Perspectives on Innovation

In this segment of his Big Think interview, Dwayne tells the story of the Oil Spill Recovery Institute (OSRI), which faced the challenge of removing viscous oil from the bottom of Prince William Sound after the the Exxon Valdez oil spill. After 20 years of trying to solve this problem, they turned to InnoCentive and received a solution from an InnoCentive Solver who had no background in the oil and gas industry.  This story illustrates the power of diversity and the effectiveness of tapping into a pool outside of your own experts.

A few weeks ago, InnoCentive Solver Ed Herrmann Tweeted the following: “Just deposited my Innocentive check for the Polestar Challenge. Now I just need to decide what to buy; suggestions?” He received a few responses, including an enthusiastic suggestion to sponsor a happy hour in Phoenix.  In the end, he used the money to purchase a new server and an SDN Subscription. He’s planning to use the server to run the SAP Web Application Server which comes with the subscription, which will provide him with his own licensed SAP system to use for future SAP related InnoCentive Challenges.

Over the years, we’ve heard about Solvers using their winnings for all manner of things – from philanthropy to upgrading lab equipment to upgrading home entertainment equipment.  John Davis, winner of the OSRI oil spill Challenge is planning to use his winnings to fund a trip to Alaska, to help the Seeker, the Oil Spill Recovery Institute, develop and implement his solution.  In addition, he donated some of his winnings to OSRI to be used toward finding more environmentally friendly methods of cleaning up oil spills.

What about you?  What have you done with your winnings?  If you haven’t yet won an award, what do you think you would do?  Tell us!

I recently interviewed Scott Pegau, Director of the Oil Spill Recover Institute (OSRI) in Cordova Alaska. OSRI was created by the government in response to the Exxon Valdez oil spill, and has been tasked with improving oil spill response in Arctic and subarctic marine waters. As you may know, OSRI has posted several Challenges on the InnoCentive website, including the Challenge, recently made famous by the New York Times, to separate oil from water in recovery barges. That Challenge was solved by John Davis, an oil-industry outsider. We find that many of the best solutions on our network come from outside the industry in which they are posted.

Liz Moise:
Scott, tell me – how long had you been working on this particular Challenge before coming to InnoCentive, and what other avenues did you pursue before coming to us for help with this problem?

Scott Pegau:
Actually, the process of setting up a prize program predates my arrival at OSRI.  The idea had been kicked around for a couple years, but hadn’t fully developed because of the need to ensure the program was properly run and advertised.  Once InnoCentive was identified as a mechanism to post and manage challenges we started to actually draft the concepts that have become the challenges we have released.

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Chris Brogan’s post (Solve Some Real World Problems) this morning really caught my attention. It’s a call to action for startups and individuals alike to rethink how they might use their businesses or positions to help solve real problems in the world. As Solvers at InnoCentive I know you are motivated by the chance to really impact the world, not just the chance to earn money. InnoCentive’s philanthropic endeavors, and the amazing potential this business has to enable individuals to contribute to solving the world’s most important Challenges was a large part of my motivation when I took this job as the marketing manager and social media evangelist. This year you have helped bringing solar powered light to Africa through SunightSolar, helped innovate ways to clean up remaining oil in Alaska for OSRI, and are currently sending in your research results on how to help detect a biomarker for ALS/Lou Gehrig’s Disease.

I had an interesting conversation with Michael Anuzis yesterday about ways to continue to improve the depth of opportunity that InnoCentive offers to contributers who want to make a difference in the world. He is one of many individuals who have blogged, called, emailed or dm’d me recently with ideas for growing our business. It’s pretty inspiring to see how strongly people believe in the concept of InnoCentive. He suggested that we find a way to allow individuals to contribute small amounts of money towards innovation projects they see on InnoCentive.com. Much like the contribution model of our friends at Global Giving. I suggested that perhaps we could even allow individuals to post an idea for a Challenge that they feel strongly about, and then use the website as a way to gather financial support around it. Once the support has hit a certain level, they would be allowed to post the Challenge and ask for solutions. These are just initial ideas, and I know you have more – please share them with us! As we grow the business, especially the philanthropic side of the business, we want to hear your thoughts.

My name is John Davis and I studied chemistry at Illinois State University under Dr. Cheryl D. Stevenson and at Notre Dame under Dr. Bradley D. Smith. Currently, I work as a consultant for petrochemical and general manufacturing facilities, but like most people, I have worked a number of different jobs.

One summer I gained some experience pouring concrete, and I used some of what I learned from that experience to help solve the InnoCentive Challenge “Breaking Viscous Shear of Crude Oil”. Concrete vibrators are used to allow the concrete to easily flow into fine cracks and crevices, and also are used to restore liquid flow to concrete that has begun to set-up prematurely. I realized that with some minor modifications, pneumatic concrete vibrators could solve the problem of Breaking the Viscous Shear of Crude Oil by restoring liquid flow to the icy slush mixture.

I plan to take a vacation and visit OSRI in Cordova Alaska when it gets warmer. It means a lot to me to know that my Innocentive Solution was used by OSRI because their work is so important. It is very exciting to know that my idea is helping their cause. I intend to make a donation to OSRI with some of the award money so that they can find the most environmentally friendly means to clean up oil spills.

For more details on my story, click here to watch my video on YouTube.