The Tech Museums Awards

February 26, 2002 12:26 PM

The Tech Museums Awards have announced a call for entries for their 2002 event. $50,000 will be awarded to five winners in a competition "designed to recognize people, companies or organizations which develop or use technology in creative ways to solve global challenges and have a high potential of yielding lasting, beneficial impact. The awards honor innovators from around the world in the categories of health, education, environment, economic development and equality." Just imagine: technology benefitting humanity, and getting financial support for it. 2001 winners here.
posted by mathowie (6 comments total)

Tangentially-related good news:
AIDS researchers Robert Gallo and Luc Montagnier, who fought a long and bitter battle over credit for the discovery of HIV and the resultant blood test, this week announced plans to collaborate on developing AIDS vaccines for Africa and other impoverished regions.
posted by liam at 1:23 PM on February 26, 2002

The Science link above wants you to register, but you can get their directly from this SciDev page.
posted by liam at 2:43 PM on February 26, 2002

there, not their
posted by liam at 2:46 PM on February 26, 2002

also sort of related, a follow up on a previous thread about the environmental working group. turns out the website was the focus of a senate debate that changed how farm subsidies are appropriated. this is one "technology" that seems to have made a difference. (the article never says what was changed in the farm bill!)

i guess it's like lawrence lessig says:

We now have the potential to expand the reach of this creativity to an extraordinary range of culture and commerce. Technology could enable a whole generation to create—remixed films, new forms of music, digital art, a new kind of storytelling, writing, a new technology for poetry, criticism, political activism—and then, through the infrastructure of the Internet, share that creativity with others.

(all links via blogdex :)

btw, patent buy-outs i think is an interesting way to encourage innovation while at the same time benefiting humanity. basically, it's just the government buying patents and placing them in the public domain. and there's a precedent for it when the french govt. bought the first photography patents in 1839. worked like a charm :) also another good paper on "Stimulating industrial R&D for neglected infectious diseases!" (PDF).
posted by kliuless at 4:02 PM on February 26, 2002

This month's Utne Reader features articles on innovation and good ideas. (Subscription required.)
posted by sheauga at 7:04 PM on February 26, 2002

The Tech Museum is such a cool place and this is an important honor. I just hope that the Segway is not one of the nominees. (site uses flash)
posted by Lynsey at 8:27 PM on February 26, 2002