To meet growing demands in defence innovation, the Dutch Ministry of Defence needs to build internal innovation capabilities at scale. Many new hires are joining the internal innovation community. But a lot of employees have limited experience in innovation, while the number of innovation projects, and their strategic importance, is rapidly increasing.
A structured, inspiring and practice-based training programme is needed to equip both new and experienced professionals with essential innovation skills, knowledge and mindset.

Fronteer designed and delivered an 8-part foundational innovation training called ‘Fundamentals of Innovation Training (FIT)’, combining co-creation, innovation theory and real-world cases. The programme is tailored to the defence context and the Defense Innovation Process, and focuses on key innovation skills: from defining problems and generating ideas to validating solutions and engaging stakeholders. Additional modules are co-developed annually to keep up with new trends and challenges.

Over four years, more than 140 employees are trained to confidently contribute to innovation in defence. The result is a practical, interactive and highly contextualised training programme that enables participants to apply innovation methods directly in their daily work, strengthening the Ministry’s capacity to innovate, adapt and lead in a changing world.