The Rockefeller Foundation has launched the 2012 Innovation Challenges to source innovative ideas that will have the potential to create long-term impact. The Innovation Challenges, which run through May 25, expect to gather ideas from around the globe in three issue areas: data, irrigation, and farming. As The Rockefeller Foundation marks its centennial, the search has begun for innovative ideas that will solve problems for the next 100 years.

Fifteen finalists, five in each category, will be selected by a distinguished panel of judges and recognized at the 2012 Innovation Forum on June 28. They may be invited to collaborate with The Rockefeller Foundation as it builds the Global Engagement Network, a network of problem solvers focused on key global problems. As many as nine out of 15 finalists will be selected by the Foundation to apply for up to $100,000 in grant support to further develop or implement their ideas.

The Rockefeller Foundation looks to attract global changemakers whose ideas could lead to new services, tools, and choices in the following three issue areas:

DECODING DATA: Ideas that create better ways to address urban challenges through the application of data.

IRRIGATING EFFICIENCY: Ideas that help reduce barriers—such as lack of investment, incentives, or political will and capacity—to implementing and scaling agricultural water use efficiency.

FARMING NOW: Ideas that encourage and help young farmers to become more productive, more resilient, and more profitable by addressing cultural perceptions, economic conditions, and/or climate change.

The second annual 2012 Innovation Challenges will accept entries until May 25, 2012. For more information or to participate, visit http://centennial.rockefellerfoundation.org/challenge or contact Vallabh Rao at raovallab (at) gmail.com