The Department of the Navy has unveiled the Innovation Adoption Kit, or IAK, a framework designed to help commanders and program managers evaluate, implement and scale innovative technologies across the DON enterprise.
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What Is the Purpose of DON’s Innovation Adoption Kit?
In a memo published in October, the Office of the DON Chief Information Officer said the IAK aims to bridge the gap between emerging commercial innovations and mission-ready capabilities, providing practical methods for transitioning from pilot projects to programs.
According to the memo, the IAK provides a unified framework that advances IT modernization while systematically identifying technologies for divestment.
What Is the Investment Horizons Framework?
A central component of the IAK is the Investment Horizons framework, which helps users evaluate the technology’s lifecycle, drive innovation and encourage divestment.
The framework consists of Horizon 3: Evaluating; Horizon 2: Emerging; Horizon 1: Scaled Production; and Horizon 0: Retiring.
What Are World-Class Alignment Metrics?
The IAK emphasizes the use of World-Class Alignment Metrics, or WAMs, to help assess IT investment and performance by linking data to mission outcomes. WAMs aim to increase effectiveness across the Navy and Marine Corps through a data-driven approach to evaluating success.
According to the memo, WAMs enable data-driven decisions through five outcome-driven metrics: time lost, customer satisfaction, operational resilience, adaptability/mobility and cost per user.
What Are DON’s Implementation Best Practices?
The document outlines several best practices for implementing the IAK. According to the memo, the commands should consider establishing cross-functional innovation adoption teams that include acquisition, technical and operational stakeholders.
Another best practice is using Investment Horizons Charts to identify Horizon 3 capabilities that align with Modern Service Delivery, or MSD, design concepts and priority tech areas, and are prioritized by WAM data.
Stakeholders should also advance technologies through structured piloting when they meet MSD compliance.
