X PRIZE Foundation Makes Commitment to Action at Clinton Global Initiative

The X PRIZE Foundation Pledges $300 Million Toward Education, Energy and Climate Change, Poverty Alleviation, and Global Health

At the 2007 Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) meeting in New York City, the X PRIZE Foundation made a seven-year, $300 million Commitment to Action in the areas of Education, Energy and Climate Change, Poverty Alleviation and Global Health. The X PRIZE Foundation fosters innovative, high-profile competitions that motivate individuals, companies and organizations across all industry sectors to solve grand challenges that are currently restricting humanity's progress.

"We're delighted to make this long-term commitment in the areas of education, energy and climate change, poverty alleviation and global health," said Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, CEO and Chairman of the X PRIZE Foundation, and member of CGI. "The objectives of the Clinton Global Initiative coincide with many ongoing X PRIZE Foundation initiatives, and through these commitments we will bring about radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity."

Joining President Clinton and Dr. Peter Diamandis on stage to make the announcement included X PRIZE Foundation Board of Trustee member Larry Page, Co-founder and President of Products for Google, as well as Editor-in-Chief of the Huffington Post and friend of the Foundation, Arianna Huffington.

The first step toward meeting this Commitment to Action will be the official launch of the Automotive X PRIZE, scheduled for early next year. In all, a dozen prizes will be launched over the course of the seven-year commitment totaling $300 million in prize purse money. Each prize is conceived by an expert panel of Advisory Board members led by an experienced veteran in the field. The Foundation has defined four prize initiatives within each of CGI's areas of focus, all of which are designed for a global impact. These areas of focus include:

Energy & Environment: The Foundation is developing a suite of prizes that will increase the supply of renewable energy, improve the efficiency with which we consume resources and promote the use of environmentally friendly alternative sources of fuel. The Foundation is preparing to launch the Automotive X PRIZE, which invites teams from around the world to focus on building a new generation of viable, super-efficient vehicles that help break our addiction to oil and stem the effects of climate change.

Life Sciences: New prizes are being created to improve public health and healthcare. With the support of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and a panel of seasoned medical, scientific and engineering experts, multiple prizes will be developed in early 2008. The Foundation is also working closely with a panel of cancer research and treatment experts to develop a suite of strategically sequenced prizes to unlock the challenges of cancer prevention, detection and treatment.

Education: The Foundation is developing prizes that focus on exploring the potential of a new generation of learning tools that hold the promise of delivering dynamic educational experiences customized to meet the unique needs of each individual student and enabling schools to personalize education.

Global Poverty: The Foundation is exploring the potential of incentive-based prize competitions to stimulate new, market-based approaches to addressing development challenges and holistically uplifting communities around the world from extreme poverty.

To ensure lasting results, all new prizes address underlying economic realities and consumer demands so that resulting breakthroughs inspire viable, cost-effective and market-driven innovation.

ABOUT THE X PRIZE FOUNDATION

The X PRIZE Foundation is an educational nonprofit prize institute whose mission is to create radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity. Since the winning of the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE for Suborbital Spaceflight by Burt Rutan and Paul Allen in 2004, the Foundation has grown in new areas launching the $10 million Archon X PRIZE for Genomics and the $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE. The X PRIZE Foundation will continue to offer new prizes for breakthroughs in the areas of life improvement, exploration, equity of opportunity and sustainability and is widely recognized as the leading model for fostering innovation through competition. For more information, please visit www.xprize.org or email press@xprize.org.

ABOUT THE CLINTON GLOBAL INITIATIVE

President Clinton started the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI) in 2005. A non-partisan catalyst for action, CGI brings together a community of global leaders to devise and implement innovative solutions to some of the world's most pressing challenges. CGI consists of approximately 1,000 members from all over the world who commit to create or support projects within one or more of CGI's annual areas of focus. In 2007, the areas of focus are education, energy & climate change, global health, and poverty alleviation. For further information, please contact Jove Oliver, Director of Marketing and Communications, Clinton Global Initiative, (212) 710-4416 or jove.oliver@clintonglobalinitiative.org.

Add to Digg Bookmark with del.icio.us Add to Newsvine