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The International Space Apps Challenge was an exciting technology development effort to connect space agencies, external organizations,
and citizens in a two-day event to help solve space-related and global challenges, while promoting innovation through international
collaboration. During the event, representatives of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and other international
space agencies gathered with scientists and participants to use publicly released data to create solutions for mobile applications,
software, hardware, data visualization, and platform solutions that could contribute to space exploration missions and help
improve life on Earth and life in space. In all, more than 2000 participants took part in twenty-five cities around the world,
on all seven continents, in person and online. The event was no small feat - in addition to the global organizing team that
included NASA, there were 100 organizations and eight other government agencies that made the event possible. Due to the success
of the Apps Challenge, NASA will host a second International Space Apps Challenge on April 20-21, 2013, in seventy-five cities
around the world. For the past three years, the Obama Administration has taken important steps to make prizes and challenges,
such as the International Space Apps Challenge, a standard tool in every agency's toolbox. The use of publicsector incentive
prizes and challenges to solve tough problems has expanded under the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act of 2010, which granted
all Federal agencies authority to conduct prize competitions to spur innovation, solve tough problems, and advance their core
missions. Federal agencies are achieving their mission more efficiently and effectively through the nearly 250 prize competitions
implemented by more than fifty Federal departments and agencies since the launch of Challenge.gov in 2010. In his September
2009 Strategy for American Innovation, President Obama called on all agencies to increase their use of prizes to address some
of our Nation's most pressing challenges. In March 2010, OMB issued a policy framework to guide agencies in using prizes to
mobilize American ingenuity and advance their respective core missions. The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy
(OSTP) released a comprehensive report in March 2012 detailing the use of prizes and competitions by U.S. Federal agencies
to spur innovation and solve grand challenges. To help agencies take full advantage of the new authority offered by America
COMPETES, OSTP and OMB jointly issued a Fact Sheet and Frequently Asked Questions memorandum in August 2011. Agencies, including
HHS, are establishing strategies and policies to expand their use of the new prize authority. The GSA launched a new contract
vehicle to dramatically decrease the amount of time required for agencies to tap the private-sector expertise that is so critical
to early success. And a new government-wide Center of Excellence for Collaborative Innovation, led by NASA, is providing guidance
to agencies on the full lifecycle of prizes, from design through implementation to post-prize evaluation.
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The National Aeronautics and Space Administration and key space agencies around the world will gather with scientists and
concerned citizens to use publicly released data (e.g., Earth science and planetary observations) so as to create solutions
for global challenges such as weather impacts on the global economy and depletion of ocean resources. An international collaboration
website will be created to facilitate citizen participation.
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