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XPRIZE Visioneering 2018 - Design Challenge

Compete for a Chance to Win up to 100K by Designing and Pitching the next XPRIZE in 1 of our 5 Grand Challenge Areas

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stage:
Winners Announced!
prize:
$100,000

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Summary

Overview

Recording of Peter Diamandis' Facebook Live Q&A on Competition Design

https://www.facebook.com/XPRIZE/videos/10156650995013117/

 
What is Visioneering?

Visioneering is your opportunity to design one of our next XPRIZEs. We are asking for your design concepts that can help solve a global need in one of five Grand Challenge Areas. The designers of the best concepts will work with experts at XPRIZE to further refine their concepts and develop them into the robust, incentivized competitions that take a global stage at our premier annual event, Visioneering 2018.  Participants will be eligible to win prizes up to $100k in value

 
5 Grand Challenge Areas

 

How Can I Participate?
  1. Click "Accept Challenge" above to register for the competition
  2. Form a team or submit a design as an individual
  3. Watch the Sponsor Intent Videos and choose from one of the 5 Grand Challenge Areas
    (Energy of the Future, Feeding the Next Billion, Natural Disaster Prediction, Lifting Farmers out of Poverty, and Saving Coral Reefs)
  4. Watch Training Videos to help you design the next XPRIZE
  5. Create an account and contribute to the Wiki to share your expertise
  6. Record Your Pitch and Submit your design by July 23rd!

 

Still Have Questions? 

Start a post in our Forum to join the conversation, find a team, or connect with other innovators.

 

About XPRIZE

XPRIZE, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is the global leader in designing and implementing innovative competition models to solve the world’s grandest challenges. XPRIZE utilizes a unique combination of gamification, crowdsourcing, incentive prize theory and exponential technologies as a formula to make 10x (vs. 10%) impact in the grand challenge domains facing our world. XPRIZE’s philosophy is that—under the right circumstances—igniting rapid experimentation from a variety of diverse lenses is the most efficient and effective method to driving exponential impact and solutions to grand challenges.

Active competitions include the Lunar XPRIZE, $20M NRG COSIA Carbon XPRIZE, the $15M Global Learning XPRIZE, the $10M ANA Avatar XPRIZE, the $7M Shell Ocean Discovery XPRIZE, the $7M Barbara Bush Foundation Adult Literacy XPRIZE, the $5M IBM Watson AI XPRIZE, the $1.75M Water Abundance XPRIZE and the $1M Anu and Naveen Jain Women’s Safety XPRIZE.

To learn more about XPRIZE, visit www.xprize.org.

To learn more about Visioneering, visit www.xprize.org/visioneering


Guidelines

Prizes

Phase I: up to 30 all-expenses paid trips to Los Angeles, California

Three eligible contestants per Grand Challenge Area will be selected as Semi-Finalists and will be eligible to receive an all-expenses paid trip to Los Angeles, California to attend the Phase I Design Hackathon on August 10–12, 2018 at the XPRIZE headquarters in Culver City, California (“Hackathon”) where the Semi-Finalists’ Submissions will compete with other submissions to be selected as one of two (2) Finalists in each Grand Challenge Area. At least one (1) Finalist in each Grand Challenge Area will be selected from among the Semi-Finalists. Semi-Finalists will not have the option of receiving the cash equivalent or any other payment in lieu of the all-expenses paid trip to participate in the Hackathon.

If any Semi-Finalist is unable to attend the Hackathon, then they will have the option of appointing a delegate (subject to XPRIZE’s approval) to attend the Hackathon in the Semi-Finalist’s place. If any Semi-Finalist cannot find a delegate, then XPRIZE will try to help find a delegate acceptable to both the Semi-Finalist and XPRIZE. If the Semi-Finalist  and XPRIZE are unable to agree on a suitable delegate, then XPRIZE will have the right to unilaterally appoint such a delegate and the Semi-Finalists will no longer be eligible to win any Prize.

Each Semi-Finalist will be required to perpetually, irrevocably and conditionally assign all right title and interest in and to the Semi-Finalist’s submission and the contents thereof to XPRIZE. Failure to execute such an assignment will make the Semi-Finalist ineligible to win any Prize.

Phase II: up to $50,000 total, $10,000 per Grand Challenge Area

Each Semi-Finalists whose submission provides the basis for one of the two (2) competition concepts per Grand Challenge Area selected to move forward as Finalists following the Hackathon will be awarded a Prize of Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00).

