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We simply completed our tenth annual Hacking for Protection class at Stanford.
What a yr.
Hacking for Protection, now in 70 universities, has groups of scholars working to grasp and assist resolve nationwide safety issues. At Stanford this quarter the 8 groups of 41 college students collectively interviewed 1106 beneficiaries, stakeholders, necessities writers, program managers, trade companions, and so on. – whereas concurrently constructing a collection of minimal viable merchandise and growing a path to deployment.
This yr’s issues got here from the U.S. Military, U.S. Navy, CENTCOM, House Drive/Protection Innovation Unit, the FBI, IQT, and the Nationwide Geospatial-Intelligence Company.
We opened this yr’s closing displays session with inspiring remarks by Joe Lonsdale on the state of protection expertise innovation and a name to motion for our college students. Throughout the quarter visitor audio system within the class included former Nationwide Safety advisor H.R. McMaster, Jim Mattis ex Secretary of Protection, John Cogbill Deputy Commander 18th Airborne Corps, Michael Sulmeyer former Assistant Secretary of Protection for Cyber Coverage, and John Gallagher Managing Director of Cerberus Capital.
“Classes Realized” Shows
On the finish of the quarter, every of the eight groups gave a closing “Classes Realized” presentation together with a 2-minute video to supply context about their downside. Not like conventional demo days or Shark Tanks that are, “Right here’s how good I’m, and isn’t this an excellent product, please give me cash,” the Classes Realized displays inform the story of every group’s 10-week journey and hard-won studying and discovery. For all of them it’s a curler coaster narrative describing what occurs once you uncover that every little thing you thought you knew on day one was mistaken and the way they ultimately obtained it proper.
Whereas all of the groups used the Mission Mannequin Canvas, Buyer Improvement and Agile Engineering to construct Minimal Viable Merchandise, every of their journeys was distinctive.
This yr we had the groups add two new slides on the finish of their presentation: 1) inform us which AI instruments they used, and a couple of) their estimate of progress on the Know-how Readiness Stage and Funding Readiness Stage.
Right here’s how they did it and what they delivered.
Group Omnyra – bettering visibility into AI-generated bioengineering threats.
In the event you can’t see the group Omnyra abstract video click on right here
In the event you can’t see the Omnyra presentation click on right here
These are “Depraved” Issues
Depraved issues refer to essentially complicated issues, ones with a number of transferring elements, the place the answer isn’t apparent and lacks a definitive system. The kinds of issues our Hacking For Protection college students work on fall into this class. They’re usually ambiguous. They begin with an issue from a sponsor, and never solely is the answer unclear however determining learn how to purchase and deploy it’s also complicated. Most frequently college students discover that in hindsight the issue was a symptom of a extra fascinating and complicated downside – and that Acquisition of options within the Dept of Protection is not like something within the industrial world. 
And the stakeholders and establishments usually have totally different relationships with one another – some are collaborative, some have items of the issue or answer, and others might need conflicting values and pursuits.
The determine exhibits the kinds of issues Hacking for Protection college students encounter, with the most typical ones shaded.
Group HydraStrike – bringing swarm expertise to the maritime area.
In the event you can’t see the HydraStrike abstract video click on right here.
In the event you can’t see the HydraStrike presentation click on right here
Mission-Pushed Entrepreneurship
This class is a part of an even bigger concept – Mission-Pushed Entrepreneurship. As an alternative of scholars or school coming in with their very own concepts, we ask them to work on societal issues, whether or not they’re issues for the State Division or the Division of Protection or non-profits/NGOs or the Oceans and Local weather or for something the scholars are captivated with. The trick is we use the identical Lean LaunchPad / I-Corps curriculum — and the identical class construction – experiential, hands-on– pushed this time by a mission-model not a enterprise mannequin. (The Nationwide Science Basis and the Widespread Mission Mission have helped promote the enlargement of the methodology worldwide.)
Mission-driven entrepreneurship is the reply to college students who say, “I need to give again. I need to make my neighborhood, nation or world a greater place, whereas being challenged to unravel a number of the hardest issues.”
