UA Center ICE Community Challenge -
List of Current Challenges
Updated January 3, 2024 hrh
Table of Contents
Current and Recent Challenges of interest to Alaska 2
Sites with Ongoing Curated Challenges 3
Broad Approaches to Challenge Formulation and Support 4
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Solve Real World Challenges – Help Real People
Community Challenge contests listed below provide the opportunity to Alaskans to be a part of building a better world and finding funding for work in their areas of interest.
Challenges are a new form of open innovation used around the world by government agencies, advocacy groups and private companies to inspire innovation to address opportunities and solve problems.
Local challenges targeted to Alaskan issues and opportunities, and others that might be interesting to creative Alaskans can be found here. If you learn of an existing challenge competition you think should be listed, or have a suggestion of a challenge we should host in Alaska, please contact OIPC.
Due Date | Domain | Challenge/Amount | Link |
Varies | DoD | Varies | https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/defense-innovation-funding-opportunities-edition-46-nsinus |
Varies | DoD - Sofwerx (Current topics on water testing, small unmanned ground robotics | Varies | |
Varies | Energy DoE Challenges | $25,000 - $100,000 |
Domain | Name | Link | |
Energy | AmericanMade | DoE Challenges | |
Community | Technology Girls | Every year, girls across the globe step up to solve problems in their community with technology through Technovation Girls. | |
DoD | NSIN Challenges | https://www.nsin.mil/challenges/ | NSIN Challenges is a scalable prize competition that brings together early-mid stage ventures, DoD customers, and subject matter experts |
DoD | XTech | ||
Ongoing | Ocean | $400K-$1.5M | |
Social | MIT Solve | https://solve.mit.edu/challenges | MIT Solve’s Global Challenges seek social entrepreneurs who are using technology to solve today’s most pressing problems. |
Energy | American Made Challenges | Innovators have the chance to win cash prizes for ideas that advance U.S. leadership in the energy industry. | |
Energy | Storage Long Shot Challenge | https://www.energy.gov/energy-storage-grand-challenge/energy-storage-grand-challenge | |
Varies | NCET2 University - Corporate Challenges | Our corporate members are looking for startups for licensing, funding, strategic alliances, and acquisitions. | |
All | Open IDEO | Design thinking challenges - HMW… | |
Engineering | ennomotive innovation portal | The innovation platform where companies and engineers meet to make innovation happen | |
Environment | National Geographic | https://www.nationalgeographic.org/funding-opportunities/innovation-challenges/ | Currently focused on plastics |
All | Herox | Platform hosting challenges. | |
All | EarthShot Prize | Earthshot Prize: an ambitious set of challenges to inspire a decade of action to repair the planet. | |
All | Innovation Challenge | https://www.innovationchallenge.com/challenges/category/Challenge | A platform for hosting challenges. |
All | Open Innovation Marketplace | Use to host a problem or find a problem. | |
All | Xprize Foundation | Some are scheduled, multi round events, some are open ended challenges. | |
Government | Challenge.Gov | Public compete to help the U.S. government solve problems big and small. |
Domain | Name | Link | |
Science and Tech | National Science Foundation - 10 Big Ideas | https://www.nsf.gov/news/special_reports/big_ideas/index.jsp | |
All | UN Global Sustainable Development Goals | https://www.undp.org/content/undp/en/home/sustainable-development-goals.html |
COVID - Closed or Hold Archive
Due Date | Domain | Challenge/Amount | Link |
8/15/23 | Navy DOD | SBIR | |
8/15/23 | NATO Challenges and Accelerator | ||
May 31, 2023 | Mariculture | Up to $100K | https://afdf.org/updates/request-for-proposals-mariculture-joint-innovation-projects |
Next Academic Year | Energy - Student Teams | $25,000 - $100,000 | |
2021 - Actively Watching | Climate Change - $100M PRIZE FOR CARBON REMOVAL | $100M | |
2023 Winters Pending | Electric Vehicles - Annual SAE | https://www.sae.org/attend/student-events/sae-clean-snowmobile-challenge/ | |
5/24/2023 Deadline | Energy | $2.5M Max | https://www.herox.com/InclusiveEnergyInnovationPrize/timeline |
Planning Fall 2023 Event Event | Health, Ocean, Energy, Startup Policy, Hydrogen, Food Systems | AKV3 Challenge Pitch Event 9/1/21 Completed. See the video for the past event. | |
