When Challenge.gov launched in September 2010, the General Services Administration made a bet on agencies' desire to find solutions without relying on traditional acquisition vehicles. One year later, Challenge.gov has been used for 130 challenges by 36 federal agencies, resulting in $38 million in awards, says GSA.

Tighter budgets may have contributed to the success of the program. Challenge.gov allows agencies to only pay for results, said Robynn Sturm-Steffen, a White House adviser in the office of science and technology policy.

"If no challenger meets any of the criteria, agencies don't have to pay out," she said at an Oct. 5 event at GSA's temporary offices in Washington, D.C.

In one year there have been many lessons learned, which GSA plans to share in the form of case studies on HowTo.gov. There can be legal challenges and procurement considerations when using competitions, but "it's really a tool in agencies' tool box," explained Dave McClure, associate administrator in GSA's office of citizen services and innovative technologies.

A panel of agency competition leads shared success stories at the 1-year anniversary event. When asked what their "a-ha" moments were--when they realized the challenge was making a difference--Twitter impressions, media coverage and press inquiries were recounted. Sometimes, said the panel, the public awareness component is an added "win" that was not initially factored into competition goals.

It's difficult to measure the return on investment of hosting competitions, said McClure. Often challenges are used to raise awareness about an issue such as distracted driving or healthy eating.

"The ROI that government gets just by having this site up is astronomical," said McClure. In the next year a key goal for GSA is measuring success and calculating ROI. Making the payoff clearer is the first step toward standardizing challenges, he added. "We want to see it as a regular part of [agencies'] repertoire," said McClure.

For more:
- listen to audio from the press availability with McClure and Conrad

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