XPRIZE Commits To Three New Ocean XPRIZEs By 2020ff
25 October 2013
Global
As global leader in incentivized prize competitions, XPRIZE, has announced a large commitment to launch three new ocean XPRIZEs by 2020 as part of its XPRIZE Ocean initiative. The new awards are designed to spur on the fishing industry community to turn our oceans away from their current state of crisis.
XPRIZE said: “As a result of human activity, the ocean is overfished, polluted, and exploited; a problem because it supports all life on Earth. As governments around the world steadily reduce the research and investment geared toward addressing ocean health, XPRIZE steps in to fill the void.â€
The new prizes are said to be focused on encouraging a community of innovators, scientists, government officials, business leaders, philanthropists and ocean advocates to make breakthroughs to ensure that the world’s oceans become healthy.
XPRIZE Chairman and CEO, Peter Diamandis said: “At XPRIZE, we believe great ideas can come from anywhere. Teams from around the world, from all walks of life, compete in our competitions. We know that crowdsourcing has enormous potential, so we are inviting the public to help us hone in the Grand Challenges facing our oceans.â€
The new initiative will build on the USD 1.4 million Wendy Schmidt Oil Cleanup XCHALLENGE, which was awarded to a team in 2011 that displayed a record oil recovery rate. In September this year, the Wendy Schmidt Ocean Health XRIZE of USD 2 million was launched to spur the development of ocean PH sensors that are accurate and affordable. Wendy Schmidt is an American businesswoman and Philanthropist, and wife of Google executive chairman, Erik Schmidt.
