The Innovation Game: The Market-Driven Approach to Solving Big Science Problems

TIG (The Innovation Game) is a decentralized science project designed to accelerate algorithmic innovation. It uses a coordination protocol and proof of work to discover the most efficient algorithms for scientific problems. The project originated in 2012 with the goal of addressing the lack of open development and funding for scientific research. TIG aims to bring real utility to the world using blockchain technology and is an outlier in the crypto space. The network consists of supply side actors (benchmarkers and innovators) who submit and improve algorithms, and demand side actors (miners) who use the algorithms to mine and provide market signals. The Innovation Game (TIG) aims to discover the most efficient algorithmic solutions to scientific problems. TIG focuses on solving problems that are hard to solve but easy to verify. The selection of problems is done by a committee of scientists and domain experts. TIG currently has challenges in Boolean Satisfiability, Knapsack Problem, Capacitated Vehicle Routing, and Vector Search. These problems have applications in various industries, including hardware design verification, logistics optimization, and AI. TIG plans to add more challenges and aims to onboard several hundred more challenges over the next three to five years. The network captures the value it creates through IP licensing, using a dual licensing model. TIG offers an open data license for academics and open source enthusiasts and a commercial license for corporations. The commercial license fees are payable in TIG tokens, generating demand for the token. TIG’s go-to-market strategy includes targeting universities, crypto and science societies, and leveraging industry connections. The roadmap includes transitioning to a layer one blockchain and adding a deposit requirement for benchmarkers. TIG aims to bring in more innovators, particularly from the academic world, by providing a tangible value that can fund their research.

Dr Fletcher’s Twitter/X: https://x.com/dr_johnfletcher

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction to TIG

02:00 Proof of Work in TIG

03:26 Origin of TIG

11:08 TIG as an Outlier in Crypto

15:16 Role of Benchmarkers, Innovators, and Miners

18:07 Rewards for Innovators and Benchmarkers

24:06 Purpose of Proof of Work in TIG

26:03 Using Synthetic Problems in TIG

28:18 Discovering Efficient Algorithmic Solutions

29:39 Hardware and Algorithm Development