To be eligible to win the Grand Prize of Twenty-Five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00), each Finalist will be required sign and comply with a separate written agreement committing to the following:

  1. Attend an all-day training for Finalists on August 13, 2018 at the XPRIZE headquarters in Culver City, California (either in person or via an approved delegate);
  2. Work in collaboration with a team of competition design professionals from Accenture, LLP to help prepare the competition documents  and other deliverables specified in the Consulting Agreement between XPRIZE and Accenture, including a summary of background research, a detailed competition overview, draft competition guidelines, a brief marketing plan, an impact/scaling plan, and a high-level budget. It is estimated that this effort will require approximately ten to fifteen (10-15) hours per week from August 14, 2018 to October 17, 2018; and
  3. Attend the 2018 Visioneers Summit (“Summit”) on October 18–21, 2018 at the Terranea Resort in Rancho Palos Verdes, California and prepare, support and deliver (as needed) all required presentations, including an on-stage opening presentation at the beginning of the Summit, a number of “Experiential Room” presentations during the Summit, and a closing presentation at the end of the Summit. All reasonable and approved expenses incurred by the Finalist in connection with attendance at the Summit will be paid by XPRIZE.

All dates and locations specified above are subject to change at XPRIZE’s sole discretion. Failure to collaborate in good faith with Accenture and/or to contribute to the preparation and presentation of the deliverables (as determined by XPRIZE in its sole discretion) will disqualify a contestant from winning the Grand Prize.

Phase III: up to $25,000

At the conclusion of the Summit, one of the ten eligible competition designs will be recognized as the 2018 XPRIZE “Design of the Year.” If the “Design of the Year” is based on a Finalist’s submission, then such Finalist will be awarded the grand prize of Twenty-Five Thousand Dollars ($25,000.00).

 

Judging

All entries will be reviewed July 23rd - 27th by our XPRIZE internal review team. By July 27th, 5 entries per Grand Challenge Area will become semi-finalist contestants to be reviewed by XPRIZE Innovation Board Members. The Innovation Board Members will then determine which 3 finalists will advance to the Design Hackathon.

 

Judging Criteria

Minimum Eligibility

  • All entries must be made in English
  • All submission form fields must be completed

All entries that meet these minimum eligibility requirements will then be scored accordingly:

Written Submission: 90%

Within the written submission, equal, one-third weights will be placed on each of the 3 main evaluation criteria:

  1. Is this a great XPRIZE?
  2. Will this prize make tremendous impact?
  3. Does this prize have a high likelihood to launch?

Video Submission: 10%

For the video submission, you will be evaluated on how clearly and succinctly you are able to explain your prize design in an “elevator” pitch, with weight also given to the team’s ability to catalyze a support ecosystem around the prize.

 

Wiki

Do you want to make a contribution to research in one of the Grand Challenge Areas? Visit the wiki tab for more information about prizes and how to contribute. Submit your research by June 29th for a chance to win!

Training
Energy
Corals
Feeding
Disasters
Farmers

Farmers

Lifting Farmers out of Poverty Design Challenge 

Sponsored by Gagan Gupta

 

The Challenge

Design a potential XPRIZE focused on exponentially increasing the income for millions of smallholder farmers living on less than two dollars a day.

 

The Background

The overwhelming majority of poor people surviving on less than two a day in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia are smallholder farmers working small plots of land about the size of a football field. These farmers, many of whom are women, often lack basic tools, technologies, infrastructure, financing and know-how, and are powerless against extreme conditions including drought, pests and disease. Reliable, tailored agriculture advice and localized market and pricing data are hard to come by, and government policies often fall short of meeting smallholder farmers’ needs.

Smallholder farmer production is uniquely susceptible to a changing climate as farmers often lack access to climate smart technology and innovations, and rising temperatures and unpredictable rainfall will only exacerbate their challenge of low and unreliable yields. It is estimated that climate change could reduce crop production by as much as 10% by 2030 and by 30% by 2080. When farmers grow more food and earn more income, on the other hand, they are better able to feed their families, send their children to school, provide for their family’s health, and invest in their farms. This makes their communities economically stronger and more stable, providing jobs not only in agriculture, but also boosting non-agricultural sector opportunities such as food processing, trade, manufacturing and services. Growth in agriculture drives inclusive growth, generating up to four times greater poverty reduction than growth in other sectors.

