Scientific challenges

2008/04/03 Carton Virto, Eider - Elhuyar Zientzia

• Sariak

...

XVIII. At the beginning of the 20th century, for example, the British government offered a prize of twenty thousand pounds for those who invented the technique of measuring the length with precision of half degree. At that time many ships and lives were lost because they did not have methods to measure the length in the sea, and to be able to locate the new discovered lands well and to decide who they belonged also it was necessary to measure the length. That grand prize was awarded by the British government in 1714, and the challenge was so great that until 1761 no one succeeded the method that deserved the prize. It was finally acquired by John Harrison thanks to the pipe-based watch.

The first flight between New York and Paris also had a challenge. French millionaire Raymond Orteig promised in 1919 to donate $25,000 to the brand, and eight years later Charles Lindbergh won the prize. And without leaving the world of flights, but now, several aerospace companies have competed for 10 million dollars. The X Prize Foundation in 1995 offered this amount to anyone who built a three-person spacecraft 100 kilometers away, and the prize went to the California company Mojave Aerospace Ventures in 2004. Along the way, the participating teams have spent ten times the prize.

One of the objectives of this type of award is usually to boost investment in technological innovation, especially in the private sector. This same Foundation has in place two new challenges of similar characteristics. One of 10 million dollars, which seeks to develop rapid genome sequencing techniques and another of 30 million dollars for those preparing a vehicle that will reach the Moon by 2012.

In the medical field, this type of award is also being heard more and more. Last January, the University of the United Nations and the University of Maastricht organized a two-day working session to discuss the possible strategy of awards in the field of medicine. In fact, prize supporters see them as an effective way to promote rare disease research or not to forget those who do not affect Western society. However, at the moment there have not been as many awards as the previous ones.

And in addition to such spectacular and timely awards, there is another challenge market that can be more modest in quantity but revolutionary in its consequences. The symbol of this market is the American company InnoCentive, which since 2001 has launched over 600 challenges through its website. The company was created by the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly's, in order to find external solutions to problems that could not be solved internally, and although initially focused on the challenges of the pharmaceutical industry, now you can find all kinds of challenges on the web. The prizes are also equal, from five thousand dollars to one million.

The operation of the company is very simple, mediating between what it defies and what it receives and advising both. The first are companies and the second are particular. The InnoCentive project is very successful and has attracted many scientists. About 140,000 'repairers' from 175 countries have signed up, 40% of doctors and made nearly 200 challenges. The challenges, involving mainly researchers from Russia, China and India, see it as an opportunity to work outside traditional formal scientific-technological structures, without moving from home. However, they appreciate both the motivation for the challenge and the possibility of sharing knowledge.

Those who challenge at InnoCentive are also satisfied. For them, it is a more effective and economical way to find solutions to specific problems. In fact, many people are involved in the challenges - where the demand of the company would not occur through the usual channels and disciplines that would not arrive - and, in exchange for the award, the company receives the property rights of the solution.

Not only among scientists, but also in the business world, this new challenging e-science market is being looked at. On a
large and small scale, it seems that in recent years the world of scientific challenges is emerging.

Published in Berria