When the government needs to buy supplies or capital items, or it needs to develop a new bomber, it awards a contract.  But what if it needs answers that aren’t for sale in the classic sense?

Jenn Gustetic says contracts are how you access value available from companies. But over the past five years, the executive branch has found an effective and relatively inexpensive way to tap into the brain power of individuals. Namely, challenge grants.

Gustetic is the assistant director for open innovation at the Office of Science and Technology Policy. On my show this morning, she noted that as the challenge grant program crosses its fifth birthday, it’s awarded 450 prizes to some 200,000 individuals for a total of about $150 million.

Keep reading this article at: http://federalnewsradio.com/temin/2015/10/challenges-buy-government-contracts-cant/