Challenge prizes – getting them right

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Challenge prizes – getting them right

As the Government defines which Innovation Missions it will prioritise and how these will be taken forward, we hope it will consider the important contribution that challenge prizes could make as part of a balanced portfolio of funding instruments.

Challenge prizes are a distinctive method and their execution demands a different approach from the grant programmes that currently predominate in public R&D funding. Based on our experience at Nesta Challenges delivering over 40 challenge prizes since 2012, ‘getting prizes right’ requires a particular focus on the following aspects of execution.

Robust design

Challenge prizes should set objectives that are ambitious but also achievable, and should offer rewards that incentivise high quality engagement with the challenge. So defining the problem and setting the right target is key to a prize’s success. Before launching a prize we undertake detailed research consulting with problem-owners, innovators and beneficiaries to identify the opportunity space on which the prize should focus, the barriers to innovation, the landscape of potential innovators and their motivations. We do all this to be confident that the prize is focussing on the right problem and will bring forward solutions that can flourish beyond the lifetime of the prize.

Getting the best from innovators

Challenge prizes build from the premise that great innovation can come from unexpected places, and that the more that a diverse range of innovators engages enthusiastically with the prize the greater its impact. This demands an understanding of and empathy for innovators – who they are, what they are trying to achieve, what they need to prosper, and how to level the playing field – and designing the prize so that it works with the grain of innovator mindsets. This means keeping processes simple and unbureaucratic, moving at pace, and transparent, clear and timely communication. We use prizes to build networks and communities of innovators who support and challenge one another and create opportunities together.

Creating profile

Challenge prizes are designed to raise awareness and to get noticed. We use the power of communications to shine a light on a problem, demonstrate why it matters and what opportunities it creates, and to highlight the solutions that prize participants are creating. The high-profile nature of prizes develops downstream customer demand, and can stimulate further private sector investment many times greater than the direct financial rewards provided by the prize.

The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the appetite for high quality information about science and innovation where this is made relevant to people’s lives and daily concerns. We believe that to date we have barely scratched the surface of challenge prizes’ potential to stimulate public engagement with science and innovation. Challenge prizes could play a key role in engaging the public in the Innovation Strategy, the Innovation Missions and the wider UK science and innovation ecosystem.