Rate our startup: Challenge.gov
challenge.gov
challenge.gov
I'm in the middle. I do think that it is a startup (assuming that they're leveraging a common platform to build these sites) I also think that civic-oriented sites are a good idea and contribute to society (Of course, I'm biased because I build civic-software apps, though not for the government :)
OTH I think it is an exaggeration to use this site as an example to say that "People are solving more society problems than the Govt itself".
[edit] Just saw the reply that the site was built for free. Apologies for saying that I assumed that the govt outsourced this website to the contractor and that govt contracting is generally lucrative
I think building the site for free is great for both sides. For your startup, it is great PR and will help win future clients. For the govt, it helps saves money for other work. Congratulations on building the site.
( original rfi: https://www.fbo.gov/index?s=opportunity&mode=form&id... )
RFPs are the scary ones, in which to even enter means you're competing with the likes of Boeing, Grumman, Halliburton, et al. Those are nigh impossible to win without serious inroads pre-existing.
> Since GSA is seeking information on no-cost solutions, no pricing should be provided. You should only describe exactly what it is you are offering the government at no cost.
Some "challenges": "How Has Social Security Made a Difference in Your Life?" "Write about how you've used government information in your life and have your story posted on GovGab"
Ignoring the most blatant propaganda, the rest are just feel-good projects of no consequence. On the front page, the only project that even pretends to be significant is "Connecting Kids To Coverage Challenge". Apparently there are 5 million children who have de facto health insurance, but are counted by the census as "uninsured". Your challenge is to change their census characterization by encouraging their parents to fill out some paperwork.
It's obvious that our enlightened bureaucrats are unwilling to risk losing their jobs if a crowdsourced solution actually works better than they do (witness the backlash against, for instance, charter schools and vouchers). Why should we care that, as a purely propaganda move, the government is crowdsourcing the problem of teaching children how to become president?
* An X prize for green cars with a prize pool of $10,000,000. Run by Progressive Insurance and the X Prize Foundation.
* An X prize for green aerospace with a prize pool of $16,500,000. Run by NASA and the Comparative Aircraft Flight Efficiency Foundation.
It took me about 5 minutes to verify that you just cherry picked from the data to support your preconceived notions. I have absolutely no idea how you could have thought you were adding to the conversation.
If we set all of that aside, this looks like a decent idea, no? More engagement is what we need in this country. Ask not what your country can do for you and all of that.
I'd like to see less engagement of the government in everything. Why is the US Federal Government offering me twelve thousand dollars to come up with recipes? I hate to sound like one of those Ron Paul folks, but when did acting as a middleman for the procurement of recipes become a duty of the US Federal Government?
The Federal Government happens to be in a place where they can expend small money for big national gains in a number of places -- energy research in particular is one of those. Federally funded energy research just plain makes sense, especially when you compare it to all of the indirectly-federally-funded oil exploration that happens on a dollar for dollar basis.
EDIT: For "what in what", I meant "people" in "solving the problems we have in this country".
While there are an unusually large number of people not doing this right now, it's mainly due to assorted frictions. Some of them don't know what problems need to be solved, or are not very good at solving the problems that currently need to be solved, or just live too far away to help.
That's a problem, but it's really not clear how this site helps with it. It seems like a site such as monster.com would be more useful.
[1] Temporarily, at least. My local city council is trying to shut them down.
Meanwhile. Energy? And if you claim that the private sector's currently handling that without government help, I'm going to point and laugh for any definition of "handling", "that" and "government help".
So let me be more precise in my question. To what level should we increase our engagement in solving the problems of the country? Should we all engage ourselves 12 hours a day instead of 10, or give up weekends? Or should we simply devote ourselves to poster contests rather than to (for example) making pizza for others to consume?
But if people out there are interested in a particular topic, even if it's a small-fry topic, a website to encourage them to propose ideas and work together is an enabler -- it's asymmetric in that it can deliver value far in excess of the costs of making a relatively simple website. So it seems pretty worthwhile, especially considering the costs. This is the kind of thing that those of us who voted Obama were looking for.
All I was pointing out is that the vast majority of what you find on this site is irrelevant. It's nothing innovative, it's just advertisement for various departmental outreach projects. A poster contest on carbon monoxide safety? "Help Fight Environmental Crime Art Contest"? "A video contest promoting a healthy weight..."?
If you actually want to crowdsource public problems, do it. I seriously doubt that will happen, since disruptive innovation might put some government workers out of work, but if you can do it, great. This site just isn't it, and isn't even in the ballpark.
(I'll grant that a couple of good prizes are advertised there, as pointed out by poet. I clicked around a bit more, but didn't see any significant contests besides the green car/green plane contest he pointed out.)
If you're deliberately going to mischaracterize anyone to the left of Newt Gingrich, why even pretend to debate?
Regardless, you are ducking the main point to nitpick a small quotation error.
The "state" means not only the nation but the government. The "country" means, er, the country. JFK did not say, and plainly did not mean, "ask what you can do to help the government".
Ask not what the building inspector can do for you, but what you can do for the building inspector.
That is the differene between "country" and "state" on a local level.
The main point was, what, that not every single project on this list is world changing? Good. Little changes add up and are easier to achieve. There were some big projects on the list as well.
[1] http://appext9.dos.state.ny.us/corp_public/CORPSEARCH.ENTITY...
[2] http://mixergy.com/challengepost-brandon-kessler/
[3] http://www.prchecker.info/check_page_rank.php (you'll have to enter it yourself)
EDIT: btw I'm no trying to detract from this aaccomplishment. This is pretty cool. Just a little confused as to what stage you guys are in.
The webpage at http://challenge.gov/ has resulted in too many redirects. Clearing your cookies for this site or allowing third-party cookies may fix the problem. If not, it is possibly a server configuration issue and not a problem with your computer.
Wish you all the very best!
The webpage at http://challenge.gov/ has resulted in too many redirects. Clearing your cookies for this site or allowing third-party cookies may fix the problem. If not, it is possibly a server configuration issue and not a problem with your computer."
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2010/09/gov20-kundra-cho...
It's a shame.
I ran a contest a few years ago and just ignored getting lawyers, so it was open to anyone. Had I known then what I know now, I probably wouldn't have run the contest. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.
but seriously, what?