We caught up with one of our Problem Sponsors, Lieutenant Colonel Justin Stein, who recently co-sponsored a problem at Imperial College London. We wanted to hear first hand about his experience working with a student team.

Dr Ali Hawks recently had a chance to interview Wg Cdr Keri Spencer Thomas on the role H4MoD plays in Defence innovation. This was originally published on the MoD’s Defence Connect intranet 20 April 2021.

‘H4MoD is not just about providing students with dynamic, hands-on, practical experience of putting skills and knowledge acquired in the classroom into solving real-life problems affecting government, it also demonstrates a commitment to public service on the part of there students, helping to improve systems and functions at the heart of the MoD.’ Professor Wyn Bowen, Head of School of Security Studies, King’s College London.

‘This module was the hallmark of my MA. Most of the lessons and skills that I gained through my MA – and that will remain within me over the long term – stemmed from this module. To my eyes, this module is what justified my master’s degree’. Alicia Rémont Ospina, Co-founder Ox Intel.

The Common Mission Project is expanding its effort to foster mission-driven entrepreneurship next month with the launch of a new academic class – Hacking for Sustainability, the first-of-its-kind course dedicated to solving problems related to climate change and sustainability.

“Our strategic objective across H4MoD, to include the Defence Academy and other university courses, is to develop the talent of mission-driven entrepreneurs to solve the UK’s toughest national security and defence problems at pace.” - Dr. Alison Hawks, Common Mission Project Executive Director

We challenge the academic “solution first” problem-solving framework as it reduces your chances of success in entrepreneurship. There is no point trying to solve a problem if it’s not the ACTUAL problem that needs solving, especially not in the defence and security industry. This has been a very acute lesson for my co-founders and I during these 3+ years of our startup, Synbiosys.

So, you have a great idea... what are you going to do about it? As a military officer undertaking the Advanced Command and Staff Course at the UK’s Defence Academy, electing to be part of one of the first UK courses provided an opportunity to learn Lean Start Up methodology whilst solving a real-world Defence problem. The journey was exciting, hugely rewarding and testing – and I am a better officer for it. 

Over the course of H4MoD, we learned to apply Lean Startup methods to a real-world national security problem with our UK government sponsor, RAF Leeming. Over the 10-week program, we conducted extensive outreach to understand and validate our problem, speaking to over 80 prospective customers and stakeholders, and designed a minimum viable product (MVP).

Solving problems at speed has never been more urgent than now. We need an ecosystem of mission-driven entrepreneurs able to quickly adopt and adapt modern innovation tools and processes to address the many critical challenges we face as a result of COVID-19.

“We have found H4D is key to developing a national defense innovation pipeline. In the U.S., we have seen how H4D creates a new platform for engaging students with their government in a way no other programme does. H4MoD students are dedicated to making a difference in a tangible way.”

On May 29, 2019, Oxford University's Centre for Technology and Global Affairs hosted Dr Alison Hawks, who discussed the launch of the programme Hacking for Defence (H4D) in the United Kingdom.