Nine U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Department of the Navy (DON) civilian innovators were hand-selected to serve as advisors on the SECNAV FY17 Naval Innovation Advisory Council (NIAC).
Formally established by ALNAV 12/16, the NIAC is a dynamic forum for the advisors to conduct research, advance problem-solving projects, and advise the Secretary of the Navy on innovation opportunities within the DON.
The inaugural FY16 NIAC class successfully completed projects in Artificial Intelligence and robotics, a visual analysis of the DON’s innovation activities, and leveraging non-traditional approaches to capture innovative ideas (for example, ATHENA Network challenges).
During this time the NIAC established strategic relationships with MITRE, Defense innovation Unit Experimental (DIUx), the Naval Postgraduate School (NPS), key Silicon Valley organizations, and Naval Warfare Centers that continue to provide the framework to collaborate across the private and public innovation domains.
ALNAV 043/16 provided innovation themes/focus areas, selection process and eligibility criteria, and other requirements for the FY17 NIAC. The FY17 advisors will conduct research on six of the Secretary of the Navy’s Innovation priorities. In addition, they will be responsible for four projects that were recommended by a DON-wide workshop on Learning Organization that was held earlier this year. Information on this research and the status of these projects will be promulgated in future communications.
The NIAC members for FY17 are:
Lieutenant Colonel S. Rush Filson – LtCol Filson is a Marine Corps infantry officer who recently led a battalion landing team in support of innovative Navy/Marine Corps interoperability models. This team augmented maritime security missions during its Amphibious Ready Group/Marine Expeditionary Unit deployment to the U.S. FIFTH Fleet area of operations. Working with data processing experts from MITRE and the DON, LtCol Filson will conduct research to formulate a Business Case Analysis that examines the viability of creating a DON Chief Data Officer. This project will examine the concept of applying innovative data collection and processing techniques toward macro and micro perspectives governing DON functional areas, giving leaders a qualitative decisional edge over our adversaries. He will also be researching new operating concepts associated with fleet realignment studies and how they can affect current and future expeditionary operations in the littorals.
Captain Benjamin Gallo – Capt Gallo is a Marine Corps Infantry Officer who recently completed Expeditionary Warfare School. Capt Gallo is working out of the MITRE Corporation headquarters and seeking innovative development in the field of organizational learning. His focus is exploring the intersection between data based decision making, analytics tools, and design thinking to encourage an informed, rapid, iterative decision making process to aid decision makers and increase subordinate contributions.
Lieutenant Commander Adam Heil – LCDR Heil is a Naval Aviator co-located with the Defense Innovation Unit (Experimental) (DIUx) in Silicon Valley, California. He is a project manager for naval innovation initiatives originating from various sources, including the ATHENA Network. His work will link Navy needs to private industry solutions, accelerating innovation to the warfighter.
Lieutenant Ray Lazott – LT Lazott is a Surface Warfare Officer with a background as an Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Officer and Weapons Tactics Instructor onboard the forward-deployed USS MUSTIN (DDG 89). LT Lazott is assessing the application of "Social Business" tools throughout the Fleet. His work will examine social business and networking tools already in use by the DOD and the private sector and will analyze their efficacy and how to best employ and adapt their use to the Navy. LT Lazott is also working on several projects related to ASW innovation.
Lieutenant Grayson Young – LT Young is a Surface Warfare Officer serving as SECNAV Innovation Advisor co-located with the Defense Innovation Unit (Experimental) (DIUx) in Silicon Valley, California. He is acting as a project manager for naval innovation projects and ideas. His work will link Navy needs to private industry solutions, accelerating innovation to the warfighter.
Lieutenant Commander Jonathan McCarter and Lieutenant Christopher Cromie will join the NIAC at the end of 2016.
In addition to the above individuals, FY17 also includes two Associate members. Associates are not detailed to the NIAC; they will continue to report to their command/office. They are:
Mr. Dan Green – Mr. Green is a senior systems analyst with the Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command. Over the past several years, he has been responsible for managing projects and conducting risk reduction experimentation relating to emerging data management paradigms. Mr. Green served as co-lead on the Task Force Innovation data working group and developed a framework for evaluating information readiness. Mr. Green will be evaluating new strategies for operationalizing digital assets in support of risk assessment and improved decision making.
Dr. Dale Moore – Dr. Moore is on assignment from NAWC-AD as the Director for Strategy and Innovation at DASN Research, Development, Test & Evaluation (RDTE). He is responsible for developing, deploying and implementing the DON RDTE 30 Year Strategic Plan and is supporting the development of the DOD S&T Vision document. Dr. Moore is responsible for developing the DON Strategic Thinking Community of Interest (COI)—a cross-organizational collaborative capability for strategic awareness and assessment, and the DON Leadership @ the Edge Series which characterizes leading edge leadership concepts for improving executive-level awareness and development. Dr. Moore also serves in an advisory capacity for the Navy's High Velocity Learning (HVL) and Learning Organization (LO) Deployments, the Navy's Innovation Network (NIN), the Navy's Innovation Sustainment Group and the DON Office of Civilian Human Resources (OCHR) Data Savvy Workforce Initiative.
For more information on the NIAC, contact the DON Office of Strategy and Innovation at DON_Innovation@navy.mil.
Join DON Innovation at http://www.secnav.navy.mil/innovation/Pages/Home.aspx