As many of our Solvers know, we’ve done some pretty interesting work with the government. In January 2010, NASA’s Johnson Space Center launched an open innovation pavilion on InnoCentive.com. Of NASA’s initial seven Challenges – ranging from protecting astronauts and equipment in space from solar flares to keeping food fresh during long space missions – nearly 3,000 of our Solvers from around the world participated, and more than 350 solutions were proposed. NASA designated full or partial monetary awards for all seven Challenges, and the average time-to-solution for each of the Challenges was only four months.

I always liked this quote from Solver Yury Bodrov, who was rewarded for his submission to NASA’s Improved Food Packaging Challenge: “I was not sure I would be successful, but having NASA scientists evaluate my work was a primary motivation…It is a dream to be recognized by the scientific level of NASA quality.” 

More recently, in March 2011, InnoCentive and the Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) announced a collaboration to advance innovation in military research. Through this partnership, the AFRL has successfully solved Challenges, including methods for dropping humanitarian aid without injury to people on the ground and stopping a fleeing vehicle without damaging the vehicle or the driver. The AFRL has since launched new Challenges, most recently Fast Rope Glove Device, currently open to the public and seeks innovative ways for military personnel to descend quickly from a helicopter in hostile situations.

Let’s face it: While we consider all of our Challenges to be important, there’s something cool about participating in NASA, AFRL, and other Challenges posted by government agencies. They spark our collective imaginations and enable us to truly reach for the stars. Stay tuned for other agencies to launch new Challenges on InnoCentive.com in the coming months.

The Chicagoland Chamber of Commerce recently partnered with InnoCentive to generate more than 125 ideas for reducing greenhouse gas emissions by increasing the region’s mass transit ridership to 1 billion riders.  The winning idea came from a Chicago-based urban affairs writer who received an award of $5,000.  Creative thinkers from as far away as Kenya, Australia and Japan submitted countless new ideas designed to improve Chicago’s mass transit system—from transformational green initiatives to new fare structures and improved user experience.

Now we’re offering the largest cities in America the opportunity to harness the collective brainpower of the world’s most creative minds to solve a pressing urban challenge.  Why are we doing this?  We recognize that what’s good for cities is good for everyone.  We believe InnoCentive can help to impact this positive change, and we’re excited to be part of bringing about solutions that can truly make a difference in the day to day lives of millions of people.

What do you think?  What Challenge would you encourage your city or town to post to our Solvers?  Tell us in the comments.

For more information on how to engage the world’s brightest minds to Solve your city’s critical Challenges, please contact InnoCentive here.

Over the weekend, Business Week published an article on a similar topic, entitled Can America Invent Its Way Back? They delved into what they term innovation economics, and the reasons that innovation could soon become essential in our economy. They also published a video interview with, Michael Mandel, who is the Chief Economist for Business Week.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this piece and the topic of innovation economics. Will innovation, particularly open innovation, keep America competetive? I’m particularly interested to hear from those of you who live outside the US on this one. How much has open innovation (or crowdsourcing) caught on where you live?