解决社会最紧迫问题的一种方法-InnerSelf.com

: By 卢西亚诺·凯（Luciano Kay）

感谢造访 InnerSelf.com，哪里有 20,000+ 宣传“新态度和新可能性”的改变生活的文章。所有文章均翻译为 30多种语言. 订阅每周出版的《内在自我》杂志和玛丽·T·拉塞尔的《每日灵感》。 InnerSelf杂志 自 1985 年起出版。

旨在激发创新的许多奖项都是赢家通吃。 通过Getty Images参加2019年RoboMaster机器人大赛决赛的VCG

Innovation is a critical part of tackling problems in areas as diverse as transportation, housing, public health and energy.创新是解决交通，住房，公共卫生和能源等领域问题的关键部分。 But the scientists, inventors and entrepreneurs who might generate creative solutions often investigate issues or pursue economic opportunities in other less urgent fields.但是可能产生创造性解决方案的科学家，发明家和企业家经常在其他较不紧迫的领域研究问题或寻求经济机会。 Incentives for science and innovation try to steer efforts toward the most pressing societal problems.对科学和创新的激励措施试图引导人们努力解决最紧迫的社会问题。

Prizes – cash rewards for scientific, engineering and other achievements – are one form of incentive that has been around for a very long time.奖励-奖励科学，工程和其他成就的现金奖励-是已经存在很长时间的一种奖励形式。 In the 18th century, for example, organizations such as the Royal Society in the UK例如，在XNUMX世纪，英国的皇家学会等组织为科学家的突破性研究授予奖章.

如今，除了这类科学奖励外，还为解决各种问题（包括发明专利）提供了奖励。残疾人新的交通方式，工程新的电池回收方法，甚至发展治疗COVID-19患者的技术。 There are also “open innovation” websites, such as也有“开放式创新”网站，例如创新型，公司用来从成千上万的问题解决者那里获取想法和发明，以换取奖励。

All these prizes seek to focus creativity and investment by attracting the smartest and most creative people who, with the right incentive, might focus on the highlighted problem and in turn come up with amazing breakthroughs.所有这些奖项旨在通过吸引最聪明和最有创造力的人来吸引创造力和投资，这些人在适当的激励下可能专注于突出的问题，进而取得惊人的突破。 Researchers like me work to determine how effective these prizes really are as drivers of innovation.像我这样的研究人员致力于确定这些奖项作为创新推动者的真正效力。

奖励过去的成就，激励未来的突破

There are two main types of prizes.奖品主要有两种。 Scientific awards, which include both historic medal awards and the more recent Nobel Prizes, for example, are a retrospective recognition for outstanding contributions to science rather than an incentive to embark on one specific line of inquiry.例如，科学奖项既包括历史性的奖章奖项，也包括最近的诺贝尔奖，这是对科学的杰出贡献的回顾性表彰，而不是鼓励他们着手进行特定的研究领域。 To award them, every year, a number of judges examine the achievements of the nominees and pick winners.为了奖励他们，每年都有许多法官检查提名人的成就并挑选获奖者。

Grand prizes, in contrast, offer rewards to the first participant who achieves a particular feat that is of interest to the prize organizer.相比之下，大奖则是向第一个获得特殊成就的参与者提供奖励，这是奖项组织者所感兴趣的。 For example, in the 1990s, the Ansari X Prize offered US$10 million for the first private manned spacecraft that went to space twice within two weeks.例如，在XNUMX年代，Ansari X奖为第一架私人载人航天器提供了XNUMX万美元，该航天器在两周内两次进入太空。 Participants had to meet these specific criteria to be able to claim the prize, which ultimately参加者必须满足这些特定条件才能领取奖金，最终试图促进太空旅游。 Generally, this type of prize names a single winner who takes home all the prize money.通常，这种类型的奖品会指定一个将所有奖金都带回家的获奖者。 But sometimes there are smaller second and third prizes too.但是有时候也有较小的二等奖和三等奖。