Group HyperWatch – monitoring hypersonic threats.
In the event you can’t see the HyperWatch video click on right here
In the event you can’t see the HyperWatch presentation click on right here
It Began With An Thought
Hacking for Protection has its origins within the Lean LaunchPad class I first taught at Stanford in 2011. I noticed that educating case research and/or learn how to write a marketing strategy as a capstone entrepreneurship class didn’t match the hands-on chaos of a startup. Moreover, there was no entrepreneurship class that mixed experiential studying with the Lean methodology. Our aim was to show each concept and observe. The identical yr we began the category, it was adopted by the Nationwide Science Basis to coach Principal Investigators who wished to get a federal grant for commercializing their science (an SBIR grant.) The NSF noticed, “The category is the scientific technique for entrepreneurship. Scientists perceive speculation testing” and relabeled the category because the NSF I-Corps (Innovation Corps). I-Corps turned the usual for science commercialization for the Nationwide Science Basis, Nationwide Institutes of Well being and the Division of Power, up to now coaching 3,051 groups and launching 1,300+ startups.
Group ChipForce – Securing U.S. dominance in important minerals.
In the event you can’t see the ChipForce video click on right here
In the event you can’t see the ChipForce presentation click on right here
Word: After briefing the Division of Commerce, the Chipforce was provided jobs with the division.
Origins Of Hacking For Protection
In 2016, brainstorming with Pete Newell of BMNT and Joe Felter at Stanford, we noticed that college students in our analysis universities had little connection to the issues their authorities was attempting to unravel or the bigger points civil society was grappling with. As we thought of how we might get college students engaged, we realized the identical Lean LaunchPad/I-Corps class would supply a framework to take action. That yr we launched each Hacking for Protection and Hacking for Diplomacy (with Professor Jeremy Weinstein and the State Division) at Stanford. The Division of Protection adopted and scaled Hacking for Protection throughout 60 universities whereas Hacking for Diplomacy has been taught at Georgetown, James Madison College, Rochester Institute for Know-how, College of Connecticut and now Indiana College, sponsored by the Division of State Bureau of Diplomatic Safety (see right here).
Group ArgusNet – prompt geospatial knowledge for search and rescue.
In the event you can’t see the ArgusNet video click on right here
In the event you can’t see the ArgusNet presentation click on right here
Objectives for Hacking for Protection
Our major aim for the category was to show college students Lean Innovation strategies whereas they engaged in nationwide public service.
Within the class we noticed that college students might be taught in regards to the nation’s threats and safety challenges whereas working with innovators contained in the DoD and Intelligence Group. On the similar time the expertise would introduce to the sponsors, who’re innovators contained in the Division of Protection (DOD) and Intelligence Group (IC), a technique that might assist them perceive and higher reply to quickly evolving threats. We wished to point out that if we might get groups to quickly uncover the true issues within the discipline utilizing Lean strategies, and solely then articulate the necessities to unravel them, protection acquisition applications might function at velocity and urgency and ship well timed and wanted options.
Lastly, we wished to familiarize college students with the navy as a occupation and assist them higher perceive its experience, and its correct function in society. We hoped it might additionally present our sponsors within the Division of Protection and Intelligence neighborhood that civilian college students could make a significant contribution to downside understanding and fast prototyping of options to real-world issues.
Group NeoLens – AI-powered troubleshooting for navy mechanics.
In the event you can’t see the NeoLens video click on right here
In the event you can’t see the NeoLens presentation click on right here
Go-to-Market/Deployment Methods
The preliminary aim of the groups is to make sure they perceive the issue. The following step is to see if they will discover mission/answer match (the DoD equal of economic product/market match.) However most significantly, the category teaches the groups in regards to the tough and complicated path of getting an answer within the palms of a warfighter/beneficiary. Who writes the requirement? What’s an OTA? What’s colour of cash? What’s a Program Supervisor? Who owns the present contract? …
Group Omnicomm – bettering the standard, safety and resiliency of communications for particular operations items.
