Hacking for Defense

>> Joe Felter: If we want to protect all we hold dear at home and ensure America continues to be a force for good around the world. We must maintain a strong and unrivaled national defense. But achieving that in this century requires pivoting from how it was done last century. How we developed the technologies required to field a dominant military.

And how we enlist the support of our nation's most capable young people has drastically changed. In the Cold War, for example, the US competed with the Soviet Union. By building incrementally better large scale defense platforms like aircraft carriers, fighter jets, and submarines. Leading defense platforms were largely developed in government labs or by major defense primes.

Our best and brightest engineer coming out of Stanford or MIT went to work for government affiliated labs. And large defense companies to develop those platforms. It is a new world today. Many of the critical defense relevant technologies, like cyber, AI, additive manufacturing, and satellite imagery originate in the commercial sector.

Critical advances in these technologies are not made by government directives but by consumer demand. And our best and brightest engineers and programmers are incentivized to work for more lucrative options in startups. Or large companies like Google and Meta, not the DoD or other government agencies. In response to these new realities, we developed the Hacking for Defense program at Stanford in 2016.

And more recently established the Gordian Knot center for National Security Innovation. Our goals are twofold, first, to identify, adopt, and deploy solutions to critical defense challenges at speed and scale. And second, to create greater opportunities for students to get involved and perform meaningful public service. Short of joining the military or other government agencies.

Undergraduate and graduate students with diverse backgrounds and interests, ranging from computer science. And engineering to business, law and social science, form four to five person teams. To address a pressing defense or national security challenge. Teams are interviewed and selected based on the potential they demonstrate to address their chosen problem.

Each team is assigned a sponsor from the military, defense, or other government agency. To help them with their initial understanding of the problem and connect them with real world stakeholders and beneficiaries. Teams are also paired with mentors from industry, Stanford's academic departments. And from Stanford's robust military fellows program at Hoover and FSI.

The students employ lean problem solving methods that require them to conduct at least ten in depth interviews. With beneficiaries and other stakeholders each week as they test hypotheses. Develop minimal viable products, and iteratively move towards deployable solutions. Many of our Hacking for Defense teams have gone on to form successful dual use technology companies.

For example, Capella Space is a synthetic aperture radar company on its way to a $1 billion valuation. It grew out of our first Hacking for Defense class in 2016 and currently provides critical imagery in support of operations in Ukraine. The problem solving methodology for our Hacking for Defense class has been adapted to address other public sector challenges.

Leading to new classes taught here at Stanford, such as hacking for diplomacy and hacking for climate and sustainability. Encouragingly, with support from partners like the nonprofit Common Mission Project, BMNT. And DoD's National Security Innovation Network, to Hacking for Defense and other hacking four courses are now taught at over 60 universities across the United States, the UK, and Australia.

Our experience with Hacking for Defense helped inspire the establishment of the Gordian Knot center. For National Security Innovation or GKC, currently housed at Stanford's Freeman Spogli Institute. The center's mission is to solve the most pressing national security challenges at speed and scale. And prepare future leaders to understand the implications of the intersection of commercial technologies and private capital with national security.

We collaborate with the management, science, and engineering department at Stanford to develop new courses at the intersection of technology and national security. In the fall, for example, we teach technology innovation and great power competition. Which explores technological competition between the United States and the People's Republic of China.

We've also established the Competitive Defense Innovation Scholars program to provide even greater opportunities for our students and affiliates. To employ their talent and intellect to help solve critical national security problems. Defense innovation scholars work across multiple quarters using the lean methodology on both policy and technical challenges. And we regularly convene technologists, investors, and other key players across the defense innovation ecosystem for candid and substantive conversations.

Ultimately, I am determined to ensure that the programs we offer, whether at the Hoover Institution or the Gordian Knot center. Empower students and the people we convene are national security resources that can be harnessed. To help us prevail in the ongoing global competition to define the future world order.

The stakes are too high not to bring these important resources to the fight.