HACKING FOR DEFENSE
Both [Newell and Blank] understood that the secret to innovation is not brainstorming sessions or whiteboards. Instead, innovation results from a disciplined and strategic approach to solving problems.
for service members,” said Sam Gussman, a member of Team Skynet during Stanford’s H4D pilot. Te class was a lot of work, Gussman said, “but opportunities like this are why I came [to Stanford].”
Students had to apply to take the class; from nearly 60 applicants, 34 were accepted. Te students formed eight teams, each apply- ing as a team to solve a specific government-sponsored problem. Accepted teams then prepared for their first class by interviewing 10 stakeholders—typically front-line military personnel experi- encing the problem firsthand. During the next 10 weeks, each team interviewed between 100 and 150 users, tested countless hypotheses and prepared weekly presentations that demonstrated how fast the teams were learning about their chosen problem.
H4D motivated the teams to get outside the building to experi- ence their challenges. For Team AquaLink, this meant gearing up in Navy dive suits. Team Right of Boom donned explosive ordnance disposal
suits to experience impeded mobility, in
order to determine the feasibility of a virtual tool to help foreign national military and law enforcement agencies counter impro- vised explosive threats. Team Skynet, working to increase the situational awareness of small tactical teams and reduce their cognitive load through the use of drones, simulated the cogni- tive strain of combat by running an obstacle course carrying 40-pound sandbags. Across the board, all teams invested time, sweat and tears to search for solutions.
CONCLUSION H4D continues to expand, driven by demand for passionate and talented student teams to work on national security problems. Both the students and the sponsoring government organizations derive tremendous value from the intensive and challenging pro- cess. Several of the teams’ solutions are going forward—some funded by private investors and others by government agen- cies—but that is not the point of H4D.
102 Army AL&T Magazine January-March 2017
Students in an H4D course learn a new way of thinking about problems. What’s more, they are able to experience national service in a unique way. H4D lets students work on difficult problems that affect the people who protect them. Te students develop an empathy and affinity for the military, and many are now considering careers in national security.
In addition, participating government organizations learn the lean methodology alongside H4D students and gain a common language for innovation. Government participants and stu- dents also build relationships that will improve networking and collaboration, particularly as students build careers after grad- uating. Tese shared lessons and relationships are the essence of the H4D “Innovation Insurgency”: training and educating current and future leaders in government, academia and indus- try with a goal of hardwiring the national security enterprise to solve mission-critical problems with speed and innovation.
For more information for universities and government sponsors interested in H4D, Georgetown University will host the next H4D Educators and Sponsors Course Jan. 17-19; email contact@h4di. org for details. For more information on Hacking for Defense Inc. (H4Di), go to
http://www.h4di.org/.
MR. WILLIAM TRESEDER, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, is co-founder and a partner at BMNT Partners LLC. In addition to directing Hacking for Defense, he is a co-founder of WorkScouts, which connects manufacturing companies with veterans, and a co-founder of NeuBridges, which trains West African entrepreneurs and educates investors about the rewards and risks of doing business in West Africa. He holds a B.A. in science, technology and society from Stanford University.
MR. DARREN HALFORD is a principal at BMNT and is executive director of H4Di, the nonprofit organization expanding Hacking for Defense classes. A retired U.S. Air Force colonel with 25 years of service, he has flown more than a dozen different aircraft from the MC-130E to the MC-12 to the U-2, and completed three Pentagon assignments that included Air Force International Affairs and the Joint Staff J5’s Iran Division. He holds an M.A. in organi- zational management from George Washington University, an M.A. from the Air Force School of Advanced Air and Space Studies and a B.S. in mechanical engineering from Cornell University. He is also a graduate of Air Command and Staff College, the U.S. Army War College and the U.S. Department of State (Foreign Service Institute) National Security Executive Leadership Seminar.
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