$7M Adult Literacy XPRIZE Will Incentivize Mobile Applications to Bring Low-Literate Adults to Basic Literacy Within 12 Months

LOS ANGELES - Monday, June 8th 2015 [ME NewsWire]

(BUSINESS WIRE)-- XPRIZE, the global leader in incentivized prize competitions, in partnership with the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy and the Dollar General Literacy Foundation, today announced the launch of the $7M Adult Literacy XPRIZE, a global competition challenging teams to develop mobile applications for adult learners that result in the greatest increase in literacy skills in just 12 months.

“A parent’s literacy level is a significant predictor of their child’s future educational success, influencing generations to follow,” said Barbara Bush, founder of the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy. “As I celebrate my 90th birthday today with my grandchildren and great-grandchildren, I am inspired and hopeful that this Adult Literacy XPRIZE will bring about a radical breakthrough to end the cycle of low-literacy in America and that my grandchildren will grow up in a country where education is abundant and accessible to all.”

“An estimated 36 million adults in the U.S. lack basic literacy skills, as do millions more around the world,” said Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, chairman and CEO of XPRIZE. “Existing programs require classrooms and teachers and cannot possibly scale to meet the need of the millions of adults who need support. The Adult Literacy XPRIZE demonstrates a paradigm shift in how we approach adult learning globally, with educational applications that are effective, scalable and that can be accessed anytime, anywhere.”

“In partnership with the XPRIZE Foundation and the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation is excited to support the Adult Literacy XPRIZE to help propel adult education into the 21st century and beyond. This initiative helps create smart, mobile solutions that take learners further and faster than they thought possible,” said Denine Torr, Dollar General’s director of community initiatives.

After a six-month team registration period, competing teams will have 18 months to develop their solutions. A panel of third-party expert judges will then select the top five teams to move on to the 12-month field-testing phase of the competition. The five finalist solutions will be tested with a minimum of 1,000 adult learners each (5,000 total), ages 18-64, who read at or below the equivalent of a third grade reading level.

The $4M Grand Prize will be awarded to the team with the best performance across all adult learners, over the 12-month field test. Bonus Prizes of $500,000 will also be awarded to the two teams with the best performance in each of the two key demographic groups: native English speakers and non-native English speakers.

Following the awarding of the Grand Prize and Bonus Prizes, cities across the U.S. will compete to encourage their adult learners to download and use the winning applications, using tailored education, marketing and outreach campaigns. A $1M purse will be split among all finalist teams that meet the minimum performance benchmark to advance to the Cities Competition. A $1M prize will be awarded to the city that encourages the greatest percentage of its adult learners to download and use any of the finalist solutions over a six-month period.

For more information, and to register your intent to compete, visit http://adultliteracy.xprize.org/.

About XPRIZE

Founded in 1995, XPRIZE is the leading organization solving the world’s Grand Challenges by creating and managing large-scale, high-profile, incentivized prizes in five areas: Learning; Exploration; Energy & Environment; Global Development; and Life Sciences. Active prizes include the $30M Google Lunar XPRIZE, the $15M Global Learning XPRIZE, the $10M Qualcomm Tricorder XPRIZE, and the $2M Wendy Schmidt Ocean Health XPRIZE. For more information, visit www.xprize.org.

About the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy

The Barbara Bush Foundation is the nation's leading advocate for family literacy. The goals of the Foundation are simple: we want children to start school ready to excel and help parents improve their literacy skills. To learn more about the Barbara Bush Foundation for Family Literacy's commitment to promote family literacy in homes across America, please visit www.barbarabush.org or join the conversation on Facebook or Twitter (@BarbaraBushFdn).

About the Dollar General Literacy Foundation

The Dollar General Literacy Foundation is proud to support initiatives that help others improve their lives through literacy and education. Since its inception in 1993, the Dollar General Literacy Foundation has awarded more than $100 million in grants to nonprofit organizations, helping nearly six million individuals take their first steps toward literacy or continued education. For more information about the Dollar General Literacy Foundation and its grant programs, visit www.dgliteracy.org.     

Contacts

XPRIZE

Eric Desatnik. 310-741-4892

eric@xprize.org

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