National Security Technology Accelerator Program
Abstract
The MD5 mission is to develop “bottom-up” innovation as a core Department of Defense (DoD) competence that complements the traditional defense industrial base and Research, Development, Technology and Engineering (RDT&E) enterprise. Education Portfolio The Education Portfolio programs contribute to workforce development by cultivating innovators and entrepreneurs inside DoD who are adept at creative problem solving, the development of innovative approaches and technologies, and venture formation that will improve national security, as well as deliver economic and social value. • “Boot Camps” are 4-day short courses that provide military organizations the opportunity to address some of their most pressing challenges in new ways. In the course, participants are instructed on topics related to innovation and intrapreneurship (including human centered design, lean methodology, technology literacy, and psychology of innovation) and taught to apply these skills to a set of command-sponsored problem topics. By the end, participants will have developed initial concepts to address these problem topics. • “Startup Innovation Fellowship (SIF)” is a 6-week fellowship opportunity for service members and civilians to be embedded in private companies to learn best practices in critical areas such as data science, artificial intelligence and machine learning, cyber security, logistics, rapid prototyping, etc. that can be brought back into the DoD. Collaboration Portfolio The Collaboration Portfolio programs connect communities of innovators around problems and technologies relevant to national security to enable formation of new ventures. • “Hacks” exposes college students and local ventures to DoD customer problems over a 48 hour period and aims to provide MVP or low-TRL solutions through one of two channels: formation of a venture and/or direct solution adoption by the problem sponsor. • “Hacking for Defense (H4D)” exposes college students to DoD customer problems over an academic semester and aims to provide MVP solutions through one of three channels: formation of a venture; direct solution adoption by the problem sponsor; or reframing the original problem. • “Source” invites bottom-up, ‘deckplate’ innovation from inside a military formation by providing either new solutions and novel applications directly to leadership from a sponsoring command. • “Catalyst” exposes local ventures to DoD customer problems over a 6-18month period and aims to provide high-TRL solutions for immediate adoption by the problem sponsor or a DoD contracting entity (e.g., DIUx). Acceleration Portfolio The Acceleration Portfolio programs grow and mature civil-military technology ventures by ensuring that innovators can access critical resources, including design and engineering support, mentorship services, and commercial and DoD research and development infrastructure to build, test, and enhance venture concepts. • “Maker” provides facilities, access, materials, and training to entrepreneurs to fabricate, develop, and facilitate rapid prototyping of their technology. These more refined prototypes can further help DoD in deciding whether to commit more resources to a product. Primary capability located at Eagle Maker Hub at USM and Lincoln Lab at MIT. Also planning pilot with Idea Forge at CU Boulder. • “Fed Tech” pairs cutting edge inventor teams and technologies from the United States federal government laboratory system with highly qualified entrepreneurs to conduct customer discovery and build business models. The program leverages lean startup techniques, while also focusing on the unique aspects of turning a federally funded technology into a startup company. The program is split into two phases: Phase 1 – Startup Studio focuses on technology selection and team formation; Phase 2 – Pre-Accelerator is a deeper dive with the best teams from Phase 1 to focus on building a company around the technology. • “MD5 Starts” is a format for showcasing early stage startups who are working on technologies and products that are pursuing a dual-use market strategy. MD5 acts as a facilitator and convener amongst the ecosystem actors in a local geography, from incubator and accelerator programs, to research universities, startups and local or regional economic development organizations. The goal of the event is to showcase the great economic opportunity that exists in building companies that have both great market potential and which address important and urgent needs of national security and defense. • “Hatch” helps entrepreneurs/teams with an idea (i.e., from H4D) learn how to form and build a venture using industry best practices. The initial pilot is with the Founder Institute incubator program where MD5 candidates will participate. • “Propel” provides companies that have prototypes or initial customers with world-class education, mentorship, and relevant business connections to prepare the venture for scale while elevating their visibility in the venture community. The initial pilots of this program are with TechStars and MassChallenge. This program envisions feeding from Hacks and H4D. • “Gauge” provides facilities, access, materials, and training to entrepreneurs to develop, iterate, and refine their technology up to TRL 6/7. Also provide access to test and development ranges. • “Launch” identifies existing government technology that can be applied to a stated customer problem or problem set and to then work with a team on a path to commercialize that technology. • “Boost” provides opportunities for companies to secure early, non-dilutive government funding in the form of grants or contracts. This program will rely on the use of Small Business Innovation Research grants/contracts. • “Bridge” provides founding teams with mentors and advisors who can help them in business, customer, and product development by providing the right advice and insights at the right time. Platform • “Defense Innovation Network” is the online platform (currently www.md5.net) that MD5 is developing to facilitate gathering ideas and building a network of DoD innovators both inside and outside of the DoD. This platform is used for both the Hacks and Source. Accomplishments to-date: 1. Delivery of eight (8) Hacks; nine (9) Boot Camps; two (2) JPME Elective Courses; four (4) semesters of Hacking for Defense; five (5) technology demonstrations w/private and public capital. 2. One USMC Program of Record 3. Delivery of seven (7) prototypes; each in various states of Service-based testing and evaluation 4. Launch of nine (9) dual-use ventures with DoD contracts valued at more than $45M 5. More than 300 Service Members trained with bleeding edge, commercial innovation skill sets 6. Expansion of H4D into 12 top-tier, university partners 7. Expansion of MD5 into five (5) regional hubs throughout the United States (Denver; Los Angeles; Raleigh; NYC; and Boston) 8. Graduation of more than 30 venture innovation fellows with direct exposure to start-up culture, best practices and lean design 9. Transfer of 12 DoD lab technologies into commercial, early stage ventures for dual-use commercialization
Document Details
- Document Type
- Accomplishment
- Publication Date
- Oct 01, 2021
- Source ID
- 91d12c9d1b67e19a7b3e923e93156c9c