DUBLIN — Ohio has launched an $8 million effort to attract ideas for using technology to solve the national opioid addiction crisis.
The state is pitching the Ohio Opioid Technology Challenge as global in scope.
Officials said Wednesday the effort will roll out in three stages, the idea, challenge and product phases. The deadline for the idea phase is Dec. 15 and ideas will be evaluated and narrowed down to a final field in approximately two years, said David Goodman, chair of the Ohio Third Frontier Commission which is overseeing the project.
“The more the better. We’re going to have really smart folks who are sophisticated in this area to evaluate [the ideas] and there may be an ‘ah-hah moment’ out of that where we come up with new solutions and new ideas and new ways to address this in a powerful way that will hopefully save lives, not just in Ohio but everywhere in the country and anywhere on the globe,” Goodman said during an interview with Perspective.
Click here to hear the full interview with Dir. David Goodman
It is similar in its mission to an effort the NFL used to generate new ideas to address concussions.
Officials emphasize that civilians and scientific and technological experts can submit their ideas through a website established for the project.
In his State of the State address, Gov. John Kasich called for funding by a state technology initiative to accelerate scientific and technological breakthroughs that could help solve the U.S. opioid problem.