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The fledgling Defense Entrepreneurs Forum conjures the spirit that brought us the Naval Lyceum (1833) and the U.S. Naval Institute (1873).
At a 2010 Technical, Entertainment, Design (best known as TED) conference, commentator Clay Shirky spoke about "How Cognitive Surplus Will Change the World.'" Over the course of the presentation, he noted that every year nearly one trillion hours of participatory contributions are up for grabs among humans sitting idle around the world. Identifying and harnessing these latent, creative energies could have a significant impact on the human experience. And, Shirky argues, the current democratization of information made possible by social media makes these idle musings ripe for harvesting.
The military has a similar latent talent pool. Junior officers and enlisted, along with many senior officers, find themselves with much to contribute to national-security conversations, but very few outlets to discuss and take action on their ideas. Many creative, competent individuals are waiting to be unleashed with potentially relevant solutions to enduring challenges. All they need is an ecosystem that empowers and encourages...