Idea Crossing Adds Robert Wood Johnson Foundation as a Sponsor for Sixth Annual Innovation Challenge® Competition
First Philanthropic Sponsor Seeks Innovative Mobile Device-based Solutions to Preventing the Spread of HIV/AIDS
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Idea Crossing, Inc. (http://www.ideacrossing.com/), the creators and producers of the Innovation Challenge® crowdsourcing competitions, today announced that the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s (RWJF) Pioneer Portfolio (http://www.rwjf.org/pioneer/) has been added as an online round sponsor for the 2008 Innovation Challenge competition (http://www.innovationchallenge.com/). The final round will be held at the Darden Graduate School of Business at the University of Virginia in mid-November. RWJF is the first philanthropic organization to join the Challenge – and will ultimately showcase how the Innovation Challenge can be used to develop innovation solutions to today’s pressing health challenges.
RWJF will tap the global online network of graduate student problem solvers to create solutions that use the power of mobile technologies to educate members of Generation Y on ways to prevent HIV infection. This RWJF-sponsored competition has drawn entries from nearly 100 teams to their challenge question.
According to a new report in the October 3, 2008 edition of CDC’s Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that more than a million people are living with HIV in the United States.
“The magnitude of the HIV/AIDS crisis around the world requires innovative, out-of-the box thinking,” said Paul Tarini, RWJF senior program officer and team leader for the Pioneer Portfolio, which supports innovative ideas that may lead to breakthrough improvements in the future of health and health care. “The Innovation Challenge is an opportunity to demonstrate how competitions and creative thinking can source new solutions to pressing health and health care problems.”
“Crowdcasting competitions like ones enabled by Idea Crossing don’t just benefit private enterprise, they can be designed to benefit the public at large,” said Anil Rathi, president and CEO, Idea Crossing. At the end of this year’s competition, we will, for the first time, open source ideas generated as part of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s challenge support into the public domain. Any individual or organization will be able to access the concepts and act on them for the benefit of humanity.”
This year’s competition has attracted more than 260 teams from 55 colleges and universities (more than 1,100 participants from more than 48 countries). Sponsors include American Express OPEN, Hilton Hotels, Navy Federal Credit Union, RBC Bank, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and partners Darden School of Business, futurethink and The Medici Group. Previous sponsors include IBM, Chrysler, Whirlpool Corporation, Google and others.
Nearly 250 submissions were received by the competition’s 260 judges, who represent 209 organizations and will determine 25 semi-finalist teams. Sponsors will narrow down the submissions to 10 finalists on October 28, who will then face off at the University of Virginia’s Darden School of Business, November 20-22, 2008.
For details on the 2008 Innovation Challenge® competition or to become a sponsor for a future competition, go to http://www.innovationchallenge.com/
About the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation focuses on the pressing health and health care issues facing our country. As the nation's largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to improving the health and health care of all Americans, the Foundation works with a diverse group of organizations and individuals to identify solutions and achieve comprehensive, meaningful and timely change. The Foundation’s Pioneer Portfolio supports innovative ideas and projects that may trigger important breakthroughs in health and health care. Projects in the Pioneer Portfolio are typically future-oriented and look beyond conventional thinking to explore solutions at the cutting edge of health and health care.
For more than 35 years the Foundation has brought experience, commitment, and a rigorous, balanced approach to the problems that affect the health and health care of those it serves. When it comes to helping Americans lead healthier lives and get the care they need, the Foundation expects to make a difference in your lifetime. For more information, visit http://www.rwjf.org.
About Idea Crossing, Inc.
Based in Los Angeles, Idea Crossing specializes in the design, production and operation of public and private innovation prizes such as the Innovation Challenge® business competition. Idea Crossing’s software platform called Challenge Accelerator® and Design | Produce |Play process is used to customize and automate online innovation competitions. In the last six years, the Company has designed and supported over a dozen competitions with thousands of participants. Clients include IBM, Hilton Hotels, the U.S. Postal Service, Chrysler, and Whirlpool, Red Hat, as well as foundations and academic institutions.
Innovation Challenge is a registered service mark of Idea Crossing, Inc.
For more information on Idea Crossing, visit http://www.ideacrossing.com.
About Darden School of Business
Consistently ranked among the world's leading business schools, Darden develops principled leaders who lead, create, and transform organizations. To make this possible, Darden offers a two-year MBA, an MBA for Executives, and numerous Executive Education programs, which embrace a rigorous and collaborative approach to learning that inspires informed judgment, decisive action, and a global, enterprise perspective. The Princeton Review recently ranked Darden #1 in the "Best Professors" category in the 2009 edition of its "Best 296 Business Schools."
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Madison Alexander PR, Inc. for Idea Crossing, Inc.
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