Message from Philippe Hébert, Director General R&D Innovation 

I am pleased to present the 2021-2022 IDEaS Annual Report. As the program completes its fourth year, I am amazed at the breadth and depth of both the challenges we confront, and the progress that has been made to solve them.

The program has shifted, grown, and matured over the last four years, as we work to continuously evolve our approach and to meet the ever-changing needs of the DND/CAF.

This year, IDEaS awarded its second directed Test Drive contract. It’s one of many near-to-market solutions set to emerge from the program to be operationally tested by the Defence Team. This shows that through our innovation continuum, we are unearthing promising solutions to DND/CAF, and this is very exciting and meaningful progress.

We also saw the potential of IDEaS-funded solutions beyond the traditional end-user, and the value of linking innovators with the larger defence community and beyond. That is why in 2022, we started to work on a new initiative called IDEaS Marketplace.

Our goal for Marketplace was to help innovators build connections with other potential stakeholders in the private and public sector, while also providing a window for DND/CAF leadership to see new technologies that may be applicable in different scenarios and operations.

Our allies are facing similar challenges in terms of rapidly advancing technologies that present defence and security risks. We had the opportunity to work alongside our allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), hosting a NATO Innovation Hub challenge to help address threats in the cognitive domain, as well as share best practices in innovation.

As always, none of this would be happening without the excellence of our team and continued support of our colleagues in Defence Research and Development Canada (DRDC), DND, and the CAF. I would like to take this opportunity to thank DRDC defence scientists, subject matter experts, staff, and challenge originators who enable IDEaS success.