US Army Crowdsources Innovation with its Soldiers
The US Army is taking a new approach to crowdsourcing by asking a new crowd for thoughts, ideas and concepts – its soldiers.
By seeking early input from end users the military outfit hopes to get smarter and faster innovations.
The Army often needs new equipment in a hurry to counter and respond to changing needs and circumstances in the field. The Rapid Equipping Force (REF) is designed specifically for this purpose and utilizes current and emerging technologies to get solutions quickly to US Army forces after they’ve been deployed.
Co-Creation
Now the REF is keen on pursuing co-creation. “It’s about having the end-user feedback throughout the process,” commented Gary Frost, REF’s deputy director for futures, in an interview with the Fast Company.
“If we’re going to do something rapidly where we’re equipping within 180 days, it’s very important that we have a clear understanding from the soldiers’ perspective of what the challenge is, and what it would take to address that. It gives us a higher degree of possibility for getting it right.”
To this end the REF has established a special open innovation portal called ArmyCoCreate where soldiers can submit ideas.
How it Works
The way it works is that the community will identify soldier challenges and vote on the ones they want to see solved.
Among the current ideas on the site are a tent with a solar power roof and power hub inside, and an 8-foot long sleeper system for large soldiers.
Participants submit sketches, graphs and renderings that outline their solutions. Based on the ideas, votes and feedback, the REF will then select projects for in-depth collaboration and ultimately prototype building.
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