The war of the one-day idea

We are in the era of the “war of the one-day idea”. In trenches in Ukraine, warfighters are having to innovate live on the battlefield. They hack solutions to the adversary’s attempt to block their advances e.g. in GPS-denied environments, only for the adversary to discover what they have done, and use it back against them. Hence the “war of the one-day idea.”  The impact of any inability to innovate in hours and days in this environment is - quite literally - lethal.

How do our models of defence and security innovation stack up in the era of the “war of the one-day idea”? NATO’s DIANA accelerator has had two calls between 2023 and 2024. The UK has had numerous cyber incubator and accelerator programmes, including Plexal’s Cyber Runway, some supported by public money. Some departments and agencies also have their own innovation programmes, such as the MOD’s DASA accelerator.

The problem with problem books

Many of these innovation programmes adopt a common approach which is guaranteed to build in delay: they develop a “problem book” or set of challenges, often derived from sensitive (maybe classified) requirements. Not only does this take time, but the process of sanitizing them into neutral (neutered?) statements loses important context which means most opportunities for innovation are lost.

Too few innovators

The problem book approach also relies on the ability of a few individuals, who somehow have to anticipate every opportunity for innovation.

Real innovation that impacts the mission at the pace required in the “war of the one-day idea” can only happen with the innovators being “in the trenches” in the same way as those innovators in the trenches in Ukraine. The most game-changing opportunities for innovation can only truly be spotted by people who are experiencing the problem for themselves, not having it communicated to them.

A geography of innovation

What does this mean for our current approaches to innovation? It means industry (backed by capital) needs to be sat alongside warfighters and analysts, not wait for an innovation programme (however slick) to drip-feed a sample of the “kinds of” problems they have.

In the UK, this means that to be effective, spaces like the Golden Valley in Cheltenham must create a spectrum of physical spaces where public servants sit alongside industry innovators as a matter of course, and don’t simply function as a glorified science park, acting out some public-funded theatre of innovation.

Security clearance at the speed of innovation

Spaces which enable a truly effective model of innovation need to support working at different levels of classification. This requires a security clearance process which can move at the pace of the challenge.

It also needs a different mindset on the retention of clearances. Instead of penalising those transitioning to industry by revoking their clearance, or otherwise restricting their ability to work in the domain, programmes need to be established to incentivise and foster this.

Incentivising the revolving door

Organisations issuing clearances need an “inside-out” and “outside-in” approach. They would be better served by identifying “intrapreneurs”, those with an entrepreneurial mindset, and actively supporting them to spin their ideas out to industry where capital can rapidly realise them.

The “revolving door” is used disparagingly to refer to those who leave public-service and move into industry (or vice versa), but what could be better for genuine innovation than people with real industry experience, who know the art of the possible, working inside our agencies; or conversely, those from the agencies who feel the pain of their problems first-hand, working in industry where they can be solved?

Innovation in the trenches

I’ve studiously managed to avoid working in the City, but a story told to me by a friend who worked in an investment bank stuck with me. They described an environment in the front office where developers would almost literally “sit alongside” traders. Sometimes, those traders would spot a fleeting opportunity to make money, and could immediately get the developers to rapidly develop a solution before the opportunity disappeared.

In the “war of the one day idea” industry innovators need to be sat “in the trenches” in the same way as those developers were, and our programmes of innovation, capital and industry needs to be radically shaken up if we are to have any hope of winning the war of innovation.

Postscript

I pulled together these thoughts after hearing one of the speakers coin the phrase the “war of the one-day idea” at the Resilience Conference on 26/27 September 2024, in London. This was the first edition of this new conference which aims to bring together startups, investors and customers in defence and security. The need for a radically accelerated model of delivering innovation was made clear by a number of powerful speakers including General Sir ‘Roly’ Walker, the Chief of the General Staff, professional Head of the British Army.