Navy Secretary Ray Mabus has made it his mission to instill an innovation culture from the highest rungs of the Navy down to the deckplates, and is offering prizes like cash and plum assignments.
Earlier this year he launched his Task Force Innovation site, which allows sailors to submit ideas and have them evaluated and acted on by top-level staff. As a complement to that program, on Aug. 24 he launched his Innovation Awards Program to reward the best ideas coming from sailors, Marines and Navy Department civilians.
What you need to know to get yourself or a shipmate nominated:
Submission process. The Innovation Awards Program is separate from Task Force Innovation and its sub-sites, so sailors need not have formally submitted an innovative idea previously to be considered. Nominations are open until Oct. 31. There are eight categories to submit ideas at www.secnav.navy.mil/innovation/Pages/awards.aspx.
Multiple categories.
- Robotics/autonomous systems: This award recognizes contributions in robotics and autonomous systems.
- Data analytics: For members of the data-savvy workforce who have implemented new approaches to using data analytics to improve performance or decision-making.
- Additive manufacturing: For efforts that have yielded "cost savings, improved readiness, expanded fleet or fleet support capabilities or led to innovative warfighter solutions."
- Innovation leadership: Recognizes military or civilian Navy leaders who promote and foster innovation.
- Innovation scholarship: For top-performing officers in professional military education programs and future officers currently in commissioning programs.
- Enlisted innovator: "It is widely known that those closest to the problems often have the best solutions," said a Navy release announcing the program. This category is for the top enlisted idea.
- Innovation catalyst: For an individual who has inspired others in his or her organization to innovate, or who has directly supported another’s innovative work.
- Outside the box: If your idea doesn’t fit into of the other categories, this is a catch-all for the outliers.
Judging process. Submissions will be verified by the Navy's Office of Strategy and Innovation, including checking references from a superior officer or senior civilian.
"Once the top packages are identified, they will be ranked by experts in each field," Navy spokeswoman Lt. Cmdr. Nicole Schwegman told Navy Times on Aug. 27. "The final selection will be made by the secretary of the Navy."
Winners will be announced in January, she added.
There are prizes. Winners can receive an array of rewards, which will be at Mabus's discretion.
"Since the Department of the Navy has a large and diverse workforce, we wanted to ensure we had several options to incentivize as many people as possible to participate," Schwegman said.
Cash prizes are under consideration, as are a winner's choice of their next set of orders, or a training or education opportunity that the service member has been eyeing.
Culture of innovation. SECNAV's Task Force Innovation brings together several initiatives, some of which already existed in the fleet, like the Reducing Administrative Distractions program.
The Innovation Awards Program is one prong of that larger task force, which has five main goals, Mabus announced in April.
Meghann Myers is the Pentagon bureau chief at Military Times. She covers operations, policy, personnel, leadership and other issues affecting service members.