In the event you can’t see the Omnicomm video click on right here
In the event you can’t see the Omnicomm presentation click on right here
Mission-Pushed in 70 Universities and Persevering with to Develop in Scope and Attain
What began as a category is now a motion.
From its starting with our Stanford class, Hacking for Protection is now provided in over 70 universities within the U.S., in addition to within the UK as Hacking for the MOD and in Australia. Within the U.S., the course is a program of file and supported by Congress, H4D is sponsored by the Widespread Mission Mission, Protection Innovation Unit (DIU), and the Workplace of Naval Analysis (ONR). Company companions embrace Boeing, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin.
Steve Weinstein began Hacking for Influence (Non-Income) and Hacking for Native (Oakland) at U.C. Berkeley, and Hacking for Oceans at bot Scripps and UC Santa Cruz, in addition to Hacking for Local weather and Sustainability at Stanford. Jennifer Carolan began Hacking for Schooling at Stanford.
Group Strom – simplified mineral worth chain.
In the event you can’t see the Strom video click on right here
In the event you can’t see the Strom presentation click on right here
What’s Subsequent For These Groups?
.After they graduate, the Stanford college students on these groups have the choose of jobs in startups, firms, and consulting companies .This yr, seven of our groups utilized to the Protection Innovation Unit accelerator – the DIU Protection Innovation Summer time Fellows Program – Commercialization Pathway. Seven have been accepted. This additional strengthened our considering that Hacking for Protection has changed into a pre-accelerator – making ready college students to transition their studying from the classroom to deployment
See the groups current in particular person right here
It Takes A Village
Whereas I authored this weblog publish, this class is a group venture. The key sauce of the success of Hacking for Protection at Stanford is the extraordinary group of devoted volunteers supporting our college students in so many important methods.
The educating group consisted of myself and:
- Pete Newell, retired Military Colonel and ex Director of the Military’s Fast Equipping Drive, now CEO of BMNT.
- Joe Felter, retired Military Particular Forces Colonel; and former deputy assistant secretary of protection for South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Oceania; and presently the Director of the Gordian Knot Middle for Nationwide Safety Innovation at Stanford which we co-founded in 2021.
- Steve Weinstein, associate at America’s Frontier Fund, 30-year veteran of Silicon Valley expertise firms and Hollywood media firms. Steve was CEO of MovieLabs, the joint R&D lab of all the key movement image studios.
- Chris Moran, Government Director and Common Supervisor of Lockheed Martin Ventures; the enterprise capital funding arm of Lockheed Martin.
- Jeff Decker, a Stanford researcher specializing in dual-use analysis. Jeff served within the U.S. Military as a particular operations gentle infantry squad chief in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Our educating assistants this yr have been Joel Johnson, Rachel Wu, Evan Twarog, Religion Zehfuss, and Ethan Hellman.
31 Sponsors, Enterprise and Nationwide Safety Mentors
The groups have been assisted by the originators of their issues – the sponsors.
Sponsors gave us their hardest nationwide safety issues: Josh Pavluk, Kari Montoya, Nelson Layfield, Mark Breier, Jason Horton, Stephen J. Plunkett, Chris O’Connor, David Grande, Daniel Owins, Nathaniel Huston, Pleasure Shanaberger, and David Ryan.
Nationwide Safety Mentors helped college students who got here into the category with no information of the Division of Protection, and the FBI perceive the complexity, intricacies and nuances of these organizations: Katie Tobin, Doug Seich, Salvadore Badillo-Rios, Marco Romani, Matt Croce, Donnie Hasseltine, Mark McVay, David Vernal, Brad Boyd, Marquay Edmonson.
Enterprise Mentors helped the groups perceive if their options might be a commercially profitable enterprise: Diane Schrader, Marc Clapper, Laura Clapper, Eric Byler, Adam Walters, Jeremey Schoos, Craig Seidel, Wealthy “Astro” Lawson.
Because of all!
Filed underneath: Buyer Improvement, Hacking For Protection |