InnoCentive Blog

The crisis in many parts of the world concerning the lack of available drinking water is only getting worse year after year. As it stands, around 768 million people worldwide cannot access this fundamental resource and, as the effects of climate change worsen and pollution continues, this figure is only going to increase.

Having had a very successful experience with one of its Challenges run in late 2020 Habitat for Humanity returned to InnoCentive’s open innovation platform.

Following the success of the previous challenge it ran with InnoCentive, WorldVision had another problem that needed solving. Supported once again by SeaFreightLabs, this Challenge sought to improve the uptake of chlorine-based water treatment in Sub-Saharan Africa.

My name is Nikolay Barashkov - “I am not sure that one should really speak of "failures" just because some proposals are not rewarded. Over the years, several dozens of my solutions have come short of winning and yet, from my personal experience, I can conclude that there is always something positive in such types of ‘failure’.”

My name is Doug Corrigan - “The reason that there is a challenge in the first place is because there are already experts who have not been able to solve the challenge. If it was easily solved by subject matter experts in that field, it wouldn’t have become a challenge. “

My name is Dmitry Tipkin - “My favorite challenge I worked on was for NASA concerning the radiation safety for trips to Mars. I proposed an engineering solution about a special type of magnetic field for concentration of high energy protons in special places inside the ship instead of full redirection of them.”

My name is Ed Melcarek - “It dawned on me that these types of problems can be solved only if you have “too diverse a set of skills and experience”. Something that the corporate world frowns upon.”

My name is Yury Bodrov - “My most inspired challenge was participating in the NASA Challenge. All of us dream of space in our childhood and for many, I’m sure, this dream remains when we become adults.”

My name is Deepak Aghor - “I believe that the solution to a problem lies in the problem itself”

My name is Sanchita Tewari  - “Become a winning Solver marked a significant step in my professional career and an important event of my life. This was the first time I received recognition and reward from an international authority and it was a life changing experience for me and my family.”

My name is John Davis - “I came up with a method to break the viscous shear of crude oil under cold weather conditions helping to clean up a 20 year old oil spill from the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster.”

My name is Hannah Safford - “I was first introduced to the concept of innovation challenges and prizes during my two-year fellowship in the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) under the Obama administration.”