Big Thinkers and Big Winners—Announcing the Prizes and Judges for the Unlimited Human Potential M-Prize

With the Unlimited Human Potential Challenge, we are seeking the most progressive practices and innovative ideas when it comes to unleashing human capacity—designing environments and systems for work that inspire individuals to contribute their full imagination, initiative, and passion every day; and aggregating human capability—leveraging new social, mobile, and digital technologies to activate, enlist, and organize talent across boundaries.

How can we tap into emerging digital technologies and the principles that undergird them (such as transparency, collaboration, meritocracy, open­ness, commu­nity and self-determination) to produce radically new approaches to organizing and creating value?

It may be one of the most important questions of our age. Individual ingenuity, initiative, and passion are the fuel of the Innovation Economy. Organizations and leaders must become increasingly inventive around unearthing, unleashing, cultivating, aggregating, and appropriately rewarding contributions from a range of stakeholders across boundaries.

Do you have a real-world case study or a bold new idea about unleashing and organizing human potential across boundaries? By sharing your STORY or HACK in the Unlimited Human Potential Challenge, you can help us make a dent in a big problem—and earn the chance to win a powerful collection of prizes.

Winners of the Unlimited Human Potential Challenge will receive significant recognition on the MIX, by SAP, and on Fortune.com. Winners will also earn the chance to be recognized and share their contributions at SAP’s annual SAPPHIRE NOW event (June 3-5, 2014) and at the MIX Mashup (Fall 2014).

For the first time ever, these winners will be eligible for an additional suite of prizes, which we're calling the "Idea Accelerator." Based on their potential to make a genuine impact—specifically, the potential to produce a viable app, product, company, or even a movement—up to three winners will win:

*A design thinking workshop with experts from SAP Labs to further develop, prototype, and possibly scale the idea

*A mentoring session with executives from SAP Ventures, including introductions to business incubators and/or angel investors

*Additionally, depending on the results of interviews conducted by the SAP Ventures team and the market potential of the winning entry, one of these entrants could also win up to USD $50,000 in funding from SAP Ventures, to go towards the formation of a new start-up company or venture. (Special consideration for this optional award will be given to entries with the potential to leverage SAP HANA.)

We’re tremendously excited to be able to offer such a powerful collection of rewards for contributors to the M-Prize. Please note: while the prize purse will focus on contributions with the potential to leverage SAP’s HANA technology, the MIX and the judging team will consider all contributions equally. Any Story or Hack that meets the Challenge Brief has the potential to make it to the winner’s circle.

We’re also delighted to announce a tremendous panel of judges for this M-Prize. They represent a depth, breadth, and real diversity of experience and insight around the themes of Unlimited Human Potential:

James DeJulio, co-founder & president, Tongal

Lisa Gansky - Entrepreneur and author, The Mesh: Why the Future of Business is Sharing

Gary Hamel - Co-founder of the MIX and author, The Future of Management

Umair Haque - Director of Havas Media Labs and author of Betterness: Economics for Humans

Norbert Kunz, CEO Social Impact GmbH, Ashoka Fellow

Charlene Li - Founder, Altimeter Group and author, Groundswell and Open Leadership

Tom Malone, Patrick J. McGovern Professor of Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management and author, The Future of Work

Nilofer Merchant, Strategist, thinker, and author of The New How and 11 Rules for Creating Value in the #SocialEra

Jacob Morgan - Co-founder, Chess Media and author, The Collaborative Organization

Don Tapscott - Author, Speaker and Advisor on Media, Technology, and Innovation

Help us make all organizations fit for the future—and fit for human beings. Learn more about and contribute to the Unlimited Human Potential M-Prize.