Silicon Valley Style Innovation Is Catching Among DC’s D3
Silicon Valley Style Innovation Is Catching Among DC’s D3
Over the last year an entrepreneurially oriented group of innovators from the Department of State, Department of Defense, and U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) came together to design a new Diplomacy, Defense and Development (D3) initiative to cultivate greater innovation and collaboration on foreign policy issues critical to national security and prosperity. This initiative focused on the democratization of technology, how emerging trends will impact future strategic environments, and ways to create innovative organizations. It took the form of an innovation challenge across organizations encouraging participation of employees at all levels.
This was the first time these three organizations collectively launched a Silicon Valley-style innovation challenge. Also new, was the introduction of design thinking (a popular West Coast approach) used as a central theme of innovation. Design thinking is a human-centered methodology that helps designers solve complex problems more effectively. The general idea here was to find a new way to make government institutions more innovative and less bureaucratic. With an ultimate goal of creating a shift towards more human centered and design-oriented thinking to reverberate throughout the three institutions at all levels. Assimilating these new methods and establishing a space for increased creativity, innovation and collaboration will lead to faster development lifecycles and can make these government institutions more nimble and better at achieving overall strategic objectives.
The top six innovators from across DoS, DoD, and USAID were selected to present their proposals live in front of a panel of senior government leaders at the D3 Innovation Summit in December. Their submissions were created in response to the following Prompt: How might the U.S. leverage technology to advance defense, diplomacy, and/or development objectives in innovative ways? Submitted ideas were evaluated according to these criteria: impact, innovation, feasibility, metrics, presentation and collaboration.
Out of 500 submissions six ideas were chosen
3-D Building Printing for the Advancement of GeoPolitical Objectives
A proposal to construct infrastructure and facilities at austere bases or in post-disaster areas more efficiently and economically through new advances in 3-D printing technologies. The proposal was recognized by the panel with the “Greatest Impact” certificate.
Operation Crow: Saving Lives at the Last Mile
A proposal to use unmanned aerial vehicles to improve the delivery of healthcare supplies and medical tracking in rural, isolated, and conflict-ridden areas.
Active Shooter Protection System
A proposal to develop a system that strengthens emergency response capabilities in U.S. embassies, consulates, and other facilities in the United States or abroad by using a shooter-activated alarm system. The proposal was recognized by the panel with the “Metrics” certificate and the “Feasibility” certificate.
Unleashing the Informal Economy: Lighting the Match on Dark Data
A proposal to use advances in geotagging and data analytics to strengthen U.S. Open Government partnerships globally by finding data that helps public institutions meet good governance commitments.
Sustainable Microgrids: Building Stability and Capacity in Regions of U.S. Strategic Interest
A proposal from an interagency team to develop innovative infrastructure models to connect and secure energy transfer between solar, wind, and water sources for communities in developing countries and austere bases abroad.
Space Solar – Clean, Constant, & Global
A proposal to use space-based solar power technologies for renewable energy. The proposal was recognized by the panel with the “Collaboration” certificate, the “Presentation” certificate, and the “Innovation” certificate. In addition, the proposal was recognized with the “D3 People’s Choice Award,” selected through a vote among participants at the event.
The emergence of this challenge marks a turning point in the readiness to openness of traditionally very bureaucratic US government institutions. It’s really very exciting to observe this willingness to adopt and experiment with new and more human centered methods and approaches when dealing with high levels of complexity. As human populations continue to grow and climate change sets in, the complexity of foreign policy issues will be on the rise. It will be imperative that large institutions continue to embrace emerging tools and approaches that show promise, in order to be better prepared for an increasingly complex future by strengthening national security, enhancing diplomacy, and improving the lives of people around the globe.
For more information check out:
http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2016/01/251660.htm