The White House is getting ready to honor five years since the creation of Challenge.gov — the central web portal for government competitions intended to spur innovation and solve problems — with a forward-looking celebration.
Touting the $72 million in prizes awarded across 400 challenges in the last five years, the Office of Science and Technology Policy announced a special event this fall that will highlight some of the major breakthroughs and civic issues solved through the program.
More: Challenges, prizes to play larger role in agency problem-solving
OSTP is currently looking for agencies and private-sector organizations interested in speaking about the future of government-sponsored challenges at the event.
The "commitments" can be specific upcoming programs or announcements about broader goals they hope to accomplish through a challenge. Commitments can also be about strengthening the impact of prize competitions or broadening the scope of future challenges.
Those interested in participating in the event should reach out to challenges@ostp.gov by Aug. 28.
Related: Develop digital services contract training, win $320K
The event is being organized by Tom Kalil, White House deputy director of technology and innovation, and Jenn Gustetic, assistant director for open innovation.
Aaron Boyd is an awarding-winning journalist currently serving as editor of Federal Times — a Washington, D.C. institution covering federal workforce and contracting for more than 50 years — and Fifth Domain — a news and information hub focused on cybersecurity and cyberwar from a civilian, military and international perspective.
