WASHINGTON ― The Office of Naval Research is launching a new program to spur innovation in the Navy and Marine Corps, in what the service says is a direct response to the National Defense Strategy’s call to accelerate the delivery of technology to warfighters.
The Naval Innovation Process Adoption (NIPA) program, launched March 29, seeks to inject new processes into the service that would allow “light bulb” ideas to go from concept to reality at a faster rate.
“The National Defense Strategy states it clearly,” Richard Carlin, the head of ONR’s Sea Warfare and Weapons Department, said in an ONR press release. “As technology advances faster than ever before, and both state and non-state actors having access to it, the naval research community needs to accelerate accordingly.”
Few examples were included in the release, though it did note a focus on creating a “common language and approach” for both the Navy and Marine Corps. Broadly, NIPA is based on the H4X problem-solving method used by various organizations across the Department of Defense.
One of the architects of the methodology, Ret. Army Col. Pete Newell, former head of the Army’s Rapid Equipping Force, said in the release that H4X is a data-driven and evidence-based process for addressing problems quickly on a large scale.
The concept has been used by the Pentagon’s Hacking for Defense program, which has seen the department partner with universities across the country to create a pipeline for young technologists and entrepreneurs to address national security issues.
“We are exceptionally proud of the results achieved by others who have applied it in the DoD and intelligence agencies, and look forward to seeing it drive innovation for our naval forces,” Newell said.
Daniel Cebul is an editorial fellow and general assignments writer for Defense News, C4ISRNET, Fifth Domain and Federal Times.