感谢Ansari X Prize和其他热门比赛，例如30万美元 Google Lunar X奖月球探险和5万美元 DARPA大挑战为了开发自动驾驶汽车（我研究的所有案例研究），公司，政府和非营利组织开始更积极地使用奖品，并在互联网的帮助下使奖品更加受欢迎和令人兴奋。

SpaceShipOne于10年获得2004万美元的Ansari X奖。 美联社照片/劳拉·劳赫

分析奖品对创新的影响

当我开始研究竞争如何起到激励作用 back in the mid-2000s, there was little empirical evidence, even though prizes have been around for a very long time.早在XNUMX年代中期，即使奖项已经存在很长时间了，也很少有经验证据。 Since then, research has helped untangle the way prizes work and their从那时起，研究帮助弄清了奖品的工作方式及其鼓励科学和创新的潜力.

例如，研究发现争夺奖品的动机和人和团队一样多样化参加。更大的现金奖励不仅可以吸引媒体的注意力和更多的参与者，还可以吸引创新者寻找新工作，学习科学和技术的机会，或者仅仅是参与有可能改变世界的项目的机会。

Prizes compete with other more prevalent incentives for the innovators' attention and efforts in today's globally connected and fast-paced world.奖项与其他更普遍的激励机制竞争，以吸引创新者在当今全球互联和快节奏的世界中的关注和努力。 Prestige, for example, is a例如，声望是科学中非常重要的动机及有利可图的市场推动创新在公司内部。

证据还表明 that new grand prizes attract new investments and may also raise awareness of important problems and influence the direction of ongoing research.新的大奖会吸引新的投资，也可能提高人们对重要问题的认识并影响正在进行的研究方向。 Participants who have no scientific or engineering experience might still contribute novel ideas and solutions in prizes that have fewer eligibility requirements and attract more diverse contributors.没有科学或工程经验的参加者可能仍会在资格要求较少且吸引了更多贡献者的奖项中贡献新颖的想法和解决方案。

请注意，由于奖品只为结果付费（获奖的解决方案），因此参与者需要足智多谋，并积极寻求朋友，家人和投资者的支持。

2008年的金融危机及其后果使他们筹集资金更加困难。

拉胡尔·纳拉扬（Rahul Narayan）带领印度河队（Indus Team）追求Google Lunar X奖。 Pallava Bagla / Corbis通过Getty Images

使奖品更有效

研究人员接下来至少要研究两个重要的问题，以便公司，政府和其他奖项组织对奖项实现目标，促进创造力和创新的潜力有更多的了解。

First, how can one systematically measure the impact of prizes?首先，如何系统地衡量奖品的影响？ The very nature of prizes奖品的本质使他们难以评估。 For example, volunteers, part-time participants and indirect investments are sometimes not accounted for, which gives an incomplete picture of their true impact.例如，有时不考虑志愿者，兼职参与者和间接投资，从而无法完全了解其真实影响。

Second, what are the best cases in which to use prizes?第二，使用奖品的最佳情况是什么？ Conflicting views观点冲突有利于和对抗COVID-19解决方案的大奖提供只是一个例子 of how little is known about when it is the right opportunity to use this type of incentive.对于何时才是使用这种奖励措施的正确机会，所知甚少。 Grand prizes have helped develop space technologies, for instance, but other areas such as COVID-19 solutions, cancer research or climate change mitigation might require other types of prizes or entirely different incentives.例如，大奖曾帮助开发了太空技术，但诸如COVID-XNUMX解决方案，癌症研究或缓解气候变化等其他领域可能需要其他类型的奖项或完全不同的激励措施。

Today, prizes are just a small part of the diverse motivations of scientists, inventors and entrepreneurs to come up with new ideas and technologies.如今，奖品只是科学家，发明家和企业家提出新想法和技术的多种动机的一小部分。 Figuring out more about how prizes fit within this ecosystem will unlock their full potential and make them more effective incentives for science and innovation.弄清楚奖品如何适应这个生态系统将释放出他们的全部潜力，并使之成为对科学和创新的更有效激励。