25 Spark Cells for the Bundeswehr
Move innovation to where the problems arise: with the Bundeswehr Cyber Innovation Hub we've built decentralized innovation cells inside the units since 2024, an ongoing program that has produced 25 Spark Cells so far.
The Challenge.
How does innovation become part of daily life – instead of one department's job?
Many organizations try to organize innovation: innovation labs, transformation programs, dedicated future units. These initiatives set impulses, but they also create distance from day-to-day operations.
The people who work with systems, processes and problems every day are rarely part of these innovation spaces. Yet they know the weak points best.
So the task wasn't to build another center, but to bring innovation capability directly into the units, with a structure that works alongside daily business and can be repeated across many locations.
The Solution.
Innovation where it's
actually needed.
Four soldiers sit at a table. In front of them: sketches, notes and first prototypes. The conversation jumps between drone surveillance, small improvements for the unit's daily routine and a hook system meant to simplify workflows. No innovation workshop, no strategy offsite, just a conversation about problems and how to solve them.
Spark Cells are small, decentralized innovation cells inside units. They create a structured space where people identify problems, develop ideas and try out solutions. The model originally comes from the US Air Force's AFWERX innovation program.
Since 2024 we've worked with the Bundeswehr Cyber Innovation Hub to build such cells at various locations, from gathering ideas through evaluation and prioritization to implementation and testing. What emerges is not another innovation lab but a network of people who spot problems and work on them themselves.
What we built.
25 cells,
one operating system.
From the first setup to a cross-site network, continuously evolved since 2024.
Selecting and enabling the units: who drives the cell, what mandate it has, how much time is available alongside regular duty? People become part-time intrapreneurs.
A repeatable flow from gathering ideas through evaluation and prioritization to implementation and testing, lean enough to work in daily life.
Cross-site exchange between the cells: what works in one unit gets adopted elsewhere instead of being reinvented.
Our Products
What we put
to work here.
FUTURE CANDY products, applied to the future topics that matter for this project.
Products used
Innovation Consulting
Innovation that ships.
Strategy, delivery and transformation. We turn trends into solid roadmaps and real projects.
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Education
Your team learns the future.
AI bootcamp, masterclass and trainings, we get your people ready for new technologies and methods.
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Keynotes
The future on your stage.
Nick Sohnemann & Roman Weishäupl activate your audience for what's next.
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From strategy to delivery: AI that creates real impact inside your company.
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The intelligence layer that lets machines, products and environments act on their own.
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that stick.
Not in the lab, but in daily life: the people who work with the systems every day know the weak points best, they usually just lack a structured space to change something.
The commitment comes from intrinsic motivation: people invest time because they want to do their own work better, not because a program tells them to.
Spark Cells are exactly that kind of structure: ideas aren't just discussed, they're tried out. Three test runs became a hook system in daily use, one idea became an approved drone project.
How we did it.
From the first cell
to a network.
3 steps, how FUTURE CANDY builds innovation units like these.
We select the units, clarify mandate and time budget, and enable the people who drive the cell.
A repeatable flow from gathering ideas through evaluation and prioritization to implementation and testing.
What works in one cell is shared across sites, turning individual units into a learning network.
Planning something similar?
We show you on a real use case what's possible today, from the first idea to a finished result.