On June 14, the General Services Administration (GSA) and White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) hosted innovators from the public and private sectors to highlight the potential and impact of crowdsourcing through citizen science and prize competitions in the U.S. government.
The inaugural U.S. Open Innovation Summit featured a keynote speech from OSTP Director Dr. Kelvin Droegemeier, who announced the release of a new report on prize competitions and citizen science projects run by the federal government from 2017 to 2018.
The event featured a variety of presentations, panel discussions and interactive events that explored the use of these approaches, the opportunities and benefits they offer, and challenges integrating them into existing federal agency processes.
- Download: Federal Citizen Science and Prize Authority Fiscal Yeas 2017 -2018 report
- Raw data on prizes and challenges, [appendices A and B] (https://www.challenge.gov/toolkit/resources/)
- Raw data on crowdsourcing and citizen science, [appendices C and D] (https://www.citizenscience.gov/about/#)
- Review speaker presentations with project-specific details (PDF, 32 MB, 142 pages)
Event Agenda
8:30 - 9:10 a.m. - Registration and Arrivals
9:10 - 9:15 a.m. - Welcome
- Jarah Meador - Director of Challenge.gov and CitizenScience.gov (GSA)
- Jay Huie - Assistant Commissioner, Office of Products and Programs (GSA)
9:15 - 9:30 a.m. - Opening Remarks
- Dr. Kelvin Droegemeier - Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
9:30 - 10 a.m. - A Primer on Open Innovation in Government
- Jarah Meador (GSA) - Federal Prize Competitions: Crowdsourcing Innovation
- John McLaughlin (GSA & NOAA) - Citizen Science: Accelerating Innovation Through Public Participation
- Jennifer Shieh (OSTP) - Highlights of the Implementation of Federal Prize and Citizen Science Authority, Fiscal Years 2017-2019
10:00 - 10:40 a.m. - Examples of Impact Through Crowdsourcing
- Marc Kuchner (NASA) - NASA’s Citizen Scientists
- Ellen Ryan (NIST) - NIST Public Safety Communications (PSCR): Prize Challenges
- Sophia B. Liu (USGS) - Leveraging Social Media and Digital Volunteers to Inform Hazard Science and Emergency Management
10:40 - 11:00 a.m. - Break
11:00 - 11:45 a.m. - Panel Discussion: Innovation and the Power of Public Engagement
- Moderator: Jenn Gustetic (NASA)
- Panelists:
- Dr. Caren Cooper (North Carolina State University)
- Jim Reuter (NASA)
- Alexis Bonnell (USAID)
11:45 a.m. -1:00 p.m. Break
1:00 - 1:50 p.m. - Concurrent Sessions
- Agency Innovation Showcase (Atrium) - Agencies represented will be NSF, NASA, USAID, Commerce, DHS, DOI, HHS, DoD, GSA, DOE, Library of Congress, EPA, and IARPA
- Breakouts: How U.S. Agencies Use Open Innovation
- Session A: How U.S. Agencies Use Open Innovation to Enable Disaster Resilience (Hosted by Sophia B. Liu, USGS)
- Session B: Catalyzing Health Through The Crowd (Hosted by Taylor Gilliland, HHS)
- Session C: The Power of Prizes and the Future of Work (Hosted by Sarah-Lloyd Stevenson, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy)
1:50 - 2:00 p.m. - Break
2:00 - 2:45 p.m. - Transformational Partnership and Engagement Models
- Drew Zachary (U.S. Census Bureau): Crowdsourcing Digital Solutions Through Tech Partnerships: The Opportunity Project
- Lauren Algee (Library of Congress): Creating an Innovation Culture at the Library of Congress
- Ku McMahan (USAID): Accelerating Innovation: Securing Water for Food Grand Challenge Model
2:45 - 3:00 p.m. - Concluding Remarks
3:00 - 4:00 p.m. - Open Networking
Related links
This talk was hosted by Federal Community of Practice for Crowdsourcing and Citizen Science and the Challenges and Prizes Federal Community of Practice, and facilitated by DigitalGov University. Both communities provide mechanisms for members of federal, state, local, and tribal agencies to share best practices and identify collaboration opportunities across government.
Questions about this event or future events? Send them to team@challenge.gov.
