A troubling truth exists throughout Europe today: Defense tech companies cannot find the right talent to fill the growing demand in their industry to satisfy the increasing interest in dual-use investment. The search for talent has been described as a “knife fight” to win high-quality, trained people to the defense sphere, due in part to a lack of interest and awareness in defense-related work, and there being too few capable professionals trained and specialized in solving defense-specific problems.
The talent shortage is especially distressing in critical areas like deep tech and artificial intelligence. This comes at a time when demand for this defense tech is soaring across the region, as NATO’s member states and allied partners face mounting concerns from multiple adversaries in emergent and growing fronts, including cyber security, space warfare and arctic upheaval.
Solving this shortfall requires a paradigm shift in the way countries foster defense-minded ingenuity and passion. The best defenses against our enemies are strong partnerships and unbreakable networks. This means we must not only foster talent among those with a natural proclivity for defense and national security, but spark a potential latent interest in defense and security in our talent overall. We can do this by changing the way future generations of thinkers and solvers see and access defense technology, inspiring them to use their intellect and cunning to develop competitive ideas and solutions that directly contribute to a nation’s safety, security and prosperity.
Ukraine has demonstrated the stakes are the highest they have been since the Cold War. Capturing ingenuity as early as possible in the course of one’s career is fundamental. Meeting students where they are in their education – on campus, in the classroom, in the curriculum – is the best way to build a resilient, mission-driven, innovative workforce of tomorrow. We call this concept mission-driven entrepreneurship® and one of the most effective ways to scale it is through our “Hacking for” curriculum.
Hacking 4 Defense
Hacking 4 Defense® (H4D) pairs university student teams with defense-agency sponsors, sparking national support among future generations while delivering innovative solutions that address both national security and commercial challenges. Since 2016, the course has grown from a single school in the U.S. to a growing global program hosted by 60 U.S. universities, 24 UK universities, and two Australian universities. More than 4,000 students have taken Hacking 4 Defense, addressing over 1,000 problems from across the U.S. Department of Defense and intelligence community, UK Ministry of Defence, and Australian Department of Defence. Our program has sparked untapped entrepreneurship in this talent, spinning out 63 companies that have raised more than $380 million in private capital funding.
There are two reasons the global growth of this program is an allied security imperative for all of us: It provides another layer of networks over existing relationships that strengthens allied cooperation; and it is a skill standard that is easily recognizable and applicable to any career - not just defense and security. Our approach unites teams of talented university students with experienced defense employee sponsors to validate problems and design solutions for complex challenges using the Lean Startup methodology. Our students must get out of the building to validate their problem, then interview on average 100 people in 10 weeks to learn about their problem. These interviews range from government officials to industry leaders to practitioners. This is how we build cross-ecosystem networks around our hardest problems.
The outcome of the course benefits all involved. Students gain genuine experience in building and executing an innovative startup for a real-world problem, and defense and security agencies gain access to fresh solutions delivered at speed with proven long-lasting engaged talent. Of our program alumni, 86 percent indicate a desire to work directly in government and in the defense and security industrial base. Over 30 percent of alumni report that as a result of taking the course, they are now working for the government or in industries that support defense and national security. The reason these numbers are important is that our program attracts talented individuals who may never have considered either contributing to defense or a government service. No other program engages the next generation of talent in this way, at this stage in an individual’s life course, to this effect.
Why H4D makes sense for NATO members and partners
While H4D provides a valuable opportunity for students to develop their skills and gain practical experience in problem solving, building a business, and understanding the dual-use landscape, there are ample other reasons to scale H4D across NATO countries.
- Ingenuity and Innovation: The pedagogy of H4 is the process of solving the problem using ingenuity. How might we provide a process for the next generation to be as creative as possible? The outcome starts with an innovation addressing the validated problem, which becomes a Minimum Viable Product, and finally, a prototype.
- Global Cooperation: For three years we have sourced shared problems across the Royal Navy and the U.S. Navy because we believe solving shared challenges promotes international cooperation to encourage rapid innovation and problem-solving. As in any community, solutions that help solve issues for one country can be shared across allies to strengthen resistance to adversarial aggression.
By scaling H4D across NATO we are building a critical defense capability; the U.S. and UK are not the only countries who understand the value of this capability. Estonia, Sweden, Denmark, Germany, Poland, the Netherlands, Hungary and the Czech Republic are intent on launching our program in their universities in the next 12 months. They understand the urgency of cross border collaboration while building relationships between government, academia and industry is an imperative to collective security and resilience.
What Could It Look Like Across NATO; UK Case Study
The United Kingdom is one notable example of the successful implementation of H4D. The UK program is called Hacking for the Ministry of Defence (H4MoD). The UK government has embraced the program as a means of strengthening its defense capabilities and industrial base ecosystems. By partnering with universities and private sector companies, the UK has created a vibrant ecosystem for security innovation.
Key Achievements in the UK
- Identification of Critical Vulnerabilities: In the Autumn of 2023, when the UK’s military forces needed to effectively communicate in a high-tech environment without compromising their safety and security, they brought their challenge to a team of BSc Physics students at the University of Leicester enrolled in H4MOD. After conducting over 90 interviews with problem-knowledgeable people both inside and outside Defence, the student team proposed an innovative three-part solution. The solution included drone-based deception to confuse adversaries on military unit location, directional antennas to control and enhance signal transmission, and strategic uses of hardware components.
- Development of New Tools: Participants in H4MoD have developed innovative tools and techniques that have been adopted by the UK Ministry of Defence, enhancing the country's ability to detect and respond to multiple threats. For one student, his work in the class to improve ice-condition information in the Arctic and Antarctic regions led him to launch a dual-use startup with his solution. Collaborating with the Royal Navy and international partners, the team developed a low-data platform allowing navigators to share observational data and glean insights from others'. The platform's user-centric approach was akin to Twitter's infrastructure, simplifying information exchange. The Royal Navy continues to support the project, which has grown to a dual-use capacity, supporting climate scientists, navigation training services and the Antarctic leisure industry.
- Talent Development: H4MoD has helped to cultivate a pool of talented innovation startup professionals in the UK. Former students now play a crucial role in protecting the country's national security, solving broad challenges in the commercial sector as well as supporting the local and national economies. For Anna Crossland, her interest in a career in Defence began when she entered H4MoD as a civilian student in the Department of War Studies at Kings College. Following her experience, Anna became an Analyst in the MoD's Security, Policy, and Operations team, where she effectively applied the diverse skills that H4MoD had honed in her, particularly in managing stakeholders across sectors.
An Investment in a More Secure Future
As the world becomes increasingly volatile, the need to solve defense challenges rapidly and effectively is critical. By expanding H4D to NATO member states, we can build a more resilient and secure world.
Hacking 4 Defense brings a scalable solution to benefit both national defense and commercial interests with the added bonus of engaging new generations of leaders. This could be the greatest value H4D offers: attracting talented individuals who previously had never considered a role in the public sector and giving them the tools and skills needed to ensure a safer, better future for all of us.
