Google’s "10 to the 100th" Project Aims to Change the World

By Anastacia Mott Austin

Everybody seems to have great ideas these days. "We should make a car that runs on water," "There should be more small business loans for creative ideas," "It’d be great if there was a program that supported young mothers connect with their communities," etc.

Now Google says it’s time to put their money where your idea is. Their "10 to the 100th" Project is a contest currently accepting applications from people who, in Google’s words, "want to make good ideas come to life."

"Never in history have so many people had so much information, so many tools at their disposal, so many ways of making good ideas come to life," says the project’s informational website. "Yet at the same time, so many people, of all walks of life, could use so much help, in both little ways and big."

Google says it wants to create new ways of making the world a better place, and can think of no better way to do this than to invite the public to submit their ideas.

"New studies are reinforcing the simple wisdom that beyond a certain very basic level of material wealth, the only thing that increases individual happiness over time is helping other people."

There are eight categories your idea can fit into: Community, focusing on building connections and preserving unique cultures; Opportunity, helping people provide for themselves and their families; Energy, moving the world toward safer, cleaner energy sources; Environment, preserving a sustainable global ecosystem; Education, helping people attain access to better education; Shelter, ensuring that every person has a safe place to live; and Everything Else, because some things don’t fit into any one category.

The submissions are due by October 20th, and the top 100 ideas will be voted on by the public beginning on January 27th, 2009, to narrow the field down to 20 semi-finalists, and a Google advisory board will choose up to five ultimate winners, each of whom will receive funding for their idea to the tune of $10 million.

The judging criteria will include reach (how many people will be helped by the idea), depth (how intensive is the need), attainability (if the idea actually be brought to reality within a year or two), efficiency (how cost-effective), and longevity (what the long-term impact will be).

The project’s name is derived from the fact that 10 to the 100th power is the number googol, which is where the Internet giant got its name (the number 1 with 100 zeros behind it, meant to imply infinity, or perhaps that there is a potentially infinite number of answers to potential searches on Google).

"Our company's very name expresses our goal of achieving great results through smart technology that starts small and scales dramatically over time to have a tremendous long-term impact," said Google on their website. "Project 10 to the 100th is a similar attempt to produce those kinds of scalable results by harnessing our users' insights and creativity."

The contest began in honor of Google’s 10th anniversary, hence the 10 to the 100th name, and the 10 million dollars. "Google is turning ten years old. What better way to celebrate than by empowering people to help others?"

Adds Google, "These ideas can be big or small, technology-driven or brilliantly simple – but they need to have impact." As the contest slogan says, "May those who help the most win!"