Wildlife Crime Tech Challenge Quarterly Report: January 1, 2017 – March 31, 2017

The Challenge used an open competition platform to source innovative science and technology solutions to combat wildlife trafficking. The Challenge encouraged applicants to produce potential solutions that address four specific issues related to the illegal trade: detecting transit routes; strengthening forensic evidence and data sharing; reducing consumer demand; and tackling corruption. The Challenge made the initial call for concept notes in April 2015, and received 300 submissions. From the concept note stage, 82 submissions advanced to judging, and 44 finalists were invited in September 2015 to submit a prize application. In January 2016, following a final technical review and judging process, the Challenge awarded 16 Prize Winners with prize packages of $10,000 and technical assistance, among other elements designed to scale their solutions. The Challenge Implementation Team (CIT) achieved several milestones during this quarter, including paying out a total of $281,191 as Grand Prize milestone-based payments towards five milestones, and $41,000 is being processed at the time of writing this report against the sixth milestone submitted within the quarter. As of March 31, 2017, the total amount paid in Grand Prizes is $401,576, or 44.4 percent of the total Grand Prizes amount, including the $41,000 currently being processed. The CIT also managed technical assistance requests from 11 Prize Winners, with early results showing a high level of satisfaction among Prize Winners in the context of helping the further development and/or scaling of their solutions. This quarter brings seven new partnerships for Prize Winners, for a total of 32 partnerships attributed to the Challenge and assisting Prize Winners in the development and/or scaling of their innovations. Prize Winners also secured an additional $1,545,300 towards the financing of their solutions, bringing the total amount of funds external to the Challenge leveraged as a result of their participation in the Challenge to $2,843,500. The Challenge and its Prize Winners earned 18 media mentions this quarter, bringing the total number of earned media to over 100. The Challenge continued to progress towards and surpass communications and scaling targets set in the approved monitoring and evaluation plan. The CIT submitted the following deliverables and work products: Revised Year 2 Annual Report (January 2017) and Quarterly Report (October-December 2016) (January 2017). The Challenge Implementation Team (CIT) provided written feedback on unsuccessful Grand Prize applications to all applicants not selected as Grand Prize Winners. The CIT also managed the Grand Prize competition, elevating the Prize Winners through communications and events. The Challenge is now focusing on Grand Prize implementation, Prize Winners' scaling activities, communications, and project wrap-up in Year Three.