Hacking for Defense Arrives at the United States Military Academy at West Point
By France Hoang and Alex Gallo (H4D)
On August 9th, a new generation of entrepreneurial service men and women will take the stage at the NYU Silver Center for the Arts and Science to present novel solutions to pressing national security challenges. These 28 West Point and seven ROTC cadets represent the inaugural cohort of a new, innovative partnership struck between the West Point Leadership Center (WPLC) at the United States Military Academy and Hacking 4 Defense (H4D). The West Point Leadership Center is part of the Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership at West Point and serves as a nexus of quality leadership instruction for the military, government, and private society; making it a natural partner for H4D, a nonprofit that aims to develop the future foundation of our national security community through university-sponsored classes for students.
This new cohort is currently engaged in a two-week summer intensive course on West Point’s campus, learning how to work in multidisciplinary teams to apply innovation and entrepreneurship. By leveraging Silicon Valley problem-solving techniques applied to Army sponsored problems, students learn to explore the root cause of challenges and rapidly iterate through minimum viable products, creating long-lasting solutions. Throughout the course, students will cover material usually reserved for tech focused MBA programs including value propositions, product and/or mission fit, cultivating buy-in, and deployment of the product or solution.
H4D brings together engineering, business, and public policy students at universities across the United States to work on government-sponsored defense problems. The program began at Stanford University as the brainchild of Pete Newell, a retired Army Colonel and current CEO of BMNT, and Steve Blank, storied entrepreneur and the architect of the renowned Lean Startup methodology. Together they have built a community of top Silicon Valley executives, leading academics, and strategic leaders in the U.S. military to connect young tech talent with the mission driven work of the Department of Defense and Intelligence Community.
Inviting H4D to West Point is yet another move by the WPLC and the Army more broadly to modernize the force for increasingly technical theatres. The WPLC - H4D partnership was organized in large part by the WPLC’s Service Through Entrepreneurship, Disruption, and Innovation Project (STEDI), led by Colonel Todd Woodruff. In addition, the 75th Innovation Command, an Army Reserve unit focused on bridging the military-civilian innovation communities, is supporting the inaugural cohort of H4D cadets.
This soldier-citizen collaboration represents a much sought linkage between the national security and civilian innovation communities. West Point as an institution is particularly well equipped to broker an exchange across these worlds as it serves not only as a military academy but is also a well respected university and center of academic excellence in its own right. Many current faculty and alumni of the Academy have innovation and entrepreneurial backgrounds honed in startups, business schools, and other centers of innovation. Several are supporting H4D at West Point as instructors and sponsors.
As emerging technology plays an ever-increasing and ever-accelerating role in U.S. national security, it will be paramount to develop junior officers capable of mission driven entrepreneurship and innovation. In addition, finding ways to cross the chasm between civilian and military innovation will accelerate the Army’s ability to further mission success. This inaugural cohort of H4D cadets represents a step in the journey to achieve both these worthy goals.
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The final presentations of the inaugural H4D at West Point cohort will take place on Friday, August 9th from 1pm to 3:30pm, with a reception to follow, at the NYU Silver Center for Arts and Science in New York City.
For more information or to attend please email Claire Bouchard of BMNT at cbouchard@bmntpartners.com.