The Millennium Technology Prize is a biannual award given to a groundbreaking innovation that promotes people's quality of life, contributes toward the realization of humane values and encourages sustainable development. It is Finland's tribute to life-enhancing technological innovation.
At the one million euro level, the Millennium Technology Prize ranks among the worlds most prestigious awards in its class. The Prize is awarded by the Millennium Prize Foundation, an independent fund established by Finnish industry and the state of Finland in partnership.
Candidates for the Millennium Technology Prize are sought across the world and in all fields of technology. Nominations are welcomed from universities, academies, research institutes, and industrial enterprises and organisations. Citizens of all nations are eligible.
The inaugural Millennium Technology Prize was awarded in 2004 to Professor Tim Berners-Lee, who revolutionized electronic communication by inventing the World Wide Web. The prize was awarded for the second time in September 2006 to Professor Shuji Nakamura for developing new, revolutionary, energy-saving light sources. The next Millennium Technology Prize will be awarded on 11th June 2008 in Helsinki.
We would also like to note here that while the selection criteria for awarding the Prize remain the same as before, there is, however, a notable change in the rules of the Foundation concerning the publicity given to Nominees. In previous rounds, only the Winner and the winning innovation were made public. According to the new rules, a List of Finalists will be announced and their work and innovations presented to the media and the general public prior to the selection of the Final Winner. To be eligible for the Prize, innovators who are selected as Finalists must agree to having their name and a general description of their work made public. All nominations from now on will be considered valid for only one selection round unless they are properly renewed and updated.
The nomination period for the 2008 Millennium Technology Prize has now begun. Nominations must be sent by conventional mail and received by the Millennium Prize Foundation by the deadline of 1st October 2007.
The information is also available on the Foundation's website: www.millenniumprize.fi
