The Navy is embracing crowdsourcing as a way to foster innovation through structured innovation challenges and hackathons. Moves to increase crowdsourcing, public-private sector partnerships, and innovation between the branches have increased in recent years, as challenges of innovation become more sophisticated.
The Breakdown
- Acting CIO Justin Fanelli, in a recent memo, has instructed the Department of the Navy to utilize contests to address specific issues and encourage creative solutions.
- The Department of the Navy will adopt structured challenges to rapidly advance and optimize capabilities, maintaining a competitive edge, the memo explained. These challenges, which include hackathons and innovation contests, accelerate capability adoption, minimize risks, and improve solution quality through diverse perspectives.
- The implementation of crowdsourced innovation can lead to novel ideas, offering a fresh perspective on problem-solving within the Navy.
- By tapping into diverse sources for innovative solutions, such as crowd participation via challenges, the Navy aims to foster groundbreaking advancements and promote inventiveness throughout its operations.
