Challenge Statement

The Department of National Defence (DND) is looking for novel concepts and technologies to facilitate prediction of individuals’ ability in the areas of athletics, physical strength, mental strength and resilience, as well as cognitive skills. DND is also looking for means of achieving the predicted peak performance in individuals.

Background and Context

As the physical, mental, and cognitive demands on the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) and security services personnel increase, there is a need to ensure that they are best equipped both mentally and physically to handle any situations that may arise. This includes maintaining readiness, and improving agility of CAF and security personnel, facilitating their ability to respond and adapt quickly to ever-changing situations under less-than-ideal conditions.

Outcomes and Considerations

The desired outcomes are threefold:

• Demonstrate the capability to assess and understand the current state of an individual’s athletic, physical, mental (psychological), and cognitive skills or abilities against established benchmarks;
• Develop a capability to predict the peak potential of those traits for an individual;
• Develop concepts or technologies that would be used to optimize the individual’s skills and abilities to reach their peak potentials without the use of external augmentation/aids (e.g., exoskeletons).

These capabilities, concepts, and technologies must be safe and ethical, without any adverse effects on the individual. Concepts and technologies may include, but are not limited to:

• Mental and cognitive training
• Psychometric testing
• Therapeutic techniques
• Nutrition
• Physical fitness assessment
• Physical training

Relevant gender based analysis (GBA+) factors must also be addressed.