InnoCentive and the United States Air Force Collaborate to Advance Innovation in Military Research

InnoCentive is now part of Wazoku

WALTHAM, Mass. – March 7, 2011 – InnoCentive, the global leader in Challenge Driven Innovation, The Wright Brothers Institute (WBI), and the United States Air Force Research Lab (AFRL) today announced a new Open Innovation Pavilion to provide the public with the opportunity to solve difficult problems facing the U.S. Air Force. Long recognized for pushing the boundaries of innovation, the collaborative effort between WBI, AFRL, and InnoCentive represents a new movement toward greater transparency and collaboration between government agencies and the public.

“The Air Force Research Lab is a formidable innovator,” said InnoCentive CEO Dwayne Spradlin. “They’ve been practicing open innovation for years, finding breakthrough solutions via their own network of contractors and consultants. Utilizing InnoCentive’s proven methodology and expanding their universe to communities like InnoCentive’s global Solver network represents a natural evolution of this innovation strategy, and promises greater collaboration and problem solving.”

Open to InnoCentive’s network of over 250,000 Solvers, the AFRL TecEdge Open Innovation Pavilion offers awards for solving Challenges specific to the United States Air Force, on topics ranging from improving the delivery of humanitarian aid to stopping a runaway vehicle.

The initial four Challenges are the first in a series of Challenges that will be posted by TecEdge, an organization operated by the Wright Brothers Institute (WBI) on behalf of the AFRL. The WBI is a non-profit organization that seeks to build on the rich heritage of innovation and invention in the Dayton Ohio region. WBI operates as a neutral enabler to stimulate unique and innovative technical solutions to national security and public safety needs. The public is invited and encouraged to find out more about these four and future Challenges at the AFRL TecEdge Pavilion on the InnoCentive web site at the following address: AFRL TecEdge InnoCentive Pavilion

“The U.S. Air Force science and technology community has been a pioneer of innovative technology for decades. The value of growing partnerships with organizations like InnoCentive is that we are able to reach out worldwide to find fresh ideas for our current technical challenges,” says Mr. David Shahady, Deputy for AFRL’s Rapid Reaction and Innovation Program. “Our AFRL TecEdge InnoCentive Pavilion will not only allow us to communicate our problems to people who are traditional military solvers, but to breakthrough thinkers who would not normally consider the military as a customer of their ideas.”

About The Air Force Research Lab

AFRL is the Air Force’s only organization wholly dedicated to leading the discovery, development, and integration of warfighting technologies for our air, space and cyberspace forces. AFRL traces its roots to the vision of airpower pioneers who understood science as key to air supremacy. The passionate commitment of AFRL people to realize this vision has helped create the world’s best air, space and cyberspace force. “We fight today’s fight and envision and create the future Air Force.”

About InnoCentive, Inc.

InnoCentive is the global leader of Challenge Driven Innovation that bridges the gap between great ideas and actual solutions to drive measureable results. Recognized as an open innovation and crowdsourcing pioneer, InnoCentive’s proven methodology, expanding global network of creative and passionate problem solvers, and Cloud-based technology platform enable organizations to tap all potential sources of innovation – employees, customers, partners, and InnoCentive’s unmatched Global Solver Community – to accelerate their pace of innovation and evolve toward becoming true Challenge Driven Enterprises. Leading commercial, public sector, and non-profit organizations such as Eli Lilly, Medtronic, NASA, Nature.com, Procter & Gamble, Roche, Rockefeller Foundation, and The Economist partner with InnoCentive to help them solve their most pressing problems and challenges. For more information, visit www.innocentive.com

For more information contact:

Connie French
Marketing Director, InnoCentive
Press@innocentive.com

Robert Lee
Open Innovation Award Challenge Project Manager
Wright Brothers Institute – IDEA lab
Bob.lee@wbi-icc.com