The X Prize concept is a means to encourage the innovative and creative to tackle technological hurdles without the interference and funding of the state. It relies on how society has always made great leaps in science and technology - private research and innovation, driven by the profit motive.

There are two problems when government gets involved with technology. First, it is generally outside the constraints of the proper role of government. The proper role of government is to invest in technology to further the national defense. When it goes beyond that into myriad other non-defense fields, it creates a cesspool of government funded projects that rarely yield much except for more well funded science projects. Yeah, I know scientists need to eat too, but not at the trough of taxpayer funded federal projects. Secondly, create a government funded project and you can pretty much assure that it will be completed over budget and late - if at all. There is a lot of truth to that old saying, "A camel is a horse designed and built by government."

Today, the government does business far differently that in 1955 when the US needed a U-2 type aircraft. It gave the project to the Lockheed "Skunkworks", and the first aircraft was flying within 17 months and came in under budget. Try and find another government program that has done that since the mid-1950s and you will look long and hard. While the Skunkworks has produced other aircraft since, it has been forced by government to do business much differently since those days. The reason this one worked was the government did what it claims it does today - it puts out the requirement to industry and then gets out of the way. One only has to look at recent supposedly "Commercial Off the Shelf" programs such as the Army's Light Utility Helicopter or Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter to see how badly the government now prostitutes that concept. Add pork barrel projects and altruistic projects to the mix and it is easy to see how the government spends trillions of taxpayer money which yields little return.

The best known X-Price was the $10 million Ansari X-Prize won by SpaceShipOne in 2004. It set the stage for other privately funded "X-Prizes" to incentivize the private sector to solve technological issues to advance mankind's existence. In contrast, the Apollo project started with seed corn funding of $37 million in the 1960's. How much did it cost before the US reached the capability required to claim the Ansari X Prize? It is not an easy question to answer, but the number was no doubt in the billions (trillions?) of dollars. While some will claim that without the NASA funded research Burt Rutan could never have fielded SpaceShipOne, they may be right. But there is little question that even without it, SpaceshipOne would have flown far sooner and at less cost than anything NASA bought with American tax dollars.

In April, the Automotive X-Prize was announced. It offers a multi-million dollar ($10 million+) cash prize to the group that wins a long-distance race in 2009 with a non-polluting vehicle that achieves at least 100 miles per gallon of gas (or equivalent fuel). Concept cars are not eligible. The vehicle must be 'production' ready which means if produced it would be able to take to the roads meeting safety and support requirements that any new vehicle must meet. It's purchase price must be acceptable to consumers when produced at 10,000 vehicles per year. Vehicles must be in one of two categories, one that seats 4+ passengers with 4-wheels and one that seats 2+ in any wheel configuration. The winner will be a vehicle that could begin being sold using the existing vehicle infrastructure. That means that currently available fuels must be used and pretty much puts some really exotic technologies such as nuclear power powered vehicles outside of consideration. So far 30 teams have signed up to compete, there are over 300 others that are still considering it.

Note that in 2003, President Bush offered $1.7 billion for a FreedomCar, based upon hydrogen. Seen any progress on that yet? Oh never mind, federal funding doesn't require a product until 2020. Don't hold your breath for it either. It's more political theater that politicians like to conduct to show they are doing 'sumpthen' about a problem. It's how the government works, in contrast to the X Prize that will create actual movement to solve problems facing the nation.

Another prize is the Genomics X Prize which offers $10 million to the first group to sequence 100 human genomes in 10 days with a demonstrated cost of less than $10,000 per genome. The sequence of the genome is the key to all biological processes in the organisms. The ability to sequence genomes at low cost will revolutionize biological research, and will form the basis of the individualized medicine of the future. The potential of medicine in the future is unbounded so long as government stays out of it. Create socialized medicine though, and all progress will wither and mankind will suffer for it.

The most recent X Prize is the Lunar X Prize. Sponsored by Google, it offers $20 million grand prize to the first company to land a robotic rover on the Moon and performing several missions on the lunar surface before the end of 2012. There is a $5 million second prize and $5 million in bonus prizes too. The goal is to establish the commercial technology to begin the commercial use of the Moon for the benefit for all on Earth. While this may bother the socialists of the world, they simply need to look at the great leaps mankind has made in the past. They all tend to have one common trait. They occurred because someone hoped to make a profit from their effort. Many believe the Moon offers a stepping stone into the universe and potentially a way to beam clean solar energy to earth for the benefit of all mankind. Can it be done? You betcha. One thing for sure, when NASA put a man on the moon for footprints, planting a flag, and national prestige, there was not a lot of return on the effort for the taxpayer.

The X Prize returns to the roots of all human endeavors which have boomeranged into improvements for all mankind. It is rooted in capitalism and the profit motive that have proven to return more to human kind than has any other government effort.