Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus is directing the Navy and Marine Corps to reestablish robust and agile experimentation to achieve a strategic innovation advantage in a new memo issued Oct. 15.
SECNAV writes:
Experimentation can be highly disruptive and thrives in a culture which embraces innovation and risk-taking. In this period of budget and strategic uncertainty we must increase resources and opportunities for experimentation to rapidly bring new ideas, processes, and technologies to bear on real world problems.
Innovative concepts often only become evident during such experiments and do not follow scripted rules and timelines. We must be prepared to fail during experimentation efforts, iterate rapidly, re-assess results and act on findings.
Since FY09, significant funding reductions have increased the emphasis on risk mitigation in Fleet Experimentation. This lack of risk tolerance reduces the effectiveness of experimentation in creating innovative outcomes while driving out lowbarrier-to-entry and ad hoc initiatives. Reestablishing robust and agile experimentation at appropriate levels is critical to achieving a strategic innovation advantage.
To restore adequate resourcing and opp011unities for experimentation, the Services shall:
• Make recommendations on appropriate future funding levels to begin in FY16;
• Continue to evaluate ways and means to reduce barriers and cost, time, and effort required for experimentation;
• Identify and integrate existing Service, Systems Commands and S&T (Science and Technology) information management systems for experimentation and innovation planning, execution, and assessment;
• Continue to identify and coordinate opportunities to experiment with innovative ideas using Fleet assets to advance warfighting capability;
Provide bold recommendations to expedite moving emerging capabilities from the S&T community to a program of record;
• Identify and codify deliberate analysis, assessment, and transition of DOTMLPF-P recommendations that ensure naval integration of material and non-material solutions.
The Navy and Marine Corps shall each submit detailed implementation plans to
ASN (RD&A) prior to submission to the Under Secretary of the Navy within 90 days of this memo. Implementation will begin upon approval of the plans.
To download the memo, click here.
Follow DON Innovation at https://www.facebook.com/DUSNMSI or @DON_Innovation or visit the SECNAV/DON Innovation website at http://www.secnav.navy.mil/innovation/Pages/Home.aspx