<http://schema.org/articleBody>
"X Prize is known for doling out big bucks for tech leaps like Spaceship One and now the foundation is teaming with Singularity University and Deloitte Consulting to try to bring more cash-bearing companies on board. To that end, they created the Innovation Partnership Program (IPP) to get industry together with inventors, scientists and other developers twice a year with the goal of funding new competitions. The first meeting took place last week and included heavyweights like Google, Sprint Nextel and Qualcomm, who tossed around ideas like crowdsourcing, sensor tech and 3D printing. In exchange for their largess -- a seat at the table starts at $250,000 -- businesses get in on the ground floor to breakthrough tech and the fortunes it can bring. IPP cautioned that the four day event \"is not a volleyball picnic or a plush retreat,\" so if you had visions of shirtless CEOs, Top Gun-style, you can breathe a sigh of relief.Show full PR text      THE X PRIZE FOUNDATION &amp;amp; SINGULARITY UNIVERSITY TEAM WITH DELOITTE TO ADVANCE INNOVATION AROUND THE WORLD     New Alliance Launches the Innovation Partnership Program     LOS ANGELES, CA (March 29, 2013) - Three recognized leaders advancing innovation in industry, education and business have announced a new alliance to spur global development and help humanity solve its greatest challenges. The Innovation Partnership Program (IPP), a three-&amp;shy;\u2010year alliance of the X PRIZE Foundation, the leader in solving grand challenges through large-&amp;shy;\u2010scale, global incentivized competitions, Singularity University, a unique Silicon Valley educational institute and business incubator which explores the disruptive influences and global growth opportunities of exponentially advancing technologies, and Deloitte, a leader in human capital, strategy, and operations, and technology consulting services, leverage their respective strengths to drive innovation across multiple industries and business sectors. The announcement was made jointly by Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, Chairman and CEO of the X PRIZE Foundation; Rob Nail, Associate Founder and CEO of Singularity University; and Marcus Shingles, Partner at Deloitte Consulting LLP.     More than 60 senior business leaders from 30 iconic companies, including Google, Shell, Qualcomm, and Sprint Nextel met in Silicon Valley from March 23-&amp;shy;\u201026, for the inaugural 4-&amp;shy;\u2010day IPP Executive Session, which consisted of a wide array of workshops on crowdsourcing, the rapid advancement of exponential technologies and how to innovate through incentivized competitions. IPP is where Fortune 500 thought leaders came to intersect with Silicon Valley, reaching across global markets to connect the most knowledgeable industry leaders and innovators in a highly curated and unprecedented summit.     A signature element of IPP, \"The Path Forward\" was a discussion led by Deloitte, based on their 10 Steps of Innovation and Scaling Edges approach for organizational characteristics and adoption of innovation. Other highlights of IPP were seven CEO case studies by crowdsourcing pioneers including Quirky. Recent headlines regarding advances in digital medicine, sensor technologies, and 3D printing were also topical discussions of leading advancements.     \"IPP is proof of the amazing and productive dialogue that can result when a group of diverse and daring industry leaders, scientists, entrepreneurs, inventors, and thought leaders come together to discuss innovative business strategies and exponential technologies,\" said Kian Gohar, Executive Director, Innovation Partnership Program. \"We are very fortunate to have such great partners that share our passion and commitment to this unique ecosystem where the Fortune 500 meets Silicon Valley.\"     \"This new era of rapid-&amp;shy;\u2010pace innovation requires bold thinking and action from all fronts. IPP is about expanding the innovation ecosystem and related capabilities that we bring to our clients,\" Marcus Shingles from Deloitte.     \"It was worth every minute. The exposure to new ideas is remarkably refreshing and different here,\" said Daniel Hesse, CEO of Sprint Nextel Corp. \"IPP brings to mind the words of Wayne Gretzky, 'It's skating to where the puck is going.'\"     IPP is a partnership of Fortune 500 companies that includes a biannual summit, with the next one scheduled for September 18-&amp;shy;\u201022, 2013 in Silicon Valley. For more information on the Innovation Partnership Program, please visit www.xprize.org/ipp. # # #     ABOUT THE INNOVATION PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM The Innovation Partnership Program (IPP), a joint initiative between the X PRIZE Foundation and Singularity University, is a results-&amp;shy;\u2010oriented executive education program that teaches exponential technologies and crowdsourced innovation to senior executives from large Fortune 500 firms. IPP seeks to help partner companies transition from \"linear\" to \"exponential\" organizations by incubating a culture of exponential innovation within each company. ABOUT THE X PRIZE FOUNDATION Founded in 1995, the X PRIZE Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, is the leading organization solving the world's Grand Challenges by creating and managing large-&amp;shy;\u2010scale, high-&amp;shy;\u2010profile, incentivized prize competitions that stimulate investment in research and development worth far more than the prize itself. The organization motivates and inspires brilliant innovators from all disciplines to leverage their intellectual and financial capital for the benefit of humanity. The X PRIZE Foundation conducts competitions in five Prize Groups: Education; Exploration; Energy &amp;amp; Environment; Global Development; and Life Sciences. Active prizes include the $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE, the $10 million Archon Genomics X PRIZE presented by Express Scripts, the $10 million Qualcomm Tricorder X PRIZE, and the $2.25 million Nokia Sensing X CHALLENGE. For more information, go to www.xprize.org, \"like\" us at www.facebook.com/xprize and follow us on twitter @xprize."^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.engadget.com/2013/04/01/x-prize-innovation-partnership-program/>