Innovation and experimentation are an important part of what DND/CAF does every day in order to look at existing problems, and find solutions. We have many teams, large and small, across the Defence Team who are specifically mandated to drive and implement innovation, experimentation, transformation and business modernization. While the innovation network is organically evolving, the demand for best practices, sharing experience and working in collaboration is outpacing our ability to respond as individual teams. This is where the Defence Innovation Exchange, also known as Innovation Ex, comes into play!

The Innovation Ex aims to create a space where innovation teams across DND/CAF can exchange ideas and/or initiatives. The goal is to encourage systematic experimentation and knowledge-sharing, reduce duplication of effort, draw on various expertise to address gaps in knowledge and capacity, and to address the gap between idea and implementation. By doing so, the Innovation Ex will encourage an exchange of best-practices, centralize knowledge on learning opportunities, and map innovation across DND/CAF.

On September 26, we will be holding the inaugural Innovation Exchange in meeting spaces throughout the National Captial Region and available by video-conference across Canada. To register as a participant for the inaugural and future Innovation Exchanges, please contact [email protected].

The intent of the Innovation Ex is to be inclusive of all levels of organizations and we encourage all innovation teams across Canada to reach out and join in!

The Innovation Ex working group has also embarked on an exercise to map innovation teams across Defence. We invite your innovation teams to participate in our mapping exercise so that your organization is included.

The Defence Innovation Exchange is a Beyond 2020 (internal link) initiative, managed by a cross-organizational working group, with oversight from the Beyond 2020 Champion, Stephen Burt, the Assistant Deputy Minister (Data, Innovation, Analytics).