InnoCentive Issues Call to Action for Innovative Solutions to Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico

InnoCentive is now part of Wazoku

WALTHAM, Mass. – May 4, 2010 – InnoCentive, Inc., the world leader in open innovation, today announced its first Emergency Response 2.0 Challenge focused on finding a solution to mitigate the impact of the recent BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

InnoCentive’s Solver community has already demonstrated that helping humanity is all the motivation they need to get involved. Solvers have already opened more than 350 project rooms to develop solutions. Unlike traditional InnoCentive Challenges, Emergency Response 2.0 Challenges such as this one do not offer Solvers a financial prize if their solution is selected as a winner.

“Our connected planet needs to take a fresh approach to disaster response,” said InnoCentive CEO Dwayne Spradlin. “All crisis situations are time-sensitive and we have the ability to quickly tap into our global Solver network to start looking for solutions immediately. It only takes one amazing idea to slow the Gulf oil leak or minimize its impact.”

InnoCentive is currently working through official channels to route the most promising solution submissions to the correct authorities. Authorized officials from BP or any of the government agencies engaged in this situation are encouraged to contact InnoCentive immediately to facilitate the solution process. Innovative thinkers interested in helping to solve the Gulf oil spill crisis should register and submit ideas at https://gw.innocentive.com/ar/challenge/overview/9383447.

InnoCentive will make Emergency Response 2.0 Challenges available in times of crisis as a public service. In the future, InnoCentive will work with both national and international organizations in the public and private sector to formalize its Emergency Response 2.0 Challenge model.

In 2007 the Oil Spill Recovery Institute (OSRI) posted an InnoCentive Challenge and awarded a prize for finding an oil cleanup process to remove frozen oil from the bottom of Prince William Sound after the Exxon Valdez oil spill. After 20 years of trying to solve this problem, OSRI the winning solution came from an individual with no involvement with oil and gas industry. This story illustrates the power of diversity and the effectiveness of looking for answers from individuals that are not industry experts.

About InnoCentive, Inc.

Since 2001, InnoCentive has helped corporate, government, and non-profit organizations to better innovate through crowdsourcing, strategic consulting services and internal Software-as-a-Service offerings.  The company built the first global Web community for open innovation where organizations or “Seekers” submit complex problems or “Challenges” for resolution to a “Solver” community of more than 200,000 engineers, scientists, inventors, business professionals, and research organizations in more than 200 countries. Prizes for winning solutions are financial awards up to US $1,000,000.  Committed to unleashing diverse thinking, InnoCentive continues to introduce new products and services exemplifying a new corporate model where return to investors and individual passion go hand in hand with solving mankind’s most pressing problems. https://www.innocentive.com/

For more information contact:

Karyn Martin Emerge PR
kmartin@emergepr.com
617-729-3173

Connie French
InnoCentive Marketing Director
press@innocentive.com