8/2021 | DoD | Polar Vortex - hacking the Arctic/$45,000 | |
Closed | Energy | ||
Closed | DoD | USSOCOM Innovation Foundry | |
Closed | COVID19 | NIH acceleration of testing and treatment | |
Closed | Ocean | https://uplink.weforum.org/uplink/s/uplink-issue/a002o0000133Q8JAAU/the-blue-food-challenge | |
Closed | Healthcare | Future of Point of Care Testing - $10,000 | |
Completed | Healthcare | ||
Completed | COVID-19 and climate change | 2020 Call for Code Global Challenge $200,000 | |
Completed | 2030 Climate Challenge | Decarbonizing the electricity sector, the other three key sectors – transportation, buildings, and industry | |
Completed | Data Science and Society | $10 million data.org Inclusive Growth and Recovery Challenge | |
Completed | Health Tech and Technology | Create the Future - $20,000 | |
Completed | Naval Research Topics | ONA 'Global-X' Challenge | ttps://www.onr.navy.mil/work-with-us/funding-opportunities/special-notices |
Completed | Arctic Future | Youth arctic future/ | |
Completed | COVID-19 and climate change | 2020 Call for Code Global Challenge $200,000 | |
Completed | Software platform that increases awareness of, access to and use of social engagement technologies and programming to help curtail the impact of loneliness and social isolation | Total cash, $750K. Phase I - $150K Phase II - $550K | https://www.challenge.gov/challenge/MENTAL-health-social-isolation-challenge/ |
Completed | Data Science and Society | $10 million data.org Inclusive Growth and Recovery Challenge | |
July 1, 2020 | Health Tech and Technology | Create the Future - $20,000 | |
May 25, White Paper Due Date | Naval Research Topics | ONA 'Global-X' Challenge | ttps://www.onr.navy.mil/work-with-us/funding-opportunities/special-notices |
June 1 2020 Initial | Arctic Future | Youth Arctic Future | |
July 1, 2020 | COVID19 Health Tech and Technology | Create the Future - $20,000 | |
May 11, 2020 | COVID19 and others | Roddenberry Foundation Challenge - $250K | https://roddenberryfoundation.org/our-work/roddenberry-prize/ |
6/3/20 | COVID | COVID-19 Student Action Fund - $2K-5K | |
Closed - 4/30/20 | COVID19 | An Open Innovation Effort to Design a Rapidly Deployable Mechanical Ventilator | |
Closed - May 5 | COVID19 | NATO Innovation Challenge - find more effective and efficient ways for NATO, and other response organizations, to ensure security and respond to crisis situations. | |
Closed - 4/22/20 | COVID19 | Columbia DIY Ventilator Challenge, $3000 funds for accepted teams to build a prototype DIY design. | |
Closed - 4/16 Round 1 | COVID19 | COVID-19 Open Research Dataset Challenge (CORD-19) An AI challenge with AI2, CZI, MSR, Georgetown, NIH & The White House. $1K/task. | https://www.kaggle.com/allen-institute-for-ai/CORD-19-research-challenge |
Closed - 3/31/20 | COVID19 | India - COVID19 Challenges $13K | |
Closed - 3/25 Round 1 | COVID19 | COVID-19 ventilator challenge. Volunteer | |
Closed - 3/27-29 | COVID19 | Virtual Hackathon. Volunteer | |
Closed - 3/31/20 | COVID19 | OpenIDEO - How Might We rapidly inform and empower communities.. To stay safe and healthy during the outbreak | https://challenges.openideo.com/challenge/covid-19-communication-inspiration-challenge/inspiration |
Closed - 3/31/20 | COVID19 | IDEAOpen - COVID-19 COMMUNICATION INSPIRATION CHALLENGE | https://www.openideo.com/challenge-briefs/covid19-communication-challenge |
Alaska Focus - Closed or Hold Archive
Due Date | Domain | Challenge/Amount | Link |
Closed | Environment | BioDesign - cash and Google Collaboration | |
Hold | UA Center ICE Community Health Tech Challenge | TBA - AK pilot challenge in health tech with Health TIE and presented at One Health Conference | Currently Health TIE is working with sponsors to select a challenge target. |
Hold | UA Center ICE Community Energy Challenge | TBA | |
Hold | UA Center ICE Community Environment Challenge | May also focus on PM2.5 or climate change. | |
Closed - 2/10/20 | UW Foster - Hollomon Health Innovation Challenge | $15,000 | |
Closed 1/17/20 - Annual Competition | MIT Water Challenge | $35K | |
Closed - 1/17/20 - Annual | Digital Tech | $350,000 USD Cisco Global Problem Solver Challenge 2020 | |
Closed - 1/13/20 | Transportation | FAA Challenge - Smart Airport Student Competition, $25K | https://www.challenge.gov/challenge/FAA-Challenge-Smart-Airport-Student-Competition/ |
Closed - 1/18/20 | Alaska Airlines Environmental Innovation Challenge | UW Foster Student Challenge. On this list for reference. | https://foster.uw.edu/centers/buerk-ctr-entrepreneurship/entrepreneurship-competitions/eic/ |