A
Open statewide intake
A standing route for unexpected ideas, existing projects, research findings, problem knowledge, and early prototypes from individuals or groups.
Program design
A statewide discovery engine, not just a prize page.
The core purpose is to find ideas and problem knowledge from across Arkansas, connect people who would not otherwise meet, and move useful work toward the right development or public-decision route.
Three public modes
Discovery does not begin with a competition.
The program can listen broadly, focus attention, or run a formal selection process without collapsing those activities into one intake.
B
Discovery Call
A time-bounded invitation around a topic or geography seeking ideas, projects, evidence, capabilities, or collaborators. No award is implied.
C
Formal Challenge Brief
A controlled competition or other formal mechanism with defined authority, rules, eligibility, incentive, evaluation, and next-stage terms.
Minimum operating functions
Seven functions make the program real.
These are functions, not assumed new agencies or offices. A responsible sponsor can assign them through existing staff, contracts, agreements, panels, or partner arrangements where lawful.
Statewide discovery
Open idea, problem, and collaborator intake; outreach beyond established startup networks; accessible and non-digital participation options when used.
Triage + research
Screen mission fit, existing alternatives, evidence, public value, duplication, IP/confidentiality risks, and which next mechanism fits.
Team + resource connection
Broker introductions and route contributors to verified research, maker, business, commercialization, accessibility, evaluation, or public-service expertise.
Challenge administration
When justified: define the brief, incentive/mechanism, eligibility, rules, clarifications, review, records, access, and public status.
Development + evidence support
Help selected work become testable through milestone planning, prototyping connections, evaluation design, or other support that is actually resourced.
Field testing + transition
Bounded pilots, fallback, stop authority, evidence, implementation burden, public result, and a separate decision about what happens next.
Public learning
Publish what was attempted, what worked, what failed, what changed, and which ideas were routed elsewhere without exposing private submissions.
What the website actually does
The digital system supports the operating model.
It is not the program by itself. It provides controlled intake, public idea summaries, team formation, Challenge Brief publication, formal applications, private receipt tracking, moderation, status, and program records.
Success measures
Measure whether the program finds and advances useful work.
Reach
Who is contributing?
Count counties/regions, contributor types, first-time participants, rural participation, and accessible participation routes—not only total submissions.
Connection
Did ideas find missing capacity?
Introductions, teams formed, resource referrals completed, and problem owners reached.
Quality
Did ideas become more actionable?
Evidence added, duplication avoided, prototype readiness, clearer public outcomes, and implementation owners identified.
Challenge
Did formal calls attract diverse approaches?
Qualified applications, range of solution classes, review quality, participant burden, and clarification patterns.
Field
Did testing answer the question?
Primary outcomes, counter-metrics, safety/access issues, operating burden, failure recovery, and reproducibility.
Learning
What did Arkansas avoid or carry forward?
Direct improvements, external referrals, stopped ideas, successful transitions, and public evidence reused by later work.