 

The Grand Challenge Areas

An amazing competition design will focus on the smallest set of breakthrough innovations that can unlock the largest possible positive impact. After considering many different possibilities and consulting both internal and external experts in the field, the team  has prioritized three “Grand Challenges” to be solved in this space: Access to Markets, Affordable Technology and Asymmetric Information. “Grand Challenges” are areas in which a breakthrough could lead to massive transformational change in creating a world of abundant incomes for smallholder famers. XPRIZE is seeking amazing prize designs in these areas.

 

Access to Markets:

One key Grand Challenge that will be crucial for exponentially lifting the income of farmers is access to markets. Smallholder farmers around the world need access to products, services, and markets to become more productive and profitable.  Prize Designers targeting this Grand Challenge could think through “access” in a literal meaning of the word access—are there breakthroughs related to the logistics of moving crops to different sorts of buyers—or the more symbolic meaning.  Can you design a prize that incents the creation of new solutions that allow smallholder farmers to connect with the same buyers and fetch the same prices that their larger industrial kin do?  We expect prizes in this grand challenge to target the creation of new technologies as well as new business models and supply chains.

 

Affordable Technology:

Another crucial Grand Challenge is the creation and distribution of affordable technology to smallholder farmers that currently don’t have access to the latest tech that industrial farms have access to in order do everything from planting to getting access to credit and financial markets.  Prize designs in this area could focus both on trying to create technological breakthroughs that dramatically decrease the cost of key technology that smallholder farmers need to thrive or focus on prize designs that lead to supporting business models or other innovations that can make existing technology more affordable and accessible to smallholder farmers.

 

Asymmetric Information:

Another key Grand Challenge that needs to be addressed is the asymmetric information situation that afflicts smallholder farmers.  Specifically, they are plagued by the lack of information about everything from global market demand and prices for certain crops, to knowledge of the futures markets for different commodities, to long-term climate patterns and implications.  Prize designs targeting these areas could include technological breakthroughs to allow smallholder farmers to get access to such crucial information or new forms of information distribution that are more inclusive for smallholder farmers.

 

What You Need to Do Now
  1. Do your research, do your homework. 
  2. Consult our Lifting Farmers Out of Poverty Wiki to understand more about the topic.
  3. Then, check out our Submission and Judging Guidelines and prepare your submission!

 

We are currently seeking sponsors to make the Lifting Farmers Out of Poverty XPRIZE a reality. Please contact StakeholderRelations@xprize.org if you are interested in supporting the launch of this prize to exponentially increase the income of farmers living on less than two dollars a day.

Wiki
Timeline
Updates26

Challenge Updates

Visioneering Summit Re-Cap

Nov. 16, 2018, 10:10 a.m. PST by MacKenzie Richter

Hi HeroXers,

Thank you for your support throughout our Visioneering 2018 process.  Below is an update of the winners, but first—we need your help to make the Visioneering process even better.  Please take our short survey here.  Please complete your feedback by no later than Sunday, November 25th.  And please follow us on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter and stay tuned for many more opportunities to get involved with XPRIZE moving forward!

Read on to see the winners in each Grand Challenge Area.  And a special congratulations to Team Coral Survival for receiving the designation of Top Prize Design for 2018!  Team Coral Survival pitched a prize where the Winning Team Will demonstrate the highest number of surviving young coral across a 1 square kilometer area after a 2-year field trial.

In the other Grand Challenge Areas, the winners are as follows:

  • Feeding the Next Billion: Soilless Agriculture
    • The winning team will be the first to create a healthy daily diet for 100 people for 100 days in 1 closed soilless system.
  • Natural Disaster Prediction: Gaia Alert
    • The winning team will predict 30 consecutive earthquakes with 6 and above magnitude, and with the longest lead time, of at least 2 minutes.
  • Off-Grid Energy Access: emPOWER
    • The winning team will create a 500 watt home energy system that powers the largest number of valuable appliances for $1/day.
  • Lifting Farmers Out of Poverty: Xponential Farmers
    • The winning team will develop a virtual marketplace and autonomous transport solution that carries a 300kg load of fresh produce to a buyer’s doorstep 200km away within 6 hours of harvesting.

We also awarded the People’s Choice award (for the most votes received in our online campaign) to:

  • Ride the Eye
    • The winning team will develop the most accurate and affordable unmanned system able to measure the key environmental and geo-location data from the eyewall of a Category 3 hurricane and transmit it hourly for at least 5 days.

