Challenge:Future :: What's the Buzz?

Media – from newspapers to TV to semi-formal blogs – has immense powers to shape the world. Yet, as the flood of reality shows and tabloid press continues to take over our lives, the future of media is a question to explore. How do we leverage the power of media to create a future that works for all? How do we connect people to what is good and positive in news and events?

How do we use media to co-create the new images, voices, and visions of the global and shared future – connecting the best of our past and present in culture, architecture, art, music, science, business, politics and literature? Will we have journalists to write news or should we only have sophisticated blogs? Will media of today survive? And how do we create world where we can believe the media?

For the First Round of the competition, the challenge is to propose an original idea that re-invents the Future of Media in a sustainable way. Acceptable ideas include:

    * A new communication channel,
    * A new product, application or service,
    * A new system,
    * A new partnership,
    * A new way of using an existing product or service,
    * A new policy or procedure, or
    * A new collaborative network or project.

Imagined as a multi-year open innovation competition, each year Challenge: Future focuses on one specific theme, a universal challenge to be re-imagined and re-invented. We are delighted to announce that the theme of the inaugural 2009-2010 academic year is the Future of Connecting.