Editing Millennium Technology Prize (section)

==The Prize==
The idea of the prize came originally from the Finnish academician Pekka Jauho, with American real estate investor and philanthropist [[Arthur J Collingsworth]] encouraging its establishment.<ref name="finnf">[https://web.archive.org/web/20081118194043/http://www.finnfacts.com/english/main/actualities/millennium2.htm Millennium, Finnfacts.com] (Archive.org)</ref> The Prize celebrates innovations that have a favorable and [[sustainability|sustainable]] impact on [[quality of life]] and well-being of people.<ref name="prize-introduction"/> The innovations also must have been applied in practice and stimulate further research and development.<ref name="prize-introduction"/> Compared to the [[Nobel Prize]] the Millennium Technology Prize is a technology award, whereas the Nobel Prize is a science award.<ref name="bbc-2006"/> Furthermore, the Nobel Prize is awarded for basic research, but the Millennium Technology Prize may be given to a recently conceived innovation which is still being developed. The Millennium Technology Prize is not intended as a reward for lifetime achievement.<ref name="prize-introduction"/>

The Millennium Technology Prize is awarded by Technology Academy Finland (formerly Millennium Prize Foundation and Finnish Technology Award Foundation), established in 2002 by eight Finnish organisations supporting technological development and innovation. The prize sum is 1 million [[euro]]s (~US$1.3 million).<ref name="prize-introduction">{{cite web|url=http://taf.fi/en/millennium-technology-prize/|title=Millennium Technology Prize|publisher=Technology Academy Finland|accessdate=April 10, 2014}}</ref> The Millennium Technology Prize is awarded every second year<ref name="prize-introduction"/> and its patron is the [[president of Finland]].<ref name="yle-2014">{{cite news|url=http://yle.fi/uutiset/big_data_pioneer_wins_millennium_technology_prize/7181629|title='Big data' pioneer wins Millennium Technology Prize|publisher=Yle Uutiset|date=April 9, 2014|accessdate=April 10, 2014}}</ref>

Universities, research institutes, national scientific and engineering academies, high-tech companies, and other organizations around the world are eligible to nominate individuals or groups for the award. Nominations are accepted from any field except military technology.<ref name="prize-introduction"/> In accordance with the rules of the Technology Academy Finland, a proposal concerning the winner of the Millennium Technology Prize is made to the board of the foundation by the eight-member international selection committee, and the final decision on the prize winner is made by the board of the foundation.