Looking ahead to Visioneering 2019, a lively debate at the event helped to determine what prize design concepts would be developed for next year. A prize design concept targeting Carbon Extraction was voted the winner for most promising Visioneering 2019 prize design concept. Other prize design concepts included those focused on Curing Autoimmune Diseases and Happiness, among others.

Please visit xprize.org/visioneering to learn more.

Lastly, we want to shout a huge thank you to YOU, the community that has made Visioneering 2018 such a resounding success.  Thank you for your passion, your engagement and for your desire to be active participants in making the world a more abundant place. 

 

Warmest wishes,

Your XPRIZE Family


Join us NOW - Livestream!

Oct. 18, 2018, 9 a.m. PDT by MacKenzie Richter

 

For the first time ever, XPRIZE Visioneering will be live-streamed! 

Watch here, now: https://bit.ly/2yB9N6Q


Meet Our Finalists - Feeding the Next Billion

Oct. 17, 2018, 2 p.m. PDT by MacKenzie Richter

Introducing our 2 Finalist teams in the Feeding the Next Billion Grand Challenge Area ...

 

Team See No Weevil: Agricultural Pest and Disease Early Warning System

By: Gary Mancuso and John Vitale

 

Team Soilless Agriculture

By: Pekka and Tuija Pakkanen 

 

Please join us in wishing Teams See No Weevil and Soilless Agriculture good luck as they head into the 2018 Visioneering Summit.

Do you have a favorite team in this category? We want to know which challenge area and teams you are most passionate about this year. Your voice could influence the next #XPRIZE. Vote here: https://go.xprize.org/visioneering-peoples-choice-award/

If you missed our post about Saving Coral Reef Finalists, Natural Disaster Prediction, Off-Grid Energy Access or Lifting Farmers Out of Poverty you can visit our latest updates here

 

Best, 

XPRIZE Visioneering Team


Meet Our Finalists - Lifting Farmers Out of Poverty

Oct. 16, 2018, 2 p.m. PDT by MacKenzie Richter

Introducing our 2 Finalist teams in the Lifting Farmers Out of Poverty Grand Challenge Area ...

 

Team Xponential Farmer

By: Butch Changramai, Sameh Abdelrazak and Josephine Phinith

 

 

Team Kulka

By: Soroush Parsa

 

 

Please join us in wishing Teams Xponential Farmer and Kulka good luck as they head into the 2018 Visioneering Summit.

Do you have a favorite team in this category? We want to know which challenge area and teams you are most passionate about this year. Your voice could influence the next #XPRIZE. Vote here: https://go.xprize.org/visioneering-peoples-choice-award/

Stay tuned for Finalist Videos in the final Grand Challenge Area: Feeding the Next Billion

 

If you missed our post about Saving Coral Reef Finalists, Natural Disaster Prediction or Off-Grid Energy Access, you can visit our latest updates here

 

Best, 

XPRIZE Visioneering Team


Join the XPRIZE Visioneering Livestream!

Oct. 15, 2018, 5:55 p.m. PDT by MacKenzie Richter

Greetings, 

 

Every year XPRIZE gathers 350 CEO's, philanthropists, innovators, and heads-of-state to select and shape the next five XPRIZE's.  The event is called VISIONEERING, and traditionally it has been closed to the public.

 

This year, XPRIZE is live-streaming the event for free, open to the public.This is their way of digitizing, demonetizing and democratizing access and sharing XPRIZE’s mission with the world.

 

As part of the HeroX community, interested in Incentive Prizes and IMPACT, we thought you’d enjoy participating.

 

Please sign up at this link to receive the livestream link and event schedule.The livestream begins on Thursday, October 18th at 9:00am PDT and goes thru Saturday evening, Oct 20th.

 

During the 3 days of Visioneering, you will meet the Celebs, philanthropists and experts dedicating their lives to solving the world’s grand challenges. This year we’re focused on:

  1. Lifting Farmers out of Poverty
  2. Predicting Earth Quakes & Cyclones
  3. Off-Grid Energy Access
  4. Saving Coral Reefs
  5. Feeding the Next Billion

 

By tapping into the genius of the crowd, XPRIZE and HeroX can increase the likelihood of achieving breakthroughs that generate a 10x impact in the world.

 

Please join us in solving the world’s grand challenges. Hope to see you online!

 

XPRIZE


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