Washington — The U.S. Agency for International Development has launched the Science and Technology Pioneers Prize contest to identify ideas for solving development challenges.

Many development challenges have solutions in science, technology and innovation, said USAID’s Kathryn Viguerie. “USAID is harnessing the same forces that yielded the great breakthroughs of the past to transform more lives than ever before,” Viguerie wrote in a February 6 post on USAID’s Impact Blog. Viguerie is communications director for USAID’s Office of Science and Technology.

Through the USAID Forward program, launched in 2010, the agency invests in science and technology–based solutions to challenges involving clean water, infectious diseases, food security, energy, climate change, connectivity and biodiversity. The program embraces innovation, builds local sustainability and strengthens results while saving money and reducing over time the need for U.S. assistance, USAID says.

“Many projects and activities funded by USAID are demonstrating a commitment to achieving results through the successful application of science and technology. This prize will champion the excellent [science and technology] work already being done in the field by USAID and our partners,” Viguerie wrote. “We are particularly looking for new and technologically sophisticated ways of delivering services and achieving development outcomes, and then celebrating and recognizing them,” she wrote.

She added that some of the best and most innovative ideas come from USAID development partners, including host-country governments, local nongovernmental groups and innovators on the ground.

Contest applications are due by March 22. Winning projects will receive special recognition from USAID and public visibility through USAID platforms. Submissions will be judged using these criteria:

• Application of science and technology: What development problem was the intervention designed to address, and how?

• Evaluation and learning: What evidence, reports or assessments was the project design based on? Was there a systematic effort to understand the extent to which the project/activity was effective?

• Alignment with USAID country strategy: How did science and technology play a direct role in achieving the development objectives?

• Replicability: Can the approach or elements of it be implemented in other regions or countries?

• Leveraging funding: How has the project leveraged funding from other donors, governments and/or the private sector?

In February 2012, President Obama announced a package of initiatives covering academia, science, government agencies and business to focus on developing and deploying technologies that can help address global poverty.

See the USAID Learning Lab website for contest details, including eligibility.