follow up and how to make sure ideas go on to scale.
How to use multiple stages in a prize.
How you attract the right people when you don't know who they are?
How broad should you go in who you try to attract?
How do you pick the right judging panel?
How to you approach IP?

There were also a couple of interesting questions from the perspective of participants:

What happens when I enter? - recognising that entering challenge prizes is still quite new for many people
What happens to my idea?

Overall there was a big appetite for learning from other prizes.

Where could challenge prizes be used with other tools to find and scale great ideas?

There was strong agreement that challenge prizes should be seen as part of a portfolio of approaches, not purely as stand-alone tools. There are opportunities to consider how a challenge prize works as part of a wider strategy and infrastructure to support innovation before, during and after the running of a prize.

Before running a prize it is important to be clear about why you're using a challenge prize and why you think it's the most useful tool in that context. Participants at our launch stressed that challenge prizes should be reserved for areas where there isn't a clear solution. We should be careful not to leap too quickly into using a challenge prize. Equally challenge prizes can be an opportunity to take a step back and question - for example as a commissioner - whether the solution you are specifying is really the right one, or whether you would be better off specifying the challenge instead. You should also be clear from the beginning where the IP related to the winning ideas will sit.

During the prize there are number of things that could connect prizes with other innovation tools:

Offering 'non-financial' support such as mentorship, facilities or equipment - including being adaptable in the type of support provided.
Linking with accelerator programmes.
Allowing ideas to be improved or built on and further developed within the prize process.
Building networks - of competitors and of other relevant stakeholders
Influencing those who could be supportive to the prize winners after the competition.

After a challenge prize participants in our discussion suggested the use of:

Leveraging investments - through networks or more formally
Creating ways of entering market / procurement following the prize
Linking with other programmes that could help scale innovations
Pledge/match funding
Connecting winners and also non-winners with relevant networks

Of course all of the ideas suggested for consideration during and after the prize should be considered upfront as much as possible, and where they can't be planned upfront prize organisers should aim to flex to accommodate appropriate opportunities that arise.

It was also suggested that knowledge and insights about challenge prize processes could have an important influence on other tools that could support innovation such as procurement, co-design/co-delivery initiatives with local authorities and communities or community-led commissioning.