Deloitte, XPRIZE and Singularity University Form Alliance and Launch the Innovation Partnership Program

NEW YORK, May 14, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Three recognized leaders advancing innovation in industry, education and business have announced a new alliance to spur global economic development and business commerce, while supporting a mission to help humanity solve its greatest challenges.  The Innovation Partnership Program (IPP) is a three-year alliance of XPRIZE, the leader in solving grand challenges through large-scale, 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 strategy & operations, human capital, and technology consulting services.  XPRIZE, Singularity University and Deloitte will leverage their respective strengths to drive innovation across multiple industries and business sectors.

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The announcement was made jointly by Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, chairman and chief executive officer of XPRIZE and executive chairman of Singularity University; Rob Nail, associate founder and chief executive officer of Singularity University; and Marcus Shingles, principal, Deloitte Consulting LLP and a leader in Deloitte's Innovation Group.

The inaugural IPP event took place in March at the NASA Ames Research Park in the heart of Silicon Valley, California.  More than 60 senior business leaders from 30 iconic companies, including Google, Shell, Qualcomm, The Hershey Company, and Sprint, met for a four-day executive summit.  The selective membership-based program consisted of a wide array of workshops on crowdsourcing, the rapid advancement of exponential technologies, and how to innovate through incentivized competitions. The March IPP event was the first in a multi-year series of events where Fortune 500 leaders will meet innovative start-ups and entrepreneurs to expand their partnership ecosystem across Silicon Valley, and reach across global markets to connect the most knowledgeable industry leaders and innovators in a highly curated and unprecedented summit. 

"IPP brings an unparalleled value proposition to the market," said Diamandis.  "The goal is to bring together the critical elements required by businesses seeking to become 'exponential' organizations -- awareness, education, relationships, and know-how. Deloitte adds a crucial element with the ability to assist companies in customizing and implementing their innovation strategies resulting from IPP."

"IPP not only provides unique access to relevant thought leaders and entrepreneurs, but also introduces an important vantage point and exposure to the key drivers and pace in which various emerging innovations – technological and organizational – will transform the business landscape in the near-term and longer-term," said Bert Alfonso, executive vice president, chief financial officer and chief administrative officer, The Hershey Company.

Highlights of the inaugural IPP event included seven CEO case studies by crowdfunding and crowdsourcing pioneers, including Quirky. The impact and business relevance of exponential trending technologies were also main topics covered, including digital medicine, biotechnology, sensor technologies, big data, artificial intelligence, 3D printing and advanced robotics.  Also, a signature element of IPP, "The Path Forward," was a discussion led by Deloitte on their 10 Steps of Innovation and Scaling Edges approach for organizational characteristics and adoption of innovation.

"IPP provides corporate leadership teams with access to an expanded ecosystem of some of the world's top entrepreneurs, inventors, scientists, technologists, innovation strategists, and business thought leaders, thus providing participating companies with a broader lens as to the potential non-traditional threats and opportunities their industries and businesses are -- or will be -- facing," said Shingles.  "IPP is a process versus just an event, giving members continuous exposure to the latest thinking and relationships required to capitalize on innovation-driven business transformation."

About Deloitte Consulting LLP
Deloitte Consulting LLP helps organizations grow their businesses and enhance value by identifying actionable insights. More than 23,000 professionals provide a broad range of capabilities across human capital, strategy & operations and technology that are aligned to the particular needs of specific sectors, businesses and organizations. Deloitte Consulting LLP provides clients with leading business insights that can help generate a tangible and measurable impact. As part of the alliance, Singularity University and XPRIZE will refer their clients to Deloitte for consulting services around innovation, from strategy to execution. 

The innovation capabilities of Deloitte Consulting LLP that will assist IPP member companies include DC Innovation, Deloitte's Center for the Edge, Monitor Doblin and GBN groups, and Deloitte Digital.

About XPRIZE 
Founded in 1995, XPRIZE is a leading organization solving the world's Grand Challenges by creating and managing large-scale, high-profile, 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. XPRIZE conducts competitions in five Prize Groups: Education; Exploration; Energy & Environment; Global Development; and Life Sciences. Active prizes include the $30 million Google Lunar XPRIZE, the $10 million Archon Genomics XPRIZE presented by Express Scripts, the $10 million Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE, and the $2.25 million Nokia Sensing XCHALLENGE. For more information, go to www.xprize.org, "like" us at www.facebook.com/xprize and follow us on twitter @xprize.

About Singularity University
Singularity University (SU) is a unique interdisciplinary and international organization whose mission is to educate, inspire, and enable a new generation of leaders who strive to understand and use exponentially advancing technologies to transform their organizations and to address humanity's grand challenges. Since 2009, SU has hosted leaders in finance, science, business, and government at Executive Programs and Global Summits and brings together each summer many of the world's most talented young entrepreneurs to attend SU's 10-week Graduate Studies Program. SU programs have received international acclaim and represent the cutting edge of education, impact, entrepreneurship, inspirational ideas, and science. Singularity University is based at NASA Research Park in Mountain View, CA, in the heart of the Silicon Valley. For more information, go to http://singularityu.org/, and follow us on twitter @singularityu, and participate in our dialogue on Facebook: www.facebook.com/singularityu

As used in this document, "Deloitte" means Deloitte Consulting LLP, a subsidiary of Deloitte LLP.  Please see www.deloitte.com/us/about for a detailed description of the legal structure of Deloitte LLP and its subsidiaries. Certain services may not be available to attest clients under the rules and regulations of public accounting.

Contacts

Jessica Heine
Public Relations
Deloitte
+1 415 783 5007
[email protected]

SOURCE Deloitte