Oil-spill-response Prize

Instead of making small, incremental steps through the usual RFP process, we are considering

establishing a purse prize to reward a successful, innovative solution to a

problem in oil spill response.

PWS Oil Spill Recovery Institute looking for partners

Leveraging a prize on the order of $50-100K+, we save on the

large R&D cost.  

We pay for a successful solution rather than an individual

attempts to provide a solution. 

Inspiration from the X Prize

Team awarded $10M for designing first private spaceship to

fly to the edge of space, an endeavor that jump-started the personal spaceflight industry.

SpaceShipOne and White Knight Oct. 4, 2004

Creating a Global Network to Solve R&D Problems: “Local vs. Broadcast Search”

InnoCentivewww.innocentive.com

OSRI Board members are encouraged to register as “Solvers” at the InnoCentive website to view example problem statements currently posted.

Our Key Resource: Untapped Talent Pools

Local Search vs. Broadcast Search

LOCAL SEARCH US, EU Academics Preferred Contract labs Individual networks

BROADCAST SEARCH Global Academia Scientists in other fields Excess capacity Retirees

Traditional networks

Nontraditional pools of

intellectual capacity

Proprietary and Confidential

InnoCentiveScientific Operations

Seeker Organizations Solvers

How InnoCentive Works Today

Proprietary and Confidential

80,000 Solversin over 40 scientific disciplines

= Countries With Registered Solvers

InnoCentive’s Share of (Global) Mind >95,000 “solvers”

Proprietary and Confidential

Results • Over 350 challenges posted• >95,000 solvers (>150 countries)• >125 awards to date (many under review/pending)

• Global source of solutions− Argentina - Italy -Singapore− Canada - Japan - Spain− China - Kazakhstan - Sweden− Denmark - N.Ireland - Switzerland− Egypt - Philippines - Thailand− Germany - Poland - UK− India - Romania - USA− Israel - Russia

Process for OSRI & partners1. OSRI STC & partners determine problem statement

2. Enter into contract with InnoCentive ($2,000 to post challenge, ~$25K access

fee for ~2 years). InnoCentive gets a 20% commission on the award. 3. InnoCentive provides the following services:

• Help defining terms of “success” in the problem statement. Can have multiple problem statement.

• Marketing the challenge

• Screening questions from solvers

• Surveying the solvers to see where they are in progress

• Packaging the submissions and conducting preliminary review. If they think the solver didn’t answer the problem they go back to solver.

• Sends OSRI & partners the cleaned up submission

• Seekers and Solvers are anonymous if we want. Solvers are anonymous until we decide which solution gets the size. This way you judge on the science not the pedigree of who it is.

1 dispersant that is effective, non-toxic and affordable

2 technology to quantify effectiveness of dispersant (such as fluorometry that can account for the chemical complexity of hydrocarbons in oil)

3 open water skimmer for stormy sea conditions

4 technology to use a material to make oil easier to clean up (coagulant)

6 technology for removing oil from ice-covered water

7 dome deployed from oil spill response vessel to contain oil leaking upward from a submerged pipe

8 procedure for de-icing rope mop skimmers

9 method to break shear of viscous oil so that it flows into a pump intake

12-7 simulants (develop environmentally acceptable, surrogate oil for experiments and responder training in a realistic at-sea environment)

Some Example Problem Statements for OSRI and partners:

Where we are in the process:

-Katey Walter is collecting example problem statements to submit to InnoCentive

-OSRI Board approval on process, Sept. 12

-InnoCentive screens submitted problem statements for plausibility

-OSRI enters into official partnership with co-sponsors, and contract with InnoCentive

-InnoCentive holds ‘idea generation workshop’ in Alaska to help us define and hone the problem statement(s)

-InnoCentive goes to conferences, advertises in journals…