X PRIZE Foundation and BT Global Services Gather World's Top Minds for Interactive Conference to Drive Innovative, Bottom-Line Business Solutions

C-Suite Executives, Foundation, Political and Academic Leaders, and Social Entrepreneurs Are Invited to Join Cutting-Edge Innovators to Collaborate on Business Solutions That Can Deliver Immediate Bottom-Line Results for Their Organizations at June Forum


PLAYA VISTA, CA--(Marketwire - May 21, 2009) - The X PRIZE Foundation, with its partners BT Global Services, John Templeton Foundation and the United Nations Office for Partnerships, will host a groundbreaking incentive2innovate conference (i2i) for senior-level executives, June 8-9 at the United Nations in New York. i2i will provide an intimate forum for attendees to collaborate with extraordinary business leaders on initiatives to make an immediate impact on innovation, operations and revenue generation within their respective organizations. Innovators will include Dr. Peter H. Diamandis, chairman and CEO, The X PRIZE Foundation; Arianna Huffington, co-founder and editor-in-chief, Huffington Post; Don Tapscott, author of "Wikinomics: How Mass Collaboration Changes Everything" and "Grown Up Digital: How the Net Generation is Changing the World"; and many more.

The i2i experience goes beyond simply listening to speakers. Through a highly collaborative format, i2i will connect attendees with peers, business leaders and industry experts to brainstorm relevant solutions for their companies' most pressing business issues. i2i will provide attendees with the following:

--  Practical methods to create a culture of innovation through
    collaboration
--  Concrete ways to leverage limited resources to innovate through
    incentivized competition
--  Proven applications that will help drive innovation and improve bottom-
    line performance
    

Conference attendees will also have the opportunity to engage with Thomas Kalil, deputy director, Office of Science and Technology Policy, Obama Administration; Reid Hoffman, chairman and CEO, LinkedIn; Dean Kamen, founder, FIRST, and president, DEKA Research and Development Corporation; Dwayne Spradlin, president and CEO, Innocentive; Matthew Bishop, chief business writer/US business editor, The Economist; Paul Jansen, partner at McKinsey and Company; J. Craig Venter, Ph.D., founder and president of J. Craig Venture Institute and J. Craig Venter Science Foundation; and Charles L. Harper, Jr. D.Phil, senior vice president and chief strategist of John Templeton Foundation, among many others.

i2i will feature working sessions and keynote addresses focused on the following topics:

--  Open Collaboration: Leverage investments by recruiting the world's
    best talent to solve challenges
--  Incentivized Competition: Design incentive prizes and only pay for the
    results you need
--  Health Care: Use open collaboration and incentivized competition to
    drive healthcare innovations for individual companies and the industry
    overall
--  Energy and Environment: Learn from the leaders who are using open-
    source innovation and competition to lead the green revolution
--  Power of Politics and Prizes: Understand the government's current and
    future use of prizes as a tool to solve major problems within our
    communities and across borders
--  Global Development: Collaborate on a new approach to create
    sustainable economies for the developing world
--  Open Innovation Culture: Radically change corporate culture; embed
    innovation in your daily operations and unlock your employees' hidden
    talent
    

"We've assembled a dynamic group of visionaries for i2i who are enacting change and making a positive impact on business that will drive this economy out of the recession and into the future," said Dr. Diamandis. "With the support of our partners, the Foundation has pioneered the concept of innovation through incentivized competition and open collaboration. During i2i, we will share these tools, and show their potential to create revolutionary solutions and drive sustainable economic growth for attendees' businesses."

To register for the conference or to view the complete i2i agenda and innovators' bios, please visit www.incentive2innovate.com

ABOUT THE PARTNERS:

About The X PRIZE Foundation

The X PRIZE Foundation is an educational nonprofit prize institute whose mission is to create radical breakthroughs for the benefit of humanity. In 2004, the Foundation captured the world's attention when the Burt Rutan-led team, backed by Microsoft co-founder Paul Allen, built and flew the world's first private spaceship to win the $10 million Ansari X PRIZE for suborbital spaceflight. The Foundation has since launched the $10 million Archon X PRIZE for Genomics, the $30 million Google Lunar X PRIZE and the $10 million Progressive Insurance Automotive X PRIZE. The Foundation, with the support of its partner, BT Global Services, is creating prizes in Space and Ocean Exploration, Life Sciences, Energy and Environment, Education and Global Development. The Foundation is widely recognized as the leading model for fostering innovation through competition. For more information, please visit www.xprize.org.

About BT Global Services

BT is one of the world's leading providers of communications solutions and services operating in 170 countries. Its principal activities include the provision of networked IT services globally; local, national and international telecommunications services to our customers for use at home, at work and on the move; broadband and internet products and services and converged fixed/mobile products and services. BT consists principally of four lines of business: BT Global Services, Openreach, BT Retail and BT Wholesale.

In the year ended 31 March 2009, BT Group's revenue was £21,390 million.

British Telecommunications plc (BT) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of BT Group plc and encompasses virtually all businesses and assets of the BT Group. BT Group plc is listed on stock exchanges in London and New York.

For more information, visit www.bt.com/aboutbt

About The United Nations Office for Partnerships

United Nations Office for Partnerships (UNOP) serves as a gateway for partnership opportunities with the United Nations family. It promotes new collaborations and alliances in furtherance of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and provides support to new initiatives of the Secretary-General. UNOP provides Partnership Advisory Services and Outreach to a variety of entities, as well as managing the United Nations Fund for International Partnerships. UNFIP serves as the interface in the partnership between the UN system and the UN Foundation. UNOP also manages the United Nations Democracy Fund (UNDEF), established by the Secretary-General in July 2005, to support democratization around the world. UNOP is headed by the Executive Director Amir Dossal. For more information about the UN Millenium Development Goals, please visit www.un.org/millenniumgoals

About The John Templeton Foundation

The John Templeton Foundation serves as a philanthropic catalyst for research on what scientists and philosophers call the Big Questions. It supports innovative work at the world's top universities in such fields as theoretical physics, cosmology, evolutionary biology, cognitive science, and social science relating to love, forgiveness, creativity, purpose, and the nature and origin of religious belief. The Foundation also seeks to stimulate new thinking about wealth creation in the developing world, character education in schools and universities, and programs for cultivating the talents of gifted children. For more information, please visit www.templeton.org.

Contact Information: For More Information: Natalie Mounier Kirvin Doak Communications 702-737-3100 Arron Robinson X PRIZE Foundation 310-